After the day before traveling up from southern Wisconsin, Chris, Jon, Sean, James, and myself wake early at Williams and Hall's bunkhouse and get squared with the plan. After the good outfitter dropped our canoes off at the entry point, we drive over and load up. Shortly after 8am we're on our way.

After last year's trip I asked the crew what bucket list items they wanted to check off this year. The two main objectives this year: experience a difficult portage, and catch walleye for dinner. With the wind very calm this morning we make the call to paddle up to Boot Lake instead of the normal Disappointment route as the Haven Lake to Abinodji portage has several reviews touting the difficulty.

The Boot portage and the subsequent Haven portage were nothing notable - this year we made an attempt to single portage as much as possible. As we float in to the landing we are greeted with what indeed looks like a goat path with a steep ascent into the woods. We opt to double portage this one - it was the right call given the elevation. The trail was dry and relatively well maintained, with a nice stone "step" near the top to take a break if needed.

We stopped for lunch at the lone campsite on Abinodji, which is the first moment that I really feel like I am in the BWCA - the site has a gorgeous view of the entire lake and we hadn't seen anyone since Snowbank. After a brief rest and food, we continued on our way, hoping to make it to Jordan and find a campsite - we had read that those sites fill up fast so we wanted to get there earlier in the afternoon.

The portage into Swing Lake was mucky, and we honestly might prefer the elevation difficulty of the previous one. The landing was just as mucky as reported: a few worse-for-wear boards gave their best effort at providing some structure, but Jon and I were waist deep in muck when we each misjudged a step. After three more relatively uneventful portages broken up by Cattyman Falls we floated onto Jordan, hoping to find a site. Fortunately the northern site was open. It is indeed a five-star campsite - a little beach, great views, and adequate places to hang the hammocks and pitch the tents. The wind started picking up so we opted to stay at camp for the evening and cook up the fresh food we brought for the first night. A couple sausages, some potatoes and cabbage filled us up, and we settled in for the night.

~Snowbank Lake, Boot Lake, Haven Lake, Abinodji Lake, Swing Lake, Gibson Lake, Cattyman Lake, Jordan Lake

First night in the back country means we're not accustomed yet to this lifestyle so we are slow to get ready in the morning, but by 9am we are on our way. This leg of the trip is to satisfy our second objective, walleye dinner. Online sources suggested that Sagus Lake is a good lake to target for eater walleye so we make our way there. After a pretty long wait for a large group at the Hatchet Lake portage from Ima, we make our way towards Thomas Lake.

This part of the trip was against the current in the Hatchet River, with a couple of short portages along the way. James and I made the attempt to paddle up a little swift, which James deftly navigated us through. It probably would have been less energy to just do the carryover like our other boat did, but it was fun nonetheless. These portages were all largely uphill too, so even though they are very short it was a bit of a workout for the nerds.

After this series of short stretches of paddling with small portages in between, we're ready for a long paddle. The wind is cooperatively light, and we really get the paddling muscles moving. The narrows between Thomas Lake and Fraser Lake are one of the coolest places that we've been in the boundary Waters. By the time we get into Fraser it is later than we hoped, slowed up by the mid 80's temperatures. This trip we had brought some double bladed paddles, and it was nice to use some different muscle groups by rotating between the double and single blade. Finally we portage into Sagus, which is actually a pretty neat hike. The trail skirts along a steep dropoff and was more pleasant than I expected.

Paddling in, we look through the narrows to the north and see a couple of canoes. The northern campsite didn't look particularly accommodating so we scouted the southern two as well. We end up at the Southeast campsite which is a nice little site that worked out pretty well for our group. The tent pads weren't the greatest but there were a couple of decent hammock spots and we were all able to fit, even though it was a little tight. With camp mostly set up, Sean and I head out to try and find a walleye hole. After trying a few spots without much luck we managed to catch a couple small walleye just as the sun was dipping below the trees, and we decide to pack it in for the evening.

~Jordan Lake, Ima Lake, Hatchet Lake, Thomas Lake, Fraser Lake, Sagus Lake~Jordan Lake, Ima Lake, Hatchet Lake, Thomas Lake, Fraser Lake, Sagus Lake

Last year, Sean and I had failed to get out and fish any of the mornings which is a tragedy because we consider ourselves to be fishermen. Today was the day that we were going to make up for it. We both were up and ready to go by 5:30 in the morning. After a quick breakfast we hopped into the canoe and set out to find some fish. We headed back to where we had caught the couple of small ones, and though it wasn't immediate we did manage to catch three nice eaters. James had brought out some hash browns which made the perfect side dish for a walleye breakfast.

We stayed pretty lazy for the rest of the morning, hanging around camp and resting. After lunch we headed to the north side of Sagus where we had seen those canoes fishing the night before. There was a pretty good wind going, so we hoped that we could find some fish where it wasn't so blustery. Sean had packed an anchor bag and I brought a drift sock and this was the perfect opportunity to try those out. We caught a few walleye up there, and explored the islands in the northern part of the BWCA. The fishing was pretty decent but the view was even better, the islands and the rocks in the water made this one of the most beautiful places in the BWCA that I'd seen yet. As we started to approach dinner time, we paddled back down to the south side of the lake to where we had caught the walleyes in the morning and set about trying to catch dinner. It took some moving around and some trying but eventually we were able to string up enough walleyes for us to filet up. Chris hadn't come out fishing, and we arrived to a perfectly set up campsite with wood ready for the dinner fire and everything! A dinner of of stuffing, walleye, and fresh camp bread made for the perfect rest day meal. This year we had brought a Jetboil, which was an MVP for coffee and tea, and we relaxed with some excellent herbal tea and a beautiful evening.

~Sagus Lake

This was going to be the last grind of a travel day. Our goal was to make it back to Jordan Lake, and we were hoping that because the portages were mostly uphill on the way out this way that the downhill travel would speed up our progress. Not only did that help but the rest day, the lighter food packs, as well as really getting into a good rhythm for loading and unloading the boats. Even without the lighter food barrels the efficiency difference between the first day and this day was really incredible - not just the rhythm but something about how you operate seems to change when you've been in the wilderness for a few days. This change in mode doesn't seem to settle in until at least the third day for me, which means shorter trips won't accomplish one of the things I like best about these trips: doing a "reset" on my mind and body in a way I have not been able to accomplish in a different way.

We made great time and did the same track to Jordan in two fewer hours. The campsite we had on the way in was occupied, so we checked out the other two. The central campsite was a pretty interesting and rugged site, but it didn't have any real great places to hang the hammocks. We were fortunate enough that the southern site on Jordan Lake was also available. It was a beautiful place to set up camp - but quite open without a lot of cover. There were two pretty good tent pads and one relatively sheltered area. Sean with his freestanding tent made a spot on the top of the hill work, and I strung my hammock between two trees right next to him. We cut our setup short to try to catch dinner again - but after an hour and a half of no bites we headed back to camp. This was fortunate because we had barely enough time to finish setting up before a pretty big thunderstorm started to roll in. James and I had delayed setting up our tarps, and we barely got them over the hammocks before the first few raindrops hit.

The leading edge of the storm had some pretty high winds, and I didn't manage to get into the hammock before the rain because I needed to increase the number and size of the rocks I had holding the tarp lines down since I couldn't stake them. Perched on top of the hill, with little to no windbreaks, I feel slightly lucky my hammock held. My brother had to sit in his tent to stop it from blowing away, and then the downpour hit. For over two hours it poured rain, and when the winds let up and the rain continued to fall several of my buddies joined me in hanging out in our raincoats, which turned out were not impermeable enough for the several inches of rain we received over the next two-plus hours. I was out there because I didn't want to change into my last set of dry clothes and lay in the hammock until I knew I was ready to settle in for the night.

Around 9pm the rain finally let up, and we used the Jetboil to boil some water for dehydrated meals. I changed into the last dry clothes I had and settled in for the night. Around 2am I woke again to lightning in the distance. One of the things I really like about the Amok hammock I camp in is that I can see so much from it. Watching the lightning in the distance I wondered if we'd get hit again and checked the Zoleo a few times before drifting back to sleep. ~Sagus Lake, Shepo Lake, Fraser Lake, Thomas Lake, Hatchet Lake, Ima Lake, Jordan Lake

After what was probably the poorest sleep of the trip, we took a little extra time this morning to dry out our gear and clothes on the rocks and make a good breakfast. Camp bread, this time cooked on the Dragonfly made for a great meal to lift the spirits. Once the boats were packed up, we made our way towards Disappointment Lake. We had read that campsites could be difficult to come by, we were confident that our efficiency and speed would get us there in reasonable amount of time to try and snag one. Having already been to Cattyman Falls, we took a left turn on Cattyman and headed through Adventure, Jitterbug, and Ahsub. At the portage into Disappointment Lake there were a substantial number of people and we heard that most of the sites had been taken, so we made our way in to check all of the sites. The group ahead of us took a site that had recently been vacated, and so we headed on a zigzag path to get eyes on the sites on the lake. The southeast site in the narrows was open but the path up to it is treacherous and there were no good hammock hanging spots, so after a vote we decided to check the last couple left on the lake. Good fortune smiled on us again as the last site that we checked, the southernmost site that is not highly rated, happen to be open. It was definitely not the most picturesque site and had definitely been abused but it had good enough spots for us to pitch the tents and hang the hammocks so it was home.

Since this was the last night in the BWCA we were able to eat what we had left from the food stores and ate like kings. We bring enough food to last us even if we don't catch fish, but the two fish meals we did have left us with plenty of food for this meal. Chris went for a hike, and Jon and Sean went one way while James and I went another to fish in some perfect fishing weather. James and I crushed a ton of big smallies until the bugs chased us off the water and back to camp.

We capped off the evening with tea and some incredible stars and planets on a clear night. What a treat.

~Jordan Lake, Cattyman Lake, Adventure Lake, Jitterbug Lake, Ahsub Lake, Disappointment Lake

We packed up camp, and the short paddle and long portage into Snowbank later we were on the home stretch. A successful morning paddle later, we headed to the outfitter for a shower and a beer before striking out for home. The nerds successfully conquered nature, though she didn't give up without a fight.

~Disappointment Lake, Snowbank Lake