Last night the wind completely died down and, initially, the silence is deafening. I harkened back to a trip to Pine Lake when the wind had blown steadily for a couple of days and the evening it finally stopped, I think we heard every step the tiniest mouse made up to 300 yards out of camp. I have much the same sensation here but, in this instance, not a creature is stirring not even a mouse. :)

Also, I discover that I have an added blanket of snow covering me. It's only an inch or so but, as I begin to rustle out of my Marmot sleeping bag, some snow slides onto my face and quickly melts on my cheek and forehead thus hastening my exit.

It's actually feels warmer this morning and I quickly forego the notion of having a morning fire. I just eat a couple of nearly frozen Clif bars for breakfast as well as some of my remaining beef jerky. After completely shaking the cobwebs, and snow, off; I start packing up. One last inspection of camp and departure officially begins.

Out on the lake, my trail in has been completely covered over. I decide to give the main slush area a wide berth and swing east as I trek back to the on-land portion of the trail. I do tread over some slush but, thankfully, it's nothing like what I encountered yesterday.

As I work my way back to my van, I note a strange phenomenon that somehow the trail seems much hiller with a pack on my back than it did a few weeks back without one. Bishop Felton is coming from Duluth to celebrate Mass at my church this evening (6:00 p.m.) so, there is no big rush to get out quickly/early and I savor the deliberate pace; taking several rest stops along the way.

As I climb out of the woods and lay eyes on the trailhead kiosk, I note there is now another car in the lot. It appears they are heading to Agassa Lake, (Just across the Echo Trail) as I see fresh tracks and a loaded toboggan at the beginning of that trail.

Once in the van, I'm not out of the woods yet, as the Echo Trail has yet to be cleared of the fresh blown in snow from last night. The twisting nature of the road in this mid-section makes the going tedious but, as I near Ely there are more tracks and the general condition of the road is improving. I stop in at the Boathouse for a beverage & burger to bring the trip to a close.

This was a short but spiritually sweet trip that provided just what I was looking for. Being alone was essentially a non-factor as I counted it as more of a blessing than a curse. (Although it would've been nice to have help with camp chores.) Angleworm is such a beautifully scenic lake, and it was pure joy to fully experience that in the mostly pristine frostiness of winter. Hopefully the fruits of this adventure will instill me with confidence to do a more ambitious winter trip in the future. That being said, I'm looking forward to open waters this spring.