We started out at Piragis to pick up our permit and to get Henry the customary Piragis nalgene bottle. After we stopped at the Frisky Otter for a burger for Henry. I put on a new portage yolk in the motel parking lot. Henry filled the nalgene bottles and mixed the lemonades. The Spring Creek seat/yoke is awesome! Highly recommend!

Got the canoe loaded up and ready to push off when Henry tried putting on a lifejacket on 2 sizes too small. Apparently I didn’t look at the size of the jacket just the weight. So a quick text to Frank at Kawishiwi lodge and down to the boathouse to get one we went.

Henry picked out the campsite, was a nicer campsite than I expected to be as a 2 star site. However I’ve never really had a bad site either. We got our hammocks all set up and with no rain in the immediate forecast we kept the rain flys off. Just sleeping under the stars and one night northern lights as the wind blew through the trees, loons singing their songs and frogs croaking.

We didn’t do much fishing. A handful of hours basically trolling island to island to explore them and find firewood. I did however find enough walleyes pitching a 4 inch slim minnow from shore. Henry may not be into fishing as much as his brother or dad. He however can out eat his brother and dad in the fish department. I’d be willing to bet he can eat as many walleyes as Ronald Matson but not as good of a dish washer as Grandpa, he’ll get there with a couple dozen more trips. Before I knew it he had eaten an 18 and 21 inch walleye before I could blink. And coleslaw. And veggies. And chips. “But don’t worry dad, I left you the cheeks and wings.” So dad had a cup of sw Chipotle chicken soup and some coleslaw.

We caught minnows and tadpoles. We had oliver and frisky the turtles around our campsite. We had a 14 inch pike that I caught trolling back in and released and the thing followed us into shore and then hung out around our campsite another day or so.

Henry also got one of my prized Larson’s custom husky jerks snagged on a sunken log casting from shore. The sheer look of terror in his eyes of seeing his dad strip downn to his Shimano shoes to get the lure back was priceless.

We played war, and go fish, and kings on the corner. We played for a $1 a game and had to have played hundreds of games. At one point we played 3.5 hours straight without taking a break. I only lost a buck so it was a pretty fair time. I think we burned more wood this trip than the 20+ trips combined. The new saw worked great! We stayed up late playing cards inside the bug tent. First time with one and man thatll get packed every time. One night until 11:30 and then up the next day at 4:30. We slept in sometimes, we took naps. We played the floor is lava. We read books, “The Last Entry Point” I thought was a great and somber read.

We talked about life, we talked about everything you could imagine. Without a doubt some of the best times with my boy. We connected. He’s hooked and with his conversations with Frank and me having two kids hooked on going up there. Frank smiling and in a joking tone, I got a SR Quetico 18.5 out back. So, in 39 days from now, we are going back. Not to the same spot, but back into the “magical-ness.” As Henry calls it. Reid, Henry and myself, should be interesting. Need to add another hammock tent and two more under-quilts and we are ready to go.

I also have to laugh, we checked all the boxes according to Henry. 1. Don’t freak out in the canoe. 2. Don’t freak out in hammock. 3. Eat fish. 4. See northern lights 5. Have a fire. 6. Play cards 7. Don’t get hurt.