Picked up our permit at Frost River and loaded up the RAV. On our way to Ely! We had an uneventful drive to Snowbank Outfitters, got checked in, and headed back into town to have dinner and wander around. Good meal at Insula, then over to Piragis where we found Big Sky cozies for rehydrating meals- way better than the silver Hawk Vittles one I've been using. Also some Alpine Aire meals that looked interesting. Had to stop at Zups and browse around....got some almond butter powder and these great mexican mango popsicles that tasted like the best dreamsicles in the world. Early to bed in the motel at Snowbank, we want to be on the water early. There's no AC in the motel, but a good fan made sleeping possible.

On to Ensign..the portage wouldn't have been bad if it hadn't been SO hot. Once on the water, the wind began to pick up. First 2 sites full, but on the north side of the lake we found one open. There isn't much of a view from the kitchen, but lots of room for tents, a nice shady spot to set up a rainfly, and no real fly problem. Cool trail up the hill to a picked over blueberry field witha stone bench hidden in the long grass.

Set up camp, had some snacks and "iced" coffee, then sat in the shade. Still pretty hot but there's a breeze and shade so life is good. There's a big group of sumac bushes that are flowering and boy are the bees happy! Discovered that left my hairbrush in the car....oh well.

~Snowbank Lake, Boot Lake, Ensign Lake

Took the campsite on the northeast end of Vera. Jesse has decided that he really enjoys shorter days with time to explore an area, and I'm fine with that. Got a decent rain shelter set up while it sprinkled so all our gear was protected before the thunderstorms started. Saw a sad group paddling down the lake as it poured buckets. We didn't have the tent up yet, and that ended up being a blessing.

Once the rain kinda quit I went and looked at the 3 nice flat tent pads in camp and......they were all lakes. I scouted around the edges of camp and just down the shore was a beautiful spot. Tucked into the trees, elevated, dry, shady. You have to follow the stepping stones along the shore. Set up there before the rain got going again.

Finally cleared up and was a gorgeous evening. Cut and split some wood, had cajun smack chicken and rice. Last photo is of one of the tent pads in the mud.

~Ensign Lake, Vera Lake

Came back to camp and hung the shower.....boy did that feel good. Saw 2 loons running across the water in short spurts. When I looked through my binoculars, the one in front had a biggish fish in it's beak. I'd love to know that story!

Rained on and off during the afternoon, but got to have another fire, chili and quesadillas. ~Vera Lake

We are on the southeast end of the lake. It's a lovely grove of birches, unique. One really nice tent pad, decent kitchen and spot for the rain fly. Shady and protected from the wind to some extent. We didn't look at the site across the lake but it looks like full sun, very few trees. Only strikes against this one are access and the latrine. At first you'd think the only way in is up the rock face, but there is a better access with canoe garage to the right, in a cedar grove. And, the latrine is pretty close to camp, and quite full.

Today is sunny and windy with some smoke haze from the western fires along the horizon. We have a bunch of firewood cut, and then had afternoon coffee with salami whips, apricots, triscuits and cheese. Kept the fire going until sunset, and then the wings of doom descended and we went to bed.

~Knife Lake, South Arm Knife Lake, Bonnie Lake, Spoon Lake

Portaged into a little unnamed lake at the east end of Spoon- so pretty. One shore burned awhile back, the other didn't. Tried to find the next portage but there was a cascade of beaver dams in that bay so we decided to go blueberry picking on the burned hillside instead. Very productive- got a couple cups . Made us happy, since all the other bushes we've seen were bare- no green berries even.

Back on Spoon we went over to the full sun campsite, changed into our swimsuits, and swam and lay on the rocks. Not a site that gets much use, I think. The grass is getting tall and blueberries are colonizing the tent pad. Lots of short young pines....in another 30 years it will be gorgeous. Came back to camp feeling refreshed.

