On the water about 10 AM paddling into a stiff north breeze. We were going to try to make it to Lac La Croix and Sandbar Island but didn't feel like paddling into the whitecaps on Loon.

We made it to Upper Pauness and found all the campsites full - a bit of a surprise. Easy portage to Lower Pauness and found an open campsite in the narrow area between the two bays of Lower Pauness. Kind of buggy but OK campsite - 5 out of 10. 

We had steak and green beans that night which were great. See the pic. The steak was still frozen when we reached camp.

Weather was not so great. The forecast before we left was for nice weather but there were two rounds of thunderstorms AND our tent leaked. Things were damp Tue morning. 

We decided to make the trip shorter in light of the headwinds and just paddled up to Loon Lake.  We got one of the best campsites in the BWCA IMHO 10/10 - SE corner of Loon lake where it joins up with East Loon Bay. You are maybe 50' above the lake facing NW so the wind keeps the bugs back in the woods. 

We paddled over to Canada to say we had done it - even found a little maple tree :-) Otherwise looked a lot like MN.

Nice sunset and NO RAIN. Things dried out nicely. 

Loon lake IS a bit disconcerting because motors are permitted in Loon Lake/East Loon Bay. While the area is supposed to be 25hp limit, this boat moved like it had a 250hp motor.

Portage to Heritage Lake. The portage is hard to find on East Loon Bay - look for a sand beach and a "V" shaped pine. The portage is a narrow trail in the grass behind the trees. 

The map reads 220 rods but I count my steps as I walk and I estimate that the portage is more like 300 rods. Almost a mile. It certainly felt like it! I was double packing so we could get across in one trip and the top pack was tilting to one side pretty bad by the time I got across.

The portage comes out on Heritage Creek which is a very pretty with flowering water plants that I forgot the name of.

Paddle down to Heritage Lake which seemed VERY lightly used. Two campsites I think but there was just a guy in a one man kayak fishing on the lake. If you want isolated, try this lake.

We paddled through Heritage to the portage to Lynx which was reasonable. 

We got to Lynx early enough that though our preferred site on the east shore opposite the portage was full, the NE campsite was open. VERY nice - 8/10. I marked this one on my map.

We also found blueberries at the campsite and collected some for pancakes. We did not see any bears but with the blueberries you probably want to be careful.  

On the water about 10 AM paddling into a stiff north breeze. We were going to try to make it to Lac La Croix and Sandbar Island but didn't feel like paddling into the whitecaps on Loon.

We made it to Upper Pauness and found all the campsites full - a bit of a surprise. Easy portage to Lower Pauness and found an open campsite in the narrow area between the two bays of Lower Pauness. Kind of buggy but OK campsite - 5 out of 10. 

We had steak and green beans that night which were great. See the pic. The steak was still frozen when we reached camp.

Weather was not so great. The forecast before we left was for nice weather but there were two rounds of thunderstorms AND our tent leaked. Things were damp Tue morning. 

Very glad we came out a day early since there were severe thunderstorms all across the BWCA on Fri night.

We were going to eat in Ely but there was Blueberry Festival going on and it was a zoo! 

Still a great time in the BWCA and I have the mosquito bites to prove it!!