Even though we live in the Twin Cities we’ve found that driving up the day before makes for a more enjoyable family experience and enables us to get on the water early. This year I was more on the ball than last year and reserved one of the bunkhouses at Kawishiwi Lodge in March. [paragraph break] [paragraph break] Since this was going to be a longer trip we also felt that trying to fit us all into my 17ft Voyager Alumacraft wasn’t a great idea so we rented a SRQ 18.5. The SR was great and we were easily able to fit two SeaLine 115L, a GG Food Pack, a GG Superior Pack and a Duluth Wanderer Day pack into the canoe with lots of leg room for the two older kids (Samantha 9 and Andreu 7) on the middle seat and the youngest (Silas 4) in the front with mom (Kyliah) sitting on a small stool in the front. [paragraph break] [paragraph break] [paragraph break] While packing up the day before we were starting to have issues with getting everything to fit in our three packs and I finally conceded that we probably could do it, but that it would be a lot easier if we bought another pack. We ended up purchasing a second SeaLIne 115L pack at Paragis Outfitters. The benefit of the extra pack was that not only was everything easier to pack, but I was able to distribute the weight better between the packs and it enabled us to only have to double portage vs. my anticipation/dread of having to triple portage.

After a nice dinner in Ely we redistributed/packed the bags and tried to get the kids down who are always wound up in anticipation of the next day and just being in a new environment. We finally all settled down after 10:00 pm with the intention of getting an early start the next morning.

It thunderstormed early in the morning and was still drizzling when my alarm went off at 5:30 am so we decided to sleep a little longer and get a little latter start. After having breakfast we loaded up the canoe and were on the water by 7:00 am (not bad for a bunch of night owls). As we loaded the canoe my youngest just stood back on the beach and when I approached him with his life jacket he started to panic. He didn’t want to get into the canoe.

As some context, earlier in the summer we did a float down the St. Croix river which included a short trip down the Snake River (we stayed overnight at the Snake River campground) and went through a few shallow rapids. The experience was rather scary or him particularly when I made too late a turn in once case and hung our Mad River Explorer on a rock. With the canoe at 45-degree angle all the kids were in a panic and I think poor Silas saw his short life flashing before his eyes. We were able to swing the canoe so that we were on the down river side of the rock and get loose without tipping (the gunnel went all the way to the water, but that beautiful Mad River V hull design righted us without swamping). For the remainder of that float he was always terrified if we even scrapped a rock or said the “R” word. Whenever we reached a portage or campsite Silas was the first one out of the canoe on this trip.

I reassured Silas that we weren’t doing any rapids and that we would always get out of the canoe to walk around any rapids that we might encounter. He was still not happy about being put into the canoe and it took a good 30 minutes of paddling before the poor kid stopped crying. [paragraph break] [paragraph break]

Our aim today was to at least make it to Lake Four. We had a fairly uneventful paddle (with an occasional rock scrape that immediately sent Silas into a panic and screaming). We decided to have lunch at the campsite just before the first portage into Hudson Lake . It was late morning and Kyliah didn’t like the site and wasn’t ready to stop paddling so we decided to push on to Insula. [paragraph break] [paragraph break] By the time we finished the long portage into Insula the wind was much more of an issue so we often had to paddle into the wind and out of our way and than back with the wind to cross some of the open water and not be broadsided by the waves. We aimed to take the unmarked Moose portage which wasn’t hard to find. When we got to the other side it looked like the better sites were mostly taken. I was fairly tired by now and it was getting close to 5:00 pm. We pushed into the area where “The Rock” is located and I prayed that the site to the west of it would be open. We were in luck it was!

It’s a nice site, but small ( Our Campsite on Insula ), which in retrospect wasn’t great for the kids as they didn’t have as much open space to move around in, but it worked. We were able to fit our new family tent the Big Angus Chimney Creek 6 mtnGLO. [paragraph break] [paragraph break] It only weights around 15lbs and my only complaints are that the vestibules require being crouched when closed and the built in lights are nice, but really aren’t bright enough for reading. Otherwise, for its weight it worked really well, easily accommodated our family with room to grow and we could stand up inside it!

