At 6:30 a.m. I heard pans clanging from the next campsite down. At first I thought, "bear" and figured we would probably be next in line. But it happened again a minute later, and it was so rhythmic, not like banging to scare something away. Then it dawned on me. It’s that camp’s wake up alarm. How inconsiderate!

It was cold last night, but I was nice and warm in my sleeping bag. I slept great with it and my Big Agnes air mattress. I didn’t want to leave it. An hour later I pulled myself from the bag at 7:30 a.m.

The wind was gone, however, it had been replaced with frost on the ground and a little ice in my water bottle.

I started packing up my stuff and my stirring woke the others. We had an oatmeal and coffee breakfast. Despite the quick breakfast we were hesitant to leave. The trip out would be short. We broke camp slowly and were on the water at 10:15 a.m.

We had a nice leisurely paddle back, interrupted by the 13-rod portage to Sawbill. We’re to the take out at 1:00 p.m., and another group was taking out at the same time. Too many people on this trip! We left Sawbill at 1:30 and headed for the Coho Café at the foot of the Trail for a late lunch. It was busy there, too.

At 2:45 p.m. we left Tofte to head for home. The trip back was uneventful and Jim got me to my house at 9:30 p.m. The family came out to say hi to Jim and to help me unload.