DAY FIVE: Thursday, August 29. Payne, Hurlburt Creek, Keewatin, Kawnipi. 8.3 miles, 4 portages.

Tia awoke to showers at 1:30 (I can sleep through almost anything), and it rained the rest of the night. We again got out of the tent in full rain gear and had breakfast under the fly. The morning rain, sometimes at downpour levels, was accompanied by occasional thunder. We thought we might spend a third night in Payne, but by 10:30 the rain stopped and we moved on. Along Hurlburt Creek we spotted lots of pitcher plants and sundews—gotta appreciate plants that eat bugs!

Keewatin was very windy, but we were rewarded by more new (to us) pictographs and a nice stop for lunch.

The portage into Kawnipi had nice sandy landings on each end. Because we'd already been fighting wind on smaller lakes, we were concerned about wind and waves on Kawnipi, but the water wasn't too rough. Between Rose and Kasie Islands we spotted a campsite we'd used a couple years ago, headed for it, and decided to stay. We dried gear, had hot drinks, washed clothes & bodies, and had a dry, relaxing evening that included a beautiful sunset.