Wednesday, May 25th When we awoke the next morning, the skies were a gloomy grey, but the lake was still glass calm. We made no rush of packing camp and we slept in a bit thanks to our half day paddle out today. We sipped our coffee watching ducks constantly fly in and out of our bay. We whipped up our gourmet chocolate chip pancakes with dried fruit on the side and decided we had enough coffee left for a second round…what a treat! Just as we finished our tasty breakfast, an ever so slight spit of rain started falling. Time to pack up camp. The wind started picking up as we shoved off and it was a bit of a battle turning out of our bay and into the portage bay, but the. We just coasted our way into the shore. We played leap frog with another group also headed out and by the time we shoved off the rocky shore of Smoke Lake it was raining hard enough to don the rain jackets which we did while floating in a calm bay. As we nosed up to the boardwalk planks leading into a deep mucky back bay, another group showed up with their portable speakers loudly playing music and blocking access to our gear with their canoes when we returned on our second trip across the portage. Not to mention that my Mom and I nearly died of second hand smoke inhalation from hiking behind them on the portage.

Luckily, once we sipped our paddles into Sawbill Lake, the peace returned and all was quite once more. Sawbill was almost dead calm with the strong east wind blocked by the narrow north/south channel of the lake. The rain continued and at the border island a pair of loons floated by bidding us farewell. They preened themselves in circles floating on their sides taking advantage of the rain shower. Fresh clothes and a warm shower awaits us back at the outfitter. Another successful trip! ~Burnt Lake, Smoke Lake, Sawbill Lake

Lakes Traveled:   Burnt Lake, Smoke Lake, Sawbill Lake,