Wednesday, September 25, 2019 Day 4: In the morning, there was clear sky in the few breaks of low-lying clouds. I was hopeful for a dry day. After breakfast, I hit the lake. Again, I trolled, as the wind was building from the west. I caught two more smallmouth, two northerns, and another walleye. I stopped at the north-facing peninsula site across from mine to stretch my legs. Right at the landing stood a lone birch that some clown had chopped all the way around its trunk like a beaver would do. This would be dangerous to someone and/or their canoe when it eventually blew over. Made me think they should give IQ tests before handing out entry permits. I had trolled the islands again and the perimeter of the northern arm of the lake. As I was nearing my campsite around noon, I heard the rumble of thunder. I got around the point to where I could see to the west and there was a thunderstorm blowing in. I got back to camp and climbed a nearby hill to look further west, and there were thunderheads popping. I had originally planned to leave on Day 4, but then extended a day at the last minute in case the weather was great and I hadn’t wanted to leave. I had a decision to make. Pack up and leave soon or ride out the evening, possibly under the tarp again in the rain, just to pack up in the morning. I’d had a good morning of fishing, which left me content. I would pack up and leave today. I rode out the thundershower under the tarp having lunch. The rain had stopped by the time I was done, and I began breaking down camp. In less than 2 hours, I was paddling west. There were off-and-on periods of rain followed by sun, but the whole time it was blowing hard out of the west. After rounding the southern point on Smoke, I got blown sideways twice by gusts of wind, and I struggled in the steady wind to get righted. By the time I reached the landing, I was exhausted. To top it off, I had to basically do the splits to get out of the canoe and onto the boardwalk at the landing, as I was unable to get alongside it. IMO, it was definitely not laid out with a solo canoe in mind. I passed the time on the portage to Sawbill counting my steps. 653 steps to traverse the portage for anybody who’s wondering. The paddle on Sawbill was nice, once I turned south out of the bay. I was headed south on the Sawbill Trail by 4:15. I was surprised to see that it was only 51 degrees. I had only been wearing a t-shirt for my paddle. Shows how hard I was working in the wind. Right over the round hut as you leave the outfitter was a rainbow. It was the cap on a very rewarding trip.