A gray cloudy sky greets us this morning as we crawl out of our tents this morning. During breakfast we all decide to keep it simple again today and just explore some more of Malberg Lake. Joel & Blake plan to revisit some of the spots where we had luck fishing, while Aurora & I hope to explore the westernmost lobe of the lake.

Initially we revisit the pinch point just SW of camp and stage all the firewood nearer shore for ease of picking it up upon our return. We then explore the faint trail up to the bluff between here and camp. Aurora is enthralled by a molting dragonfly and all the reindeer moss while I savor the nice view of our bay.

As we paddle about, we note that we are encountering more paddlers out on the lake than in our previous excursions. Still, there’s a good percentage of the campsites we pass that are still vacant. As the day wears on the winds increase and make paddling more of a chore but it serves to start pushing the gloomy looking clouds out.

While I continue to pick up the “low hanging fruit” (shoreline firewood) we encounter, Aurora is catching frogs like it’s going out of style. Eventually we work our way to the portage out to the Kawishiwi River from here in the western lobe. Aurora continues her pursuit of the frogs while I scout out this portage.

The landing is a little bumpy but, really, not too bad. Starting out the trail is an excellent flat path but, as Twins 87 & Luft had informed us, I soon come upon a flooded section. I don’t investigate any further and return to the Aurora & the Black Pearl.

On our return voyage, I methodically gather all the firewood piles I’d stashed around the perimeter of the lake. Upon our return to camp, the clouds have mostly cleared off and I begin processing my “booty” of firewood while Aurora frolics with her “gaggle” of frogs.

As I’m cutting up the firewood Aurora excitedly exclaims, “Hey! Look, there’s a plane flying right over us!” Looking up, I noticed another not too far behind the first. The harrowing reality is that they are both planes hauling water somewhere not too far away. Later, as we all discuss this around our perpetual campfire; we surmise the likely reason we’ve all been so sluggish since being up here is that the overall air quality is probably not the best because there is doubtlessly a larger fire nearby. As we enjoy our walleye supper, we resolve to get out of camp tomorrow come hell or highwater and go visit the pictographs on Fishdance Lake so as not to have to keep a fire going all day.