We woke and had a breakfast of bacon and eggs. We packed up camp and started paddling west along the Pheobe River. Where the river narrows just before entering Knight Lake, the water was low, and a boulder field was exposed. We got out of the canoe and lined it through the boulders.

The crossing of Knight was uneventful, and we were soon back on the river. There is a large bend in the river west of Knight where Welp Creek enters the river. We ran into another boulder field in this area and lined the canoe through the field. There was a 144-rod portage from the river to Hazel Lake. It was a typical portage.

We crossed Hazel, noted that both campsites were empty, and found the portage out of Hazel back to the Pheobe River. There were three portages along the river around obstacles like boulders, low water, waterfalls, and beaver dams. The river had sections of lily pads and tall grass. It is a very pretty paddle.

We were soon on the 99-rod portage from the Phoebe River to Lake Polly. We stopped on the Polly end of the portage for a lunch of PB&J bagels and beef jerky.

We paddled the narrow, eastern bay of Polly up to the north shore of the lake. We went between several island and into a bay on the north end where a series of three portages leads to Lake Koma. It was at the first portage that we saw our first people of the day. A group of three young men and their fishing gear were coming south out of Koma.

The First two portages come out on very small ponds. We would reload the canoe, paddle a hundred feet, and get out for the next portage. They were not difficult, but the loading and unloading was annoying. The last portage came out on a bay in Koma. We began to paddle and soon came across a beaver dam. We were able to lift the canoe over the dam without unloading. There was a solo, female paddler lifting her canoe over the dam heading south at the same time.

We paddled halfway up Koma to a campsite on a peninsula on the western shore. The lake only appeared to be four or five feet deep in most parts. The campsite was our favorite of the trip. It had a nice landing where large flat rocks protruded into the lake. The fire grate was near the lake with very nice views. I was able to set my hammock up between trees near the shore. I did not need to put up the rain tarp.

Once camp was set up, we talked a bit and planned for the next day. It was not an easy day today and we knew tomorrow would be harder. We would be going into one of the more remote parts of the Boundary Waters. We snacked on freeze dried cookie crumbles. They were pretty good.

We had a dinner of Zatarain's Jambalaya rice with foil packed chicken. It is one of our standard meals. Desert was a freeze-dried strawberry cheesecake that was rehydrated using cold water. I would definitely get that again.

Around dinner, we saw three canoes cross the lake from north to south. They would be the last people we would see for several days. We had a small fire in the evening but when the bugs came out at dusk, we went to bed.

We traveled around 10 miles today.