The next morning we got up and kind of took our time getting ready. It was raining - sometimes lightly and sometimes hard. We cooked breakfast (actually Tim did). The rain did pause long enough to take down our tent and pack up. So much for our gear being lighter from eating the food and using fuel - our gear was soaked and we would be carrying water weight. By the time we got back on the lake it started raining again and it rained moderately most of the day as we worked our way back. The portages were very muddy now when they weren't just the day before. We decided to do a two man carry of the canoe right-side-up back through the portages as we thought it would be safer with the muddy trails. This worked out fine. We didn't pause very long until we got back to Horseshoe Lake. The wind was pretty strong all the way back and we stopped at our old campsite on Horseshoe Lake for lunch. During lunch we decided to move on to Lake Three tonight to make the final day's paddle shorter. We continued on and had a little difficulty finding the portage from Horseshoe to Lake Three. The Pow Wow Trail runs along the shoreline near the portage and we were fooled twice where the trail met the water before we found the real portage. Once on Lake Three the first couple campsites were occupied but then we found an open site. Although this site was pretty close to two other sites, we never heard a peep from either site and both of the other sites were out of sight. We set up camp, found a place to hang our bear bag (easy here) and went off to search for firewood (difficult here). This was a beautiful site and we saw an eagle fly around directly across from our camp. We started a fire and the rain then tapered off and then stopped. We really enjoyed this site and were glad we continued to this site. Around the campfire we heard a sound, which turned out to be what we think was a mink. What a nice finish to what was a stormy, wet, cold day. PG" align="left" > North Wilder Lake, Brewis Lake, Harbor Lake, Horseshoe Lake, Three, Lake

We woke up on a cloudy, but mostly dry day. We had a little rain but not much. What did concern us was the strong wind. It was obvious we were going to be crossing Lake Three (and everything else for that matter) with a strong headwind. We broke camp and loaded our canoe (strapping everything to the canoe this time) and headed back. As we were paddling across Lake Three we were greeted with the sight of an eagle. Unfortunately, we couldn't stop to look as any pause in paddling would push us back. We only got brief rests behind a couple islands but the paddling was constant and hard. We were actually looking forward to the portage to get a short break from paddling. Again, the numbered lakes were a little difficult to navigate and it took us a few minutes to find the portage to Lake One. A little over 3 hours after we started we were back to our car, a little tired but happy. Three, Lake

This morning we had the choice to take the North Portage into Sunday Lake or Ranger Portage into Burke and then into Sunday Lake. We decided that since this was really our first portage (since Prairie is a pretty well traveled trail) that we would opt for the Ranger Portage route. This 84 rod portage has a really nice, sandy landing on Bayley Bay and the trail is really a nice portage trail, being mostly flat terrain.

Once on Burke Lake, we paddled the scenic Burke Lake to Single Brook Portage. The approach to this 5 rod portage is very pretty and before even landing at the portage, Sunday Lake's water can already be seen on the other side. There was a crew staying at the campsite on the portage so we made sure to stay clear of that area. [paragraph break]

We paddled Sunday Lake, taking a break for lunch before tackling the Meadows portages. These two long, but not difficult portages would but our crew to their first test on team work. We had to double trip the portages with it being the beginning of our trip. Other than being long and back to back portages, these portages really are not bad. [paragraph break]

Finally, the long awaited destination - Agnes Lake! It is getting late in the date and the rain is beginning so we choose to look for a campsite before heading to Louisa Falls for some much earned swimming fun. We ended up at the site just north of the falls, which was a pretty nice site. It has a sandy landing (although the previous campers had unfortunately left their fish remains along the shoreline). There were two nice trees at the edge of the site for a great bear hang and sheltered areas for tent pads. We ended up with a downpour so our rainfly had a work out. It rained hard enough that with washed a fair amount of sand down the side of the campsite and into the water.

We were able to take advantage of a break in the weather and enjoy a couple hours at Louisa Falls for some great swimming. It was definitely a stop enjoyed by everyone! By the time we were ready to go back to camp, the temperature had cooled and rain was definitely moving in.

After talking to the girls and them agreeing that our site on Jeff did not cut it for layover, we packed up and made our way to what we planned would be a great lay over site. A couple of the girls were really enjoying learning how to read the maps so they navigated us to the 8 rod portage, which was not too difficult to find. It was a nice short, easy portage. We loaded up and continued our short paddle to the much anticipated portage that would lead us to some river paddling. The beginning of the portage trail wasn't too hard to find, but was obviously not a well-traveled trail. [paragraph break] Arriving at the other end of the portage and seeing the river entrance, my excitement exploded! I love these kind of challenges! We can see the water....but getting to it will require some teamwork and a sense of adventure. Fortunately, we have a crew who is excited for the adventure! [paragraph break]

[paragraph break]

We continued to work together to make our way down this narrow, very winding river. We only had one other place where we had to do a lift over due to a beaver dam in progress. Once we reached West Lake we had a nice paddle to the 12 rod portage to South Lake. We stopped at this campsite to enjoy lunch and wash some mud off our boots. The portage was very flat and easily traveled. The short paddle across South Lake brought us to another easy 14 rod portage and into North Bay.

