Saturday, August 08, 2020 Traveled 11.4 miles. 10.75 miles paddled and 4 portages totaling 205 rods. Lakes traveled: Ogishkemuncie, Kingfisher, Jasper, Alpine, and Seagull.

Rain, wind, thunder, and lightning over night. Didn’t bother me a bit in my tent, but Lauren had set her hammock up pretty exposed to the south wind. She stayed dry, but said the wind kept her worried through the night. Bittersweet as this was our last morning before heading out. Not in a hurry and wanted to let the tarps and tents dry out as much as possible before packing up. Saw a group of 20 or more ducklings with one adult slowly cruising the shoreline towards camp and then every couple minutes it was like someone pulled the fire alarm and they all freaked out. Then they would regroup and calmly proceed on. Decided to video this. A word to the wise, trying to video and watch what is happening while walking on wet sloping rocks is Not a good idea. Foot slipped, I went down, and the phone bounced off the rock into the water! Jumped up to grab the phone just off shore and fortunately it was still working. Got most of the water off the traps, packed up and headed out. Lauren wanted to carry the canoe though all the portages today and had moved back to her boots. Through Ogish and Kingfisher, saw one group just putting into Ogish and one group ahead of us heading the same way. It is warmer this morning and feels like it could get hot today. Once on Jasper we are faced with a pretty good headwind, only the 2nd time this whole trip. Not dangerous but made that paddle more work. I was concerned with what Seagull might be like. Portage into Alpine and we were just catching up with the group ahead of us. No wind to speak of on Alpine, either died away or maybe blocked by the trees as we were camping along the SE shore. Had to wait for a group of 7 or 8 women just putting in at the SeaGull portage and a large group behind them day tripping from SeaGull. Did receive a couple of odd looks from the dads in the day tripping group when Laure hoisted the canoe and I took one of the packs! Once on SeaGull the lake looked calm and the temp was rising. Pulled over at one of the many Islands just NE of the portage to fuel up for the long paddle back to the outfitters. Once we finished lunch we headed back out and decided to cross the big part of the lake and stay north of three mile island. Once out of the Islands the breeze picks up again, At Our Backs! See quite a few occupied sites, canoes out fishing, and travelers across Sea Gull but never really felt crowded. Made it to to Sea Gull outfitters, returned the canoe, quick shower and headed home.

Unbelievable weather, rain one night but only while we were in our tents. Got a little warm on the day out, mid 80’s but mid 70’s with mainly sun the rest of the week. Bugs were noticeably absent the first part of the trip and not bad the rest. Did feel like more people than usual but once off the main routes solitude could be found. Really only spent 1 day fishing but it was phenomenal. Of close to 40 trips I have done in the BWCA this just might be the best one! I was reminded how easy it is to travel and camp with just 2 people. And the best part was spending the week with just Lauren! With summer jobs, classes and potentially starting a career over the next few years, not sure we will be able to fit trips in for both of us. Having a passion we can share and memories to cherish together is priceless!