Overall that day we covered 13 miles of water and 247 rods in seven portages. I was pooped, but really proud of the family. [paragraph break]

For some reason, the Mudro Lake entry point off the Echo Trail was calling to me. I did some research and decided a loop from Mudro up to Basswood Falls, through Crooked Lake and back out again at Mudro looked like a good trip. It has a mix of smaller lakes, rivers, streams, waterfalls, and one big lake. On the other two trips we moved every day. With this route I left time for a couple of layover days in case of weather issues and allow for exploring the area a bit more.

I decided on a late May trip thinking that the area would be less crowded before the youth groups descended on the Boundary Waters. We got the permits for a Mudro entry for the date we wanted. It was only later that I realized that May is the fishing opener. Not being a fisherman, this never occurred to me. There are only 8 permits available for the Mudro entry point each day and when I looked at the reservation system, all of them were reserved for the time we were planning to be in the Boundary Waters and the surrounding weeks. So much for less crowded.

I looked at options for outfitters and decide I would use one in Ely. I had never spent much time in Ely and thought it may be fun to spend some time looking around the town. I ended up going with Voyager North Canoe Outfitters. I contacted them the fall before the trip to make the reservations for a canoe, portage pack, food barrel and a night at their bunkhouse. We would bring most of our own camping gear and food. They also took care of the permits which turned out to be a blessing given how poorly the new permit reservation system performed this year.

I am a planner. I enjoy planning almost as much as the trip. I had all the food, gear and plans in place well before the trip. For some reason toward the end of April and early May I started to get nervous about the weather and water temperature. I started second guessing about wet footing (stepping into the water to get into the canoe) and if the boys would bring the appropriate clothing for the weather. The message board on the site calmed my wet footing fears and I tried not to pester the boys with questions about their clothing choices, they are adults. I figured if we get to Ely and they were not prepared, we could always find what we need in one of the stores.

I was planning to try a few new things this year. I downloaded a GPS app for my phone and left my GPS at home. I purchased the new cloth map that was available to go along with the traditional paper map. I brought along a reflector oven to cook some different food options. I also dehydrated some ground beef and ground breakfast sausage to add variety to the menu.

May 19 Elijah and I left central Ohio at 7:30 and headed east to Indianapolis and north through Chicago arriving in Madison in time to pick up Ryan at the Airport at 4:00. After a stop at a Culver’s in Dells for dinner we made our way to hotel in Chippewa Falls in time to watch the Game of Throne finale and get some rest. We drove 726 miles today.

1

May 20 We woke at the hotel in no hurry. We ate the breakfast at the hotel and started the drive north. As we drove through Wisconsin there was snow on the ground. It made me start to wonder if I had made the right choice on the date. The snow was gone by the time we reached Lake Superior. We stopped at a park to look at the big lake and then continued the drive north. We reached Voyager Canoe Outfitters around 12:30, picked up our permits, the portage pack and food barrel, and checked into the bunk house. The bunkhouse was very comfortable. The staff sat us down with our map and marked the good campsites along our route, places to explore, and unmarked rapids.

We had lunch at the Boathouse. We drove out to Moose Lake to look at the lake and walk around the BSA base.

We stopped in the Forest Service office to get a permit for the Tick Lake PMA in case we wanted to explore in that part of the Boundary Waters. We stopped by the Wolf Center but we were not willing to pay the $14 per person for the tour. We shopped for last minute food supplies and a couple of clothing items. We had dinner at the Ely Steakhouse and went back to the outfitter to load the canoe and get ready for the morning. Ely seemed dead on a Monday evening. We drove 267 miles.

May 21 We woke and had a simple breakfast at the bunkhouse. We got our gear in the car and started the drive up the Echo trail to the Mudro Lake entry point.

