Thursday, September 28, 2023 Day 0 We drove from Duluth to our cabin, which is located south of Ely the night prior. Our bunkhouse served as headquarters for gear sorting, final packing, and map gazing discussing such things as portages, how long a rod was...how many rods per mile. There were a few wide eyes looking at the route. Our planned route took us up from Sawbill, a few puddle jumps and into Cherokee Creek and then to Cherokee Lake. Target was one of the island sites! Assurances were made that ths was totally doable and not nearly as hard as it sounds.

Day 1

Ok - Canoes were loaded the night prior and the drive to Sawbill was uneventful. Once at the outfitters, videos were watched, permits were picked up and we shoved off. Everyone, including Pretzel (our 1 yr old Bernedoodle) settled into the canoes nicely and quickly got comfortable paddling. The kids (Travis and Ella) glided effortlessly across Sawbill lake in the Bell Northstar and not only kept up, but could easily paddle away from us. I remember being 17 and strong...not the same at nearly 50. My only solace was knowing the Northstar is a pretty quick boat and is a touch faster than the Northwoods Jo Lynn and I were in.

Yes Ella - there are more portages.

All kidding aside, Ella was an absolute trooper, powering across the portages with pack and paddles in hand. A little trail lunch helped. The rest of the portages clicked off and soon we found our island home on Cherokee Lake and settled in nicely. Tents were up and there was enough firewood laying around to cook and have an evening fire. We turned in early as everyone was bit exhausted from the days travels.