The FS paddled into camp to check our permit and latrine- they didn't mention our barrel. Latrine is full, so they went across the lake to set up camp and then came back to move it. Took them an hour or so and we got to christen a brand new latrine. Lots of smoke haze tonight.

~Spoon Lake

Showered AND changed clothes......what a luxury! Storms are closer and there's some wind now, feels nice after the heat earlier.

Just past mid day the storms finally found us. Rained pretty hard for awhile, but it's quit now and the camp is sunny while thunder rumbles south of us again. Sitting in the sun watching ripples on the water. Clothes got washed. Climbed the hill behind camp after dinner to a beautiful forest of red pines.

1 week in. The days revolve around the weather, the sunrise and set, meals, the work of travel and setting up camp, firewood. Such peace. ~Spoon Lake, Pickle Lake, Kekekabic Lake

We went out for a day paddle on Kekekabic- such a huge lake with twisty little bays, I really liked it. There are lots of cliffs and mounds of tall hills, and the water is amazingly clear. Took the short portage into Kek Lake. It's a gorgeous little gem. Took a video in the center of the lake while Jesse paddles us in a slow circle. We found a rocky area of shoreline to eat lunch- smoked sausage, olives, apricots, nuts. So many big white pines on Kek Lake that made it through the blowdown in the shelter of these hills. We've seen a few canoes off in the distance today, and this morning I heard someone splitting wood, but that's it.

Once back in camp Jesse took water, GPS and raingear and went to explore the island further. He returned with tales of vast mossy greenness, many mosquitos, and lots of tangled blowdown. We stayed up with the fire until almost dark, but it clouded over and we headed for the tent. ~Kekekabic Lake, Kek Lake

It's been raining since Gerund Lake, finally stopped for now. Got a dry camp set up and had some lunch. Never really warmed up, but no more rain and a little sun. We cut a bunch of wood, had chili and quesadillas and chocolate pudding. Now just enjoying the fire. The big pine in camp was filled with little birds in the late afternoon- ovenbird, chickadees, back and white warbler, blackburnian warbler, hummingbird, white throated sparrow, black throated green warbler. Found a deserted robin's nest.

No one seems to come down this bay. ~Kekekabic Lake, Strup Lake, Wisini Lake, Ahmakose Lake, Gerund Lake, Fraser Lake

Once back on Fraser, we collected wood and putzed along the shore. We found the outflow of a creek that drains a tiny pond back in the hills above the lake. Then we went back to camp.

I sat in camp and watched Jesse figure out how to cut wood solo, and understand why I gravitate towards wrist sized pieces. He's slowly acquiring the skills he'll need to solo some day.

We did see one group on the Fraser/Shepo portage, which is flat short and wide, that commented that this would be the hardest portage we did all day. Funny guys! They were coming from the direction of Cap/Roe/Boulder. ~Fraser Lake, Shepo Lake, Sagus Lake

Fraser and Thomas both smooth as glass. It's clear and calm, perfect paddling weather. Lot's of big white pines, almost all campsites empty. The narrows between Fraser and Thomas is really cool, rock faces about 20-30 feet apart. Not quite as dramatic as Snipe Alley, but still interesting. Such beautiful country- classic BWCA lakes. Took the series of portages into Ima, and started seeing people there, especially once we got near Hatchet. Saw a pair of loons with 2 chicks near the portage out of Thomas. Met a soloist at the portage who was from Colorado and doing his first solo.

Ima was SO busy! Took the first open site we saw that wasn't horrible. It's closest neighbor was MAYBE a 1 star site. Bare ground, that's it, with the latrine in full view of camp and no shade. Only tent pad, directly behind the fire pit. It was taken every night that we we're here, but never more than one night running. Tonight it had some noisy young guys, but they didn't stay up late.

Ours is pretty nice. Obviously heavily used, but has 3-4 decent tent pads, some nice shade, big rocks in front, and a private latrine. It also has an "unnatural population of some species", as the BWCA video puts it. Very bold chipmunks that appear to expect us to feed them. Camp got set up with everything rodent proofed. Packs hung from clotheslines after the chippies tried to crawl inside. Heating the solar shower and wood is split. So many people looking for a site.