We were on the water by 7:00. It took a little while to get our paddling rhythm. A three-person canoe is a bit tougher to steer through the creek leading to Mudro lake. Once on the lake we were fine. Mudro is a small, pretty lake. There is one campsite on Mudro and from the lake it looked like a nice site. We reached the portage from Mudro to Sandpit pretty quickly. There was one other group on the portage when we arrived. The portage was a bit harder than I was expecting but that could have just been the fact that it was the first portage. The portage was not long and we were able to get most of the packs across the portage in one trip. One of our party would have to go back for a second pack. This was the case throughout the trip.

Sandpit is another small, pretty lake. It also has one campsite. It looked decent from the lake. We were across the lake in good time and to the portage to Tin Can Mike lake. The portage was flat and easy with some wood planks on the Tin Can Mike end to avoid walking in the muck. We again ran into a couple using the portage. They stopped to take a break on the Tin Can Mike lake end of the portage. I went back to get the second pack and a couple of fishermen had just pulled up to the portage. They were traveling light and moving fast. They got to the end of the portage before I did and were on the water when I got back. I noticed a flying moose sticker on the couple’s canoe and started up a brief conversation and then we were back on the water.

Tin Can Mike is another small lake. It has three campsites and only one of them was occupied. We crossed the lake and were on the portage to Horse Lake. The portage was pretty good. We met the fishermen on the Horse Lake side as they were getting their gear ready to fish. They must have been planning to stay on Horse lake.

Horse Lake is a fairly large lake with seven campsites. The Horse River leaves the lake about half way up the eastern shore. There is a very nice campsite next to the river and if it was open I would have stopped and considered staying for the night. However, it was occupied and we were doing fine so we pushed up the Horse River. Almost as soon as we entered the river there was a set of small rapids. We were able to paddle through them with no problem. Shortly after there were some larger rapids that required us to carry the boat on land around them. We met four guys that were on the river to fish and staying at a site on Horse Lake. They let us pass through but seemed annoyed with us being there. A third set of rapids required us to portage around them again. Another group was coming up river and was able to paddle through them. Once we were on the water again we made our way to the first portage marked on the map. The portage was actually on the eastern shore of the river rather than where it was marked on the maps. The portage was not difficult and we stopped for a lunch of ham or turkey and cheese in tortillas. We felt better having had some food and got on the river again. We paddled through a fourth set of rapids and made our way to the second marked portage on the river. The portage had some ankle busting rocks and Ryan gave himself a small sprain but was able to walk it off. The third marked portage on the river was flat but seemed hard. It could have just been that I was getting tired.

Once over this portage the river widens on its way to the Basswood River. I was getting tired on this last part of the paddle but it was not a difficult paddle and we made it to the Basswood river. The campsite on the peninsula between Lower Basswood Falls and Wheelbarrow Falls was open. This was the site I was hoping for and we took it. The Basswood River marks the border between Canada and the United States. Our campsite looked out across the water to Canada.

We got into camp and rehydrated. Ryan set up his tent near the water. Elijah set up his hammock between two large trees at the top of the site and I set up my hammock in the trees down a little hill. We set up the rain tarp and did a bad job of it. We had hoped to use it as a wind break but the wind blew it almost all the way to the ground. The kitchen area of the campsite was not in great shape. It looked like it had seen a lot of abuse. Firewood around the site was picked over but we were able to find some deep in the woods and start a fire. One of the tent pads had a small tree leaning over it making it unsafe for use.

Here is a link to a video of the campsite: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h-F-zBrI0Jc

We had purchased some frozen steaks from the outfitter and by dinner time the steaks were thawed. Ryan and Elijah cooked the steaks over the fire while I prepared the instant mashed potatoes and instant gravy over the backpack stove. Dinner was very good. We saw another canoe come up the Horse River and head toward our camp but they turned toward Crooked Lake when they saw us on the site. We put the food barrel in the woods and strapped it to a tree. We sat around the fire and played cards until 9:00 and then went to bed. The night was chilly and the wind began to blow. We traveled about 11.8 miles on the day.

May 22 We woke to a chilly, windy morning. Everyone seemed to stay warm in the night. This was planned to be a layover day where we would keep the campsite but explore the area. I had hoped to paddle to Wheelbarrow falls and then up the Basswood River to Upper Basswood Falls. We cooked breakfast on the backpack stove on a rock back in the trees to give ourselves a wind break. We warmed up precooked bacon and made scrambled eggs from fresh eggs we purchased from the outfitter. When we got to camp the day before and unpacked, the three plastic bowls we brought had broken during transport. I originally planned on fried eggs today but without anything to eat them on we scrambled them and put them and the bacon on the left over tortillas from the day before. We rehung the rain tarp with a better hang for the day. The wind was strong from the east so we scrapped our plans to paddle today. We all took naps in the morning and it began to rain. We had a lunch of PB&J on bagels under the rain tarp. It was cold, rainy and windy and I could tell Elijah was starting to get depressed. His hammock got a little wet so we adjusted his tarp to keep the wind from pushing it against his hammock. Ryan was still in good spirits. We saw a couple of groups come up the Horse River and cross the Basswood River to the portage to Crooked Lake. The rain stopped around 3:30 and Elijah built a fire and this seemed to lift his spirits. We had a dinner of Zatarain’s Jambalaya with foil packed chicken for dinner. We ate straight out of the pot since we had no bowls. The wind finally stopped after dinner and we hung out around the campfire. We went to bed around 9:00 and could hear the waterfalls and birds as we fell asleep.

May 23 I woke up around 1:00am to more rain and slept poorly until 5:00am. The rain stopped and I packed up my hammock. I retrieved the food barrel and woke up Ryan and Elijah. We made pancakes and bacon but without the bowls we did not bother trying to put syrup on the pancakes. We just ate them with our fingers. We packed up the rest of camp and placed all the wet tarps in a separate trash bag so they would not get the rest of the gear wet when packed. We were on the water by 7:00am and made our way over to Lower Basswood Falls. The portage around the falls would be our only portage of the day. The portage entrance is a little closer to the falls than I like but we found it with no problem. The portage is short and pretty. This portage would be our only footsteps in Canada.

We got the gear across and then stopped for some pictures by the falls. There is a campsite on the Canadian side next to the falls. The American campsites around the falls area all appeared to be occupied. Here is a link to a video of the falls: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3goBzQ1RK90

We got back on the water and started to make our way up Crooked Lake. Crooked is a very large lake the winds along the Canadian border. The lake feels like a series of smaller lake and rivers until you get to the large bays. We stopped for some pictures of the Native American pictographs on a cliff on Crooked Lake. We almost paddled right past them.

We stopped at a campsite near table rock for a break. Table Rock is a large slab of granite rock with four smaller rocks under each corner that elevate it like a table. We never did identify the table as I think a portion was under water. Near the bay by Table Rock was the entrance to the Tick Lake Primitive Management Area (PMA). Although we had the permit for the PMA we did not even consider going in. We continued north and got a little lost in a bay where you turn west toward the larger bays of Crooked. We got our bearings again and made our way through an area named little current. We were caught by surprise by some small rapids in the area and nearly flipped the canoe. Elijah and Ryan got their paddles caught between a rock in the water and the canoe and nearly lost them. I was able to grab them as we passed. One of our wooding paddles now has a small crack in it. We decided that this would be a good place to stop and take a break.

We looked at the maps and identified a campsite on the west side of Thursday Bay that we would shoot for. I got out the binoculars and looked along the shore and could not find any sign of tents in a campsite. There was one group camping on the Canadian shore of Thursday Bay. We paddled across the open water of Thursday bay. The wind began to pick up and we had some waves to contended with. We made it to the other shore and found the campsite empty. It was not a great campsite but we took it as we were tired. We paddled around 9.6 miles this day.

Once in camp we had a lunch of summer sausage and cheese sticks. We also finished off the remaining bagels and PB&J from the day before. We got camp set up but it was a little challenging. A wind storm had come through the area and there were several dead or leaning trees near the good tent areas. Ryan eventually set up his tent on a rocky area and had to get creative to secure the tent without being able to put stakes in the ground. Elijah had to hang his hammock near the shore. I hung my hammock deep in the woods. A video of the campsite can be found at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dfhWSrVJc6w&t=41s

We began to hear a strange thumping noise that had the same rhythm each time. It sounded like someone was trying to start a motor that would not start. Knowing that motors were not allowed we thought maybe someone had a drum or was drumming on a canoe or barrel. It did not sound like someone seeking help.

We found some artifacts from past use in the woods. There were also some cool rocks near the shore.

Dinner that night was pizza. I brought a reflector oven and we built a fire which we also used to dry our boots and socks. We rehydrated pizza sauce, onions and peppers. We each made two six inch pizzas with cheese, pepperoni and vegies. It was a nice meal in the wilderness.

We made peanut butter cookies in the reflector oven. The weather was nice and the black flies came out. We were in bed early.

May 24 I did not sleep well and woke early. I kept having dreams about losing the boat or the food out here and having to get these guys back to civilization. The other two woke and we had a breakfast of granola cereal. The water was calm so we packed up quick and got on the water before weather was supposed to hit. Elijah was not feeling well today. We paddled through Friday Bay to the portage to Papoose creek. We stopped at a campsite just before the portage for a bathroom break. It was a decent site but it looked like the number of tent pads was limited.

I came to the conclusion that I do not like the big lakes with the open water. The portage to Papoose Creek was mucky but the creek was very pretty. This was probably my favorite part of the paddle. Once we were on the creek we saw a bald Eagle up close. We rounded a bend in the creek and startled him and he took off right in front of us. We made our way through Papoose and Chippewa lakes along the creek. Papoose has no campsite and Chippewa had one. I heard the strange thumping noise again along the creek. We crossed a beaver dam on the creek and made our way to Niki lake, another small lake with one campsite.

The portage from Niki into Wagosh lake was more difficult than I expected. There was a steep incline out of Niki lake. Ryan saw a Pine Martin climbing a tree. It ran off when we approached on the portage. Once we were on Wagosh we decided to look for the one campsite on the lake rather than take the one-mile portage into Gun Lake. We paddled 7.2 miles.

The campsite was tucked away on a corner of the lake. It was elevated above the lake with a nice view facing east from the kitchen area. There were a lot of blown down trees around the campsite so finding firewood was not a problem. The site did not look like it received much use. We were limited in our tent and hammock placement options and all ended up setting up fairly close to one another. Here is a link to a video of the site: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JWtsSRvucog

We had a lunch of macaroni and cheese with tuna. Wind and rain started again. Elijah and Ryan built a fire and Ryan took a nap in the afternoon. I laid down for a little bit but could hear Elijah out by the fire. He was sitting in the rain keeping the fire going. I decided to get up and see how he was doing. He was cold and a little depressed. We had a dinner of Knorr Chicken flavored noodles with foil packed chicken. The rain let up and Elijah changed into some dry clothes and his spirits seemed to lift. We had Oreo cookies for dessert. We had not seen another person all day. We were in bed fairly early.

May 25th We slept well and woke to have a breakfast of granola cereal. We got camp packed up and made our way across the lake to conquer the one-mile portage to Gun Lake. We decided leap frog the portage. Ryan would carry the food barrel to Gun Lake. I would carry the canoe to Gun Lake. Elijah would carry one bag half way and go back for the second bag. Once at the Gun Lake side I stayed with the canoe and food while Ryan went back half way and picked up the bag Elijah dropped. It seemed to work out well and we got across the portage. We took a break at the hallway point and it looked like this area was used frequently for rest. The portage has some persistent incline coming out of Wagosh but it was not steep.

Gun Lake is shaped like a gun. The portage came out on the eastern end or the end of the barrel portion of the gun.

We started to paddle west along the narrow portion of the lake and ran into some high winds as we got closer to the main portion of the lake. We passed a campsite and saw our first person in two days. It looked like one other campsite on the lake also had campers. We started to get white caps on the water and stopped at a campsite near the “trigger” of the gun to take a break from the wind. The campsite was not a good site. All the ground was soggy and there was not a level place for a tent. We stayed until the wind died down and got back on the water and made our way down the “grip” of the gun.

We crossed the short portage to Fairy Lake. Fairy is a small lake with two campsites. A campsite near the portage had campers in it. We were getting into the more popular fishing areas. We crossed Fairy and took the short portage to Boot Lake. We had a lunch of Hudson Bay bread with peanut and apple butter on the Boot side of the portage.

We made our way south on Boot and came to the first campsite on the eastern shore. It was a really nice site so we decided to take it. We had paddled 6.1 miles.

The site had a really nice kitchen area overlooking the water. Ryan put his tent up on a nice tent pad near the kitchen. Elijah hung his hammock near a tent pad on the southern shore of the campsite and I hung my hammock in the trees. Here is a link to a video of the site: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q4ItTalQ3Bg&t=49s

We saw many canoes as this was Saturday of memorial weekend. Some were going north in search of other lakes or campsites but many were fishing along the shores of the lake. We set up the rain fly but it was not needed, the weather was nearly perfect. We gathered and cut wood for the fire.

Ryan discovered a vein of quartz running through the granite rock near the lake shore. We decided not to mine the quartz.

While walking through the woods Elijah came across some sort of large ground bird or pheasant. The bird flapped its wings making the thumping sound we had been hearing. It ran off as I approached.

For dinner we rehydrated some hamburger and mixed it with a Mexican flavored hamburger helper meal. We had way too much hamburger and not enough flavoring. We sat around the fire and talked and spent our last night in camp with an adult beverage.

May 26 We slept in. When Elijah and I woke we packed our hammocks. I started to rehydrate the breakfast sausage while Elijah started a fire. When Ryan woke we began making biscuits in the reflector oven and sausage gravy. Since we had no bowls or plates I put the cooked biscuits directly into the pot of gravy and we ate out of the pot. Once we were all fed, we packed up camp and were on the water. Surprisingly we saw no other canoes on the water on Boot lake. The other campsites on the lake were occupied. We paddled south then east toward the toe of the boot. There we took the short portage to Fourtown lake. The landing on Fourtown was not great as there was a deep drop off.

We crossed through the west bay of Fourtown and turned south through the southern bay toward the creek to Mudro. Here we passed one canoe coming in. They asked where we came from, I think to see where open sites would be.

The first small portage on the creek was on the east side and was nothing but rocks. After the portage we loaded the canoe and made the 100-foot paddle to the next portage. This portage is a steep climb and a rocky path through the gorge. It would be a beautiful hike if you were not carrying a canoe or packs. A large family that look like three generations was coming into the portage for a day paddle. They were very nice. At the end of the portage we paddled another couple hundred feet to the final portage. This one was flat but rocky. I tripped on one of the rocks while carrying the canoe. I cut my hand and bruised my knee but it could have been worse.

We got across the portage and began the final paddle out of Mudro lake. We passed a group of canoes in Mudro that appeared to be in for just the day fishing. We passed a couple in a canoe that were planning to camp on a lake. In the stream at the end of Mudro we passed another group of two canoes coming camp and fish. Memorial weekend is definitely a busy weekend.

We loaded all our gear in the car, strapped the canoe to the top and headed back to the outfitter. We were all a little tired and I was a little irritated for some reason. We got back to the outfitter and they unloaded the gear and canoe and offered us showers and a beverage, which were a welcome relief. After cleaning up, we went to Rockwood’s for lunch started the trip south. After a dinner at a very odd Arby’s in Eau Clair we hit the hotel in Chippewa Falls for the night. We drove 267 miles.

May 27 We ate breakfast at the hotel and drove to Madison to drop Ryan at the airport. On the drive through Chicago we hit severe weather; hail, wind, rain and the threat of tornados. Once we got south of Chicago the weather cleared. We ended the long drive that evening. We drove 726 miles today. The severe weather then hit Ohio around 1:00am.

Today we decided to try to paddle to the pictographs on Fishdance, but got a really