Friday, August 11, 2023 Day one started out an hour later than we anticipated. Originally the plan was to be on the water by 7, but the previous night's festivities had us running more sluggishly than normal. We finally started our paddle up Little Indian Sioux river around 830. We easily singled it through the first portage, admiring the waterfall and scenery along the path. The ability to single portage was due to many things we tweaked after our previous trip. One change we made was bringing ties for the paddles/rods. We also designated what gear each person would carry every time we portaged. The last change we made was to carry an "extras" bag. This bag carried our bug net, liquor, and any extra gear we would share throughout the trip. It added an extra bag among 3 people but seriously cut down on weight on our other packs and allowed for the extra gear to be easily portaged. Drew and Donnie would carry their packs and the canoes, while I followed behind with the extras bag on my front and my gear bag on my back. The high I got from the efficiency of it alone made it worth lugging 80-90lbs every portage.      We made amazing time crossing Upper Pauness, but took pity on the two paddlers fighting against the wind. This would be the last day for many days where the wind was at our backs. We opted for the longer 45rd portage into Lower Pauness as the lower, 17rd portage was extremely weed choked. We successfully singled our second portage of the day. We reached what we have affectionately nicknamed "The Snakes Site" (first site to the left going into Loon Lake) and stopped for a short lunch. In 2021, this is the site we called home for the last two days of our trip. It was crawling with many garter snakes which is how it got its nickname. Little had changed other than an obscene amount of litter, something that would become all too familiar as the days went on.   We continued our paddle up the river and across Loon Lake, where the wind died down but the rain picked up. By the time we reached the portage into Slim lake we were all thoroughly soaked. With spirits still high, we managed yet again to single portage from Little Loon Lake to Slim Lake. At this point in the day we were confident that the timing allowed for us to attempt the unmarked portage into Fat lake, as it was only 1:30pm. I was thrilled with the speed and efficiency we managed to paddle and portage to this point, but I was running out of gas quickly.    After exploring the eastern shore of Slim Lake, we finally picked out two large birches fallen where we presumed the portage entry was. After unloading onto the crowded landing area and navigating the narrow site, we observed the wicked hill climb we would face first and decided to double portage. First we would walk with packs, then we would all go back for the canoes and extra pack. The boys argued with me when we reached the fork in the path about 25 yards in, but after literal years of research I remembered reading that the path to the left eventually petered out. After following the right path for 50 yards the boys meandered through the woods to catch up with me, admitting their error.     The first of many hiccups in our trip would happen on this portage. About 3/4 of the way to Fat we encountered the bees. The order we walked was Drew, then Donnie, and I followed third. The bees must have decided that only two shall pass and I got stung in the forehead. It was extremely painful and caused some minor dizziness and swelling, but nothing I couldn’t push through. Luckily Drew had the foresight to drop a life jacket where we encountered the bees and we agreed to scope out the path to avoid any more stings. After a short break to allow the bees to cool off, we decided to head back for the canoes and last pack. This time the order was Drew, me, then Donnie up the rear. This pass we did determine that there was in fact a whole ass hive not only above us on the trail, but also partially destroyed on the path itself. This discovery occurred only after Donnie got stung in the lip. Drew once again managed to drop the life jacket to mark where the hive was so on the final pass we could potentially find a route around. As we walked back with the canoes we determined that the third person was the person that always got stung and since Drew was the only one that hadn't been stung yet we decided it was only fair if he went last this time. Donnie and I managed to make it through, while Drew hung behind in an attempt to give the bees some time to calm down. We determined the portage was the only path to take as the woods were particularly thick in this area. Donnie and I patiently waited at the landing on Fat Lake. After about 10 minutes Drew came trotting down the trail stating " Well that didn’t work. They still got me right on the ass".   After catching our breath from double portaging the 320rds (and laughing at our bad luck with the bees), we attempted to make it to the lone campsite on Fat Lake. To our disappointment, we discovered it was taken. Our back up plan was to stay at the narrows site on Eugene for the night and hope that we could secure the site on Fat the next day. We got camp set up, collected any trash we could find, and I enjoyed some evening bass fishing from the campsite. The boys decided not to join me fishing and I managing a few decent sized smallies. We had our Mountain House dinners and had a few drinks around the fire we could barely keep going. Everything was so wet and it continued to intermittently rain until dark. Donnie tucked in for the night around 9, while Drew and I spent the next few hours reminiscing on our childhood and discussing the failures of Reganomics and Capitalism over many drinks. At 11pm the rain and wind started again so we decided to tuck in for the night.