Had showers, which felt awesome as always. After seeing how busy this area is, we've decided to stay put for 3 nights and explore the PMA and the other small lakes in the area. If we find something open on Disappointment or Parent we'll take it for our final night, and if not we've only lost one day of our trip.

Stayed up with the fire until we saw the first 4 stars, and then the hungry hordes descended. Wow were they bad! Got a dozen or so in the tent with us, and when we used the flashlight to hunt them down the vestibule filled with skeeters. Jesse took a video that is truly horrifying! </a> ~Fraser Lake, Thomas Lake, Hatchet Lake, Ima Lake

~Ima Lake, Snatch Lake, Reflection Lake

Our goal today is to find Solitude on this busy lake! Had to portage the canoe over to the red pine woods west of camp to find a quieter area to launch from- lots of jagged rocks in the waves right at camp. Followed the shore of the bay until we found the remnants of the old portage trail into Solitude. We were able to bushwhack fairly easily into Solitude- the old trail is faintly visible. It's starting to get harder to follow in a few spots where trees have fallen over the old trail and new trails have sprung up. Would be hard to get the Quetico through, but something shorter and slimmer like my Magic would be quite doable.

Came back to Ima and paddled over to Alworth, which was pretty but also busy. The first campsite on Alworth is directly at the end of the portage trail- not optimal. Very pretty portage. We wanted to find out if you could paddle to Muzzle. Both our maps show a campsite there, and it's not near a hiking trail, so......the short answer is probably not. We got a little ways past where the hiking trail crosses the creek on a beaver dam and turned around. The beavers are very busy along that stretch....a portage would be easier than the constant in and out. PP says- disconnected location. Back into Ima, ate our lunch on a rocky point on the calm side of the lake. Discovered that pickles wrapped on Korean jerky are delicious!

Back in camp, and the wind is really fierce. Jesse went exploring behind camp and found a huge garbage dump.....tents, bags full of crushed beer cans and other garbage, stove pipe sections, a snow shovel, plastic cups, plates, etc, and a 50 gallon orange barrel. He took pics and dropped a pin on his map and I'll call the FS when we get out.

Trips always feel too short at this point. I miss Ole and Amelia, and good food and a soft bed, but I also never want to leave the woods. ~Ima Lake, Solitude Lake, Alworth Lake

Friday morning we awoke to a dense fog over the lake. We got some great pictures.

Me and one other had woken up early and decided to head out fishing while the other two slept. We paddled through the fog to the opposite shoreline and were once again treated to great smallmouth fishing.

We caught approximately 30 smallmouth in about 2 hours. 

After heading back to camp and hanging out and eating lunch, we went on our day trip back to Clearwater Lake to the palisade overlooking the lake.

We were told of a small trail that leads up to the top. After some searching of the shoreline, we were able to find the start of the trail. We parked the canoes on the shore and headed up the steep trail to the top. It took about 20 minutes to reach the very top. The views were amazing and it was one the highlights of our trip. These pictures just don't do it justice.

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We spent some time enjoying the views and then climbed back down the TRAIL AND HEADED BACK TO OUR camp on Caribou. We finished the day by eating the walleye from the day before and it was spectacular.

We took the longer portage into Snowbank, which was probably a mistake since it meant we had to cross more open water on Snowbank. This was NOT fun. Big rollers, with minimal waves actually getting in the canoe but still.....butt clenching. Once we got past the bay by the canoe landing it was WAY better. Still work, but not scary. Got back to the outfitters around 1030, got showered and packed up the car. Headed towards Ely but immediately realized it was Blueberry Festival, so headed towards Hwy 61 and swung by the Trestle Inn for a couple Locomotives and fries.

And then it's over....bittersweet.

~Disappointment Lake, Snowbank Lake