Last night, we read a chapter in Braiding Sweetgrass called "Umilicaria: Belly Button of the World". So this morning we went tripe hunting...rock tripe that is. We played around splashing water on them and watching them move, soften, and turn more greenish.

Lots of portages as we headed north today. The stream entrance to reach the 10 rod portage into Cacabic had extremely low water. We came upon a Boy Scout troop as we approached the narrows and they were out of their boats, searching for a way through. They were more heavily laden than us, so we got further along before needing to exit the canoe and walk the packs along the bog edge. Then we lined all the canoes up to the actual landing. We helped the scouts do the same. The portage itself was a steep up, then down.

The 240 rod portage to Thomas had rolling hills and boardwalks in good condition. Nothing too stressful despite its distance, but it was littered with Boy Scouts asking how far until the end and one who had turtled with his pack who I helped up.

Thomas and Fraser are lovely. It was my first time visiting these lakes and they would make a worthwhile destination. We stopped in the narrows between the 2 lakes and climbed up on the rocks for a scenic lunch spot. Hardly saw any people on either lake.

The other portages were as follows. The 15 rod to Gerund was very flat. The 30 rod to Ahmakose had a super steep beginning but with doable steps, then finished flat to the landing. Seems like the elevation marked on the map should be 1606 feet rather than 1506. The 90 rod portage to Wisini had plenty of up and down but it was more gentle and had decent footing. The 10 rod to Strup was incredibly easy. Finally, the 85 rod to Kekekabic had some ups and downs and had a steep drop to the Kekekabic landing.

We were really exhausted by the time we reached Kekekabic and just wanted to find a campsite quickly. Today was an example of how the length of the portages don't matter as much as the number of them. The loading and unloading is the most tiring part in my experience. Stew trolled a bit as we left the last portage. "Kris, I think I picked up a weed. Or is it a fish? No, must be a weed." Reeled it in to find the tiniest fish of all. Not sure how it even managed to bite the hook!

Campsite after campsite was full. It was quite a shock after days of only seeing a few people per day during the past 5 days. We paddled all the way to the west end of the lake without finding any open sites and could see the north side was full, too. We decided to try to find the site on the very west end (#1473). What a struggle! We searched and searched and finally found a tiny opening in the thick shrubs. The path opened into a tiny space under a massive evergreen. The fire grate was slightly overgrown and there was barely enough space to squeeze our 4P tent.

The swimming was horrible with a mucky, shallow bottom. However, the site is thick with hazelnuts. The latrine trail was littered with shells from the ones eaten by the squirrels. Some happy squirrel tummies at this spot.

We went out fishing before dinner. The water was incredibly clear and has stunning boulder drop offs. Caught a bass before the stable flies made us lose our minds as they feasted on our under dressed ankles. We had hardly seen any the whole trip so this attack took us by surprise.

Distance: 13 miles Portages: 480 rods Time: 5.75 hours including a 1/2 hour lunch stop

~Alice Lake, Cacabic Lake, Thomas Lake, Fraser Lake, Gerund Lake, Ahmakose Lake, Wisini Lake, Strup Lake, Kekekabic Lake