The morning started in a bunkhouse at Tuscarora followed by their signature French Toast Breakfast. Our gear was packed from the night before, and we were headed down the Gunflint Trail to Poplar Lake and Entry Point #48. The paddle to the entry point was smooth as we anticipated the most challenging portage of our trip. The 290 rod from Poplar to Meeds gave us a challenge. This portage had it all - rocks, mud, board walks, uphill and downhill. We double portaged, so after the 3 trips across, the coolness of the morning air felt good. Once on Meeds we had just a short paddle and then a couple of short portages to Caribou. We ate a quick lunch on a small speck of an island on Caribou Lake, and then moved on through Horseshoe and on to Gaskin, where we spent our first night on site #633. We had a great evening swimming, relaxing and eating. A quick sprinkle went through as we set up camp, but that passed quickly for a perfect evening. During the night, we were startled by our kettles making a racket. We had stashed them with our food pack away from camp. With heart racing I exited the tent thinking I was going to maybe have to do a little bear shooing. Luckily it was nothing but gravity causing things to tip and fall over. We did get back to sleep, but took a bit for our hearts to calm down.

~Poplar Lake, Meeds Lake, Caribou Lake, Horseshoe Lake, Gaskin Lake