Monday, August 08, 2022 The sprinkles from the previous day did turn into an earnest rainfall overnight so when we got up the next morning, everything was pretty wet. However, bright sunshine and warming temperatures, aided by a slight breeze worked together to dry things quickly. This was a day we planned to move to a new camp but as we did give the drying process some time, we lingered over coffee and a pancake breakfast before slowly packing up our gear once it had dried sufficiently. This process meant that we did not leave our site until nearly noon. Mrs. Merganser and her brood, who had been hanging around the last day or so, were happy to give us an escort away from the site (they were likely glad to see us go!) and we were now on our way north back up Lake Three to Lake Two with a target of camping on Lake One for the next night. Jakob took over map duty and did a fine job of navigating us past the islands, through the channels and around the bend to the portages leading out of Lake Two. Again our crew, who were becoming seasoned canoe campers, handled the portages well and let me give my back a rest. When we got to Lake One, a decision was made to first check out the campsites toward the western side of the lake so we set out from the portage in a clockwise direction. Because we had gotten a late start, I was not particularly surprised to find campsite after campsite already taken so we continued this clockwise search through the southern part of Lake One. Finally, our maps showed only two sites remaining before we were right back to the portages from Two. Debbie and I went to check out one site which was tucked into a little cove while the rest went to look at the other right around a point. Debbie and I did find this cove site to be open but a long uphill trek to the latrine and smallish size of the main site area had us wondering about the other site. Matt and Alicia soon appeared and said the other site was also open but wanted our opinion on which was better. They agreed to stay behind as we went off to form a verdict and to collect Jakob and Ashley, depending on which site we'd choose. From the water, Debbie and I could tell that we'd prefer the first site we saw so Ashley and Jakob followed us back over there. As we rounded the point into the cove again, it looked to me like Matt and Alicia were leaving so I firmly stated, "Hey we're gonna camp here!". WOOOPSIE! It was NOT Matt and Alicia! It was some other canoeists, who having seen our group already at the site, were moving on to check out the one we had just come from. I had come across as rude, like I was making it clear to them that this was ours and they couldn't have it. I was very embarrassed by this and apologized profusely. They were very good natured about it and were pleased to hear that the next site over was open with no other canoes in site.

While first glance at this cove site made it seem just "OK", it actually was quite nice with plenty room for our tents, lots of firewood right behind the tentpads and a really cool cliff that formed a backdrop behind the firegrate. There was the long latrine trail (to the top of that cliff) but other than that, there isn't a reason I wouldn't stay here again. By the time we got here it was already about 3:30-4:00. A look at the map told us that if we had chosen to travel counter-clockwise instead of clockwise when we entered Lake One earlier in the day, we would have come to this site in about 10-15 minutes and saved well over an hour of paddling! Since we had not had lunch yet, the first item of business was to ravenously dig in to our jerky and trailmix. After that I went off to gather firewood while Jakob wet a fishing line from shore (again, no luck). Matt hit his hammok for a well earned snooze and the ladies did a great job with the rest of camp set-up. Once those chores were done, Debbie and I decided to try some nearby structure that looked promising for fish. We were soon joined by Ashley and Jacob who fished from their canoe. After a few minutes, Debbie did hook into the only fish our group was able to boat the entire trip--an "eater size" northern. Since lunch had been so late and since there was already plenty of other food for anyone who wanted to eat more, we let the fish go. As the sun began to sink we decided to end the fishing and gave our left over leeches to a father/son who were camped nearby. Debbie and I had a pleasant conversation with them and then returned to camp for the evening fire and to snack on or cook whatever we wished to call supper. At this site the mosquitoes were almost nonextistent, compared to what we had experienced the previous two nights so a few of us enjoyed the fire until long after dark before turning in for what was to be our final night in the woods.