Tuesday, August 16, 2022 7.79mi, 268 rods of portaging Storms never came, but all night I was anxious about getting across Gab. One downside of the paddleboard is its susceptibility to wind. Already the winds and weather diverged significantly from the forecast that I had read on Saturday, so it was essentially useless. Not wanting to get caught in a serious storm, I decided to cross Gab as early as possible and try to make it back to Gillis so that I could have more leeway in my paddling schedule in the case that I got socked-in by bad weather. I hit the water at 6:30 and reached the Peter portage a little over an hour later feeling very relieved. I had been fighting a steady east wind, and the chop of each wave washed over the board. Needless to say, I was not standing up for this portion of the paddle. I quickly rounded the peninsula of the much more sheltered Peter and began the portage to Virgin. Aside from the Round Lake portage, the Virgin portages were the absolute worst. From Peter-Virgin was heavily overgrown and full of mosquitoes; from Virgin-West Fern my left leg dropped into a deep, hidden rock crevice that could have done some serious damage, but luckily just resulted in a couple of skin wounds. I jammed a couple of sticks into the hole to make it visible. The following portages to Powell, French, Fern, and Gillis got better and better. Fern-Gillis began on a beaver dam and proceeded along a creek through a mosquito-free cedar grove. I decided to check out the campsite by that portage on Gillis (within sight of my first night's site) and was instantly sold. I decided to stop for the day despite it being only 10:30 in the morning. Once at the site, I dumped my gear and explored. The site had numerous trails, a rocky peninsula sheltering a calm harbor, a giant white pine perfect for bear bagging, and barely any mosquitoes. I rode the paddleboard around the western pocket of the lake, stopping to climb a large bald hill, and I ran into the loon family from day 1. At this point, the wind began truly ripping from the south, bringing progressively darker clouds. A light rain began to fall, and I took a nap under my tarp. After the nap I made dinner and boiled water (the Gillis water was fantastic... Agamok, not so much). The sky was still dark, the wind still ripped. I decided to call it an early night, but just as I got into my tent the sky suddenly brightened. I went out to the peninsula and say a vibrant rainbow over the lake. I watched it until the sun set, then went to sleep.~Agamok Lake, Gabimichigami Lake, Peter Lake, Virgin Lake, West Fern Lake, Powell Lake, Fern Lake, French Lake, Gillis Lake