Thursday, May 30, 2024 11.7 miles traveled (10.1 miles paddling, 1.6 miles portaging (0.1, 0.2, 0.5, 0.3, 0.5 miles double portaging))

We had another leisurely morning with an expected fairly easy paddling day in front of us. We didn’t start paddling until 10 am. The sky was blue, but the wind had picked up from the south. For most of the day we would be on small lakes where wind was not expected to be an issue. The way south included a couple of short portages, then a longer portage crossing a power line on Crowrock Lake.

The next portage is a spooky looking area with a swamp and dead trees. My first time here a couple years ago left me feeling strangely troubled. On my first time through I searched a long time for a portage, to no avail, and finally had to just wing it.

This time, knowing how to get through (cross the big beaver dam, paddle through the nasty swamp, portage the remaining creek to the next beaver dam and carry over) it was a fairly simple affair. A few more portages finally brought us to Dashwa Lake around 3 pm. Now, on a bigger lake, the south wind became pretty daunting. The canoe remained stable throughout the crossing, and we dodged in behind islands whenever possible. It took about an hour and a half to make the 3.5-mile paddle to a nice campsite on the southeast side of Dashwa. We spent the evening relaxing, fishing, bathing and tidying camp in preparation for an early departure in the morning. As is typical, the wind died down after 6 pm and we had a calm evening…a real departure from the 15-mph wind we had during the day.