Morning broke clear and cold. The little bit of water left in our cups was as frozen as we were crawling from the warmth of the sleeping bags out to a new day. Biscuits, gravy and coffee lit the internal fires and we pushed off to Boulder by 9:30 AM. We were prepared for the worst going into Boulder and had planned how we would beat the bushes into Boulder. Again, we were anticipating conditions based on the 2006 experience. In 2006, low water made it very difficult to get close to the portage into Boulder.

The air was still and morning fog hung in the bays as we made our way across Adams to the portage. I even had the opportunity to put on my sunglasses. High water and a beaver dam eliminated the portage on the Adams side of the portage into Boulder. The north portage was far short of 20r and more like a pull-over. In between the portages shown on the maps, we scraped a few rocks but stayed in the canoes. High water, ya got to love it. These conditions were so different than last September.

There are three campsites on Boulder. We checked out the south shore, found it adequate, decided to be picky and moved toward the island. The island camp is a good one with nice easy access, and a big rock to lie on like a lizard. There are good flat tent spots too. We pitched the tents and then retired to the rock…….. oh to be warm again. The wind still carried a bite, but we sprawled out in a protected little niche, pulled off our boots and aired out our toes. Little pleasures are big. I found a fish pole and case at this site. It looked to be someone’s back country special.

This was our 5th day without seeing another soul, but more importantly it did not rain or snow. A good easy day of going with the flow.

Photos show 1) morning at Adams, 2) pull-over out of the N end of Adams (no portage required), 3) warming rock at Boulder Camp