Monday, July 10, 2023 What an AWESOME Day!! The morning seemed to pass by slowly, After breakfast, we broke camp and left Snow Bay. Since we'll be doing no portaging today, I take some coffee to go...

It felt like we were getting a late start as we paddled into the wind in a northwesterly direction out of Snow Bay. We saw a U.S. Border Reference Marker on the point southwest of campsite #16 and stopped to take some photos.

Once we turn north, then back to the east, the wind is at our back. Paddling seems very easy today since the wind is helping us along!! I forgot how big Lac La Croix seems like paddling smaller lakes when you're paddling through all the islands. It's neat how such a large lake can feel so small at times. I also forgot how many buildings are on the Canadian side. We stopped at a site we stayed at on a previous trip, site #135, but we decided not to stay. Site #135 has a rocky landing, and with the wind out of the west, we thought it might be a bit buggy, so we push on. Once we left site #135, the wind picked up quite a bit. We took our paddles and a trash bag and made sails and the wind pushed us across the big part of LLC.

We stopped at site #137, and found a nice sandy beach site, but the firegrate was almost covered up with driftwood from a time when the water level was much higher, or maybe ice pushed the driftwood up that far?

We thought we might call this site home for the night, but the wind coming across the big part of LLC was just too much for us. While we were there, we tried to clean up the firegrate area a bit. I hope this isn't seen as a violation of LNT, but rather trying to make a campsite nicer than we found it for the next group. It was pretty wavy as we loaded up our gear to trek onward. Since the wind was pushing the lake in our direction, it made for an interesting time dealing with the waves in the shallow water. Once under way, we set our sights on an island campsite not far away, #140. Site #140 has 2 good tent pads, and several hammock hangs. The landing is a little tricky, but well worth the work. This site is elevated about 30 feet above the water, with great views to the south. We found blueberries, and the fishing near by was great! We've been very fortunate this trip so far with awesome sites!! Are there really any bad ones though? Christopher and Joel spend the afternoon fishing and catch several small mourh bass, and a walleye. Joel was so excited to have caught his first walleye. We'll eat well tonight!! Joel and I cleaned the fish. Noah tends the fire. Christopher cooked dinner. Levi talked about missing home. Angelina and Dakota hung out. Dad went to bed early, trying to nurse his hands into feeling better. I know he hasn't been sleeping well since his hands have been hurting. He describes it as a nerve pain that just won't go away. I hope he gets feeling better soon!! After dinner, Christopher, Noah, Joel, Levi and I hung out by the fire. Christopher and I smoked cigars. After cigars Noah, Levi and Christopher cashed it in for the night. Joel and I stayed up and made tea with the solo stove, and talked for a long while. We looked at the stars and talked about many different things. We even got to see the milky way in all it's splendor and a few satilites move across the night sky. We hoped for some northern lights, but they didn't show. Nothing could have ended this day better than spending time talking with Joel. He doesn't open up and talk about things very often, what a great place to have quality father son time to discuss anything that comes to mind. Praise the Lord for days like this, life doesn't get much better...