Wednesday, August 17, 2022 6.35mi, 383 rods of portaging I woke at midnight to a steady rain hitting the tarp. I reached out of the bag to grab my hoodie and found it soaked by a steady flow of water on the ground. At this point I was thankful to be sleeping high and dry on the paddleboard, and I moved all my gear from the ground onto the board and returned to sleep. At 4:30 I woke to the clap of thunder. Growing up in Florida, I had many close encounters with lightning, and it is something that I take very seriously. I quickly moved everything metal and electronic away from the tent and then hunkered down. The storm came on fast, and the rain was pounding. Based on counting off the flashes, there were multiple strikes within a 0.5mi radius of my camp. Then the rain stopped, but soon I heard more thunder in the west. The second wave was far more intense and long lasting than the first, both the rain and the lightning. I continued counting in an attempt to judge proximity when a strike blasted alarmingly close to me. Simultaneous light and sound, like someone fired a shotgun right outside my tarp. At that point I gave up counting. Once again, I was very happy to be up on the board, as the area underneath the board was soaked. My ears ringing, I stayed in the bag until the storm had wholly passed, around 7:30am. I dropped the bear bag and made breakfast. The clouds were low and dark, but did not look dangerous. With a strong west wind, I figured that it was a now-or-never moment for crossing the entirety of Gillis, so I threw everything sopping wet into the dry bag and hopped on the board. With the wind and the adrenaline, I crossed the 1.3mi of lake in 20 minutes as some campers took turns watching me through binoculars. Getting into Bat, it seemed like round 3 of storms was imminent, but the dark clouds rolled over silently revealing a clear day. My plan at this point was to spend the last night of my permit camping on Brant. With clear skies, I really savored retracing my first day's travels. I moved slower, ate more berries, and saw way more. My time on Gotter (the smallest lake of my trip) was especially magical. Stopping to photograph a water lily adjacent to a floating bog, I noticed a pitcher plant and some drosera! Once I finally pulled myself away from the plants, I was struck by the lake's high rock bluffs. If there were a campsite on this lake, I'd be temped to stay there. Once I got to Brant, I was disappointed to find that 2/3 sites were taken and that the remaining site was fully exposed- not something that I was willing to risk with the potential for further storms. I decided to call it a trip. The last few portages were about as fun as they were on the first day, except now they were under water. In little rush, and fully accustomed to mosquitoes incessantly biting me, I stopped for an extended period on each portage to eat the abundant blueberries. I encountered a large canoe group from whom I learned that the morning's storm dropped 3" of rain- the most their lodge had seen from a single storm since 2019. When I got back to Round, I continued to take my sweet time. I unpacked and dried all my gear, and took a much-needed swim. Other paddlers arrived from the water, and each group came up to ask me about the paddleboard and share when/where they sighted me. I was a bit bummed to be exiting a day early, but thunder rumbling to the south made me feel confident in my choice. Plus it meant an extra day on Lake Superior. For a solo trip in the BWCA, I highly recommend a paddleboard, but with a few caveats. (1) Make sure it is relatively lightweight, or you gain nothing relative to other watercraft (mine is fiberglass). I personally wouldn't trust an inflatable out there, but that's your call. (2) Avoid big open-water crossings. This was the main source of my anxiety, though luckily it worked out. Had the wind been different, it wouldn't have gone so well. (3) Be prepared to explain yourself. I didn't expect the paddleboard to be such a conversation-starter, but it truly was. When people were approaching me at the parking lot, I felt like I was some sort of weird, unwashed celebrity. Overall, it was a great trip, and I would definitely visit this region of the BWCA again. That said, as much as I love blueberries, they were not worth the storms to me. Next time, I'm waiting until at least mid-September.~Gillis Lake, Bat Lake, Green Lake, Flying Lake, Gotter Lake, Brant Lake, Edith Lake, West Round Lake, Round Lake    

Lakes Traveled:   Gillis Lake, Bat Lake, Green Lake, Flying Lake, Gotter Lake, Brant Lake, Edith Lake, West Round Lake, Round Lake,