We were happy to see the water not too bad so we set our goal for the large island at the south end for our campsite. The site on the north-east side was available and the girls loved the rock shoreline so it became home for the next two nights.

This site did not have good bear hang trees again as most of the pines were very unstable. We were finally able to get one tree that we made work for the two nights. It's a good thing we had eaten a lot of food by this point of our trip!

We decided that our original route up Agnes and down the S-chain was not doable for our crew of youth so we opted to change to our alternate route through Jeff. Our morning was greeted with some wind and waves, which so far the girls have not had to experience. We worked our way along the shoreline to the 39 rod portage leading to East Lake. A definite down side to Quetico maps...no topo information showing that this is a 1400' rock ledge! While the girls took a break for lunch, my co-guide and I scouted the shoreline and did some rock climbing looking for the portage trail (not an easy task). After lunch was over, we decided there was no way we were going to portage over that rock so we had to continue further up Agnes and portage into the west side of East Lake.

We were at least treated to a little wildlife sighting lol. [paragraph break] We continued our paddle up Agnes until we could turn south at the point and head back toward the 32 rod portage into East Lake. We were very happy to see a portage trail that was easy to find and easy to walk! We continued our paddle down East Lake to the 41 rod portage into Jeff Lake. This portage trail was also an easy portage but a kind of boggy river entrance to Jeff Lake. We did end up pulling the canoes through a short stretch in the beginning of Jeff because of the shallow sandy waters but it was a nice walk that left our boots in tact!

Having no notes about Jeff Lake, we were not sure if there were other sites on Jeff or not so we started scouting, with the hope of getting as far west as possible before camping. This day was to be our layover day, but our campsite would determine whether we would stay two nights or one.

We ended up at the only site marked at the west end of Jeff Lake. Definitely not a layover site. The canoe landing is very narrow, requiring storing of 3 canoes in two different locations. The fire area was sheltered well and had a nice rock to use as a bench and another to use as a food prep area. The only places for tents were in the open and the three tents for our crew were accompanied by a fair number of rocks. There is a very nice rock along the shore for sitting and relaxing or enjoying dinner. Bear hang options are non- existent, with only one large tree and no other trees in range, so we ended up sandwiching our food between two canoes and tying them together. Fortunately, it worked.

After talking to the girls and them agreeing that our site on Jeff did not cut it for layover, we packed up and made our way to what we planned would be a great lay over site. A couple of the girls were really enjoying learning how to read the maps so they navigated us to the 8 rod portage, which was not too difficult to find. It was a nice short, easy portage. We loaded up and continued our short paddle to the much anticipated portage that would lead us to some river paddling. The beginning of the portage trail wasn't too hard to find, but was obviously not a well-traveled trail. [paragraph break] Arriving at the other end of the portage and seeing the river entrance, my excitement exploded! I love these kind of challenges! We can see the water....but getting to it will require some teamwork and a sense of adventure. Fortunately, we have a crew who is excited for the adventure! [paragraph break]

[paragraph break]

We continued to work together to make our way down this narrow, very winding river. We only had one other place where we had to do a lift over due to a beaver dam in progress. Once we reached West Lake we had a nice paddle to the 12 rod portage to South Lake. We stopped at this campsite to enjoy lunch and wash some mud off our boots. The portage was very flat and easily traveled. The short paddle across South Lake brought us to another easy 14 rod portage and into North Bay.

We were happy to see the water not too bad so we set our goal for the large island at the south end for our campsite. The site on the north-east side was available and the girls loved the rock shoreline so it became home for the next two nights.

This site did not have good bear hang trees again as most of the pines were very unstable. We were finally able to get one tree that we made work for the two nights. It's a good thing we had eaten a lot of food by this point of our trip!

Our last day.... We get up a little earlier today to make eggs and hashbrowns to go with our lemon poppyseed muffins that we made last night. Nothing like some campfire breakfast to end a trip! [paragraph break] Once on the water we paddled our way to the BWCA entry where we stopped for a snack and pictures with the BWCA sign. During our break, Mother Nature thought she would share some thunder with us so we hung out for some extra time playing games while the weather cleared. [paragraph break] Once back on the water, we focused our time on the set arrival time we had been given for our crew and took our time for the remainder of our paddle. We were about ten minutes from base when the weather began to look like a storm moving in so we decided to pick up speed and head for base early. Less than three minutes from landing at base a huge bolt of lightning came down right in front of us, sending us all scrambling for the neighboring outfitters to get off the water. Thankfully everyone made it off the water safely and back to our base. What a way to end a trip with a bang! Moose Lake, Newfound Lake, Sucker Lake, Basswood Lake, Sunday Lake, Agnes, Lake, East Lake, South Lake