It is a glorious thing to wake up well-rested in the wilderness. A quiet cool morning after a hard nights sleep is a taste of heaven on earth. Coffee and breakfast burritos are on the menu this morning.

After breakfast some in our group are interested in exploring the western shore of Lake Three. We notice a couple of small lakes that direction connected to Lake Three by creeks, and given the rainy spring and high water we've had so far, we wonder if its possible to paddle down them. So we begin our excursion that direction. Today we're also looking to supplement our dinner with some fresh fish. As we paddle down towards the southwest corner of the lake and troll crank baits along a reedy bay, we quickly land a decent sized pike. Soon after a couple of eater walleye. Then a small mouth that puts up a fierce fight and might be the second or third biggest smallie I've ever landed. We proceed up the western shore of the lake but as we head into the bays leading to the creeks, we find that they are still not quite deep enough to paddle and a little too boggy to try and traverse easily. We loop around the cluster of islands and make our way back to camp and catch one more walleye to fill out our stringer for tonight's supper.

We made fairly short work of the limited firewood on the Island the night before, so a couple of guys head across to a nearby island with no campsites and plenty of blowdown. A few large pieces of cedar are acquired that will make for a good stack of firewood. We cut and split more than we need, but are happy to leave a cache for the next paddlers who come to this site.

It is another hot day. Hotter than expected by mid-afternoon. All of us could use a dip to cool off, so we spend the rest of the remaining afternoon swimming off of the campsite. A great number of waterfowl are passing through today. A family of merganzers roosts on a rock in the channel near us. After a few hours more of swimming and relaxing we find ourselves suddenly inundated with a plague of biting flies. We retreat to our bug tent for about 20 minutes, and then as quickly as they arrived, they left.

The temperature begins to finally cool off sometime in the early evening and we begin the work of a fish fry. The feast that follows is very satisfying. Followed by good conversation and another epic boundary waters sunset. A cool front has moved in and we're now glad for our good stock of firewood as we continue conversation around the fire. Around 11p I head back to the hammock and settle in for one of the best night's sleep I've had in a long time. Cool fresh northern air is as good as a sedative.