After a lunch stop at Tobie's in Hinckley, MN and a relatively smooth trip north to Ely, we did a little shopping at Piragis before proceeding out on the Fernberg and Vosburgh roads to Williams and Hall Outfitters. I had been at this lodge before but it was over 30 years ago, when it had different owners. For the most part, little has changed here with a beautiful setting, great service and a delicious supper all part of our experience. To end the day we shared a few stories and a beer or two before a restful night in the outfitter's bunkhouse with great anticipation of hitting the water the next day.

Soon we had crossed Birch Lake and as we pulled in to the first portage, we encountered what would be a common occurance throughout the day: a VERY busy portage. In dozens of trips I have never experienced so many people coming and going along the trails (including one group of six canoes and 12 people!) with groups at either end waiting as well. This was true all of the way out to Knife Lake. And while it was encouraging for us to see so many people leaving Knife if we were going to be looking for a campsite, this kind of congestion was also testing the patience of some travelers with a few curt comments heard and another group that decided against waiting and who then attempted to run the rapids. I heard their canoe thump against the rocks and through the trees I got a glimpse of it hung up with one end sticking out into thin air. It was even more concerning hearing the voices of children as part of this group but none of them sounded stressed and others had moved in to help them so we moved on.[paragraph break]

As we crossed Seed Lake to the portage into Knife, I became confused when we were already coming to the rapids without much sign of the portage. I saw a clearing on the U.S. side that might be a portage but my (brand new!) map showed it to be on the Canadian side and that's also how I remembered it from being through this area a couple of times, years ago. We landed at a spot that indicated human activity and coincided with the portage location on my map. There was indeed an obvious path but I was still confused as this path did not look as traveled as one would expect. After hauling gear a short ways along this path, the trail disappeared! Frustrated, I asked for advice from the next coming canoeists who said they had been tipped off that the maps are wrong, the old portage (where we had landed) had been closed for years and that there were now TWO portages from there to Knife Lake--one U.S. and one Canadian! Learning that I had an incorrect map made me feel a little less foolish and also explained that clearing we'd seen on the U.S. side.[paragraph break]

Once we finally reached Knife Lake we grabbed a little lunch before setting off in search of a campsite. Indeed, we pretty much had our pick of sites on the southeast end of Knife and after checking out a few we settled on site #1251 near the Vera Lake portage. This site had a wide open flat-rock landing with a good fire grate just a bit uphill to give a nice view out over the lake. The tent pads worked well and the latrine looked like it would serve us sufficiently.[paragraph break]

After a little relaxing and getting the tents up, it was time for our tradtional first-night supper: steak and foil-wrapped potatoes, onions and carrots. Mat did a great job with the steaks over an open fire and the veggies cooked that same way turned out about as good as I can remember.[paragraph break]

We did note that this site had "significant" mosquitos and that some were biting us even when we were out in the sun (we should have further noted this for what was to come!). Still, we were content with our new home and after some fireside stories and a few pulls from our flasks, we turned in to our tents to complete a successful first day on the water.

About a third of the way to Thunder Point a gentle rain did begin so we took a quick break from paddling to don our rainsuits before continuing on to our destination. Upon reaching Thunder Point, we decided that a lunch break would properly energize us for the climb to the top. As we finished up, a Boy Scout troop from Texas decended the hill and enthused to us that the hike was worth it and we would surely enjoy the view. I mentioned to them that I'd been to the top once before, 29 years ago. Their leader, a gentleman who looked to be about my age, laughed, "The climb will be different for you now!" He was right as the hike up was more work than I remembered but his Scouts were right as well--the view from the top of Thunder Point was well worth the effort, even in spite of the persistant rain.[paragraph break]

In addition to that rain, the wind had now picked up from the west and was creating some rollers out on the lake. Paddling right into that wind on our return from Thunder Point was going to be some work. Our strategy was to island hop until we got to the little cove formed by Isle of Pines and nearby Robbins Island where we would try the fishing. This worked well and our trip back west from Thunder Point was not as bad as I'd feared it would be when I saw those rollers. The fishing, however, did not go as well with two almost-tiny bass being the only fish we had to show for our efforts. I was pleased to find Dorothy's "ribbon rock" but with the continuing rain and slow fishing, we decided to skip any further exploration of Isle of Pines and just return to camp.[paragraph break]

Once we got there the rain did quit and we enjoyed a few peeks of sun. This meant that more fishing was in order and we were succsessful right off the shore of our campsite. Kirby managed a 17" smallmouth and I had one on the line that was at least that size but which snapped the line just before I could lift it out of the water. We added a couple more 12' smallies to the stringer which gave us enough for Doug's delicious fish chowder to supplement our freeze dried entrées.[paragraph break]

As we finished supper, the mosquitos started to increase and then got steadily worse. And then worse. And worse. With still an hour or two before dark, there were now unescapable clouds of them everywhere and the repellant we'd brought didn't seem to make any difference. Nor did the permathrin soaking that Doug had given his clothes before the trip. My headnet (the first time I'd ever actually put one on) helped some but even after dozens of previous BWCA trips I will call this the worst mosquito experience I've ever had and we were drivin into our tents for the night. Even well into the night they had still not diminished as a brief trip outside to pee resulted in many of them sneaking into the tent even though the door was only opened for several seconds at the most. Oh, well--it did make for another good BWCA story!

On the way in towards Knife, we had chatted with the occupants of site #1280 as we passed by. They proclaimed to us that their campsite was a really nice spot and mentioned that they'd be gone by the time we came back through again. We now targeted this site and were pleased to see that it was indeed open. Upon landing we agreed with the previous party's assesment! It had a decent landing, a beautiful open view of the lake from a fire grate fairly close to the water, numerous nice tent pads, trails for exploring and a latrine that was in good shape, private and just a short walk from the main camp site. We were home for the night![paragraph break]

On the downside, we did not have any luck fishing from this site so our freeze-dried food was going to have to fill in as back-up. But before we had a chance to start supper, a pesky goose came ashore and assumed it was invited to join us. This bird appeared to be quite habituated as it showed no fear of us and seemed to know to go right toward the fire grate in search of scraps. We chased it away several times yet it kept coming back even after we'd hit it with a thrown rock. Finally, I think it got the message but I'm sure will try again with the next campers after we are gone.[paragraph break]

Right as supper was concluding, we noticed how smokey it was getting due to what was now drifting in from the continuing wildfires to the north. At one point it was so thick that one could barely see across the lake to Canada. While this made for a stunning sunset it did inhibit breathing a bit and for a while Doug actually needed to use the respiratory mask he'd brought along for just this situation. While wearing the mask he did just fine and everyone else was doing OK as well.[paragraph break]

As dusk fell, we were quite relieved to see many fewer mosquitos. They were still there, for sure, but not any worse than most people's back yard and a HUGE improvement from what we'd gone through with these nasty little critters at our previous site. This allowed us to enjoy a little more time outside in the evening. This included a few card games, a cozy little campfire and a few more pulls from our flasks before turning in for our final night in the woods.

All in all it was a great trip. Sure, there were the mosquitos, there was the traffic on the portages and my body did remind me all through the trip that it was now another year older than the last BWCA adventure but none of that outweighs the great time we had and my planning for "next time" has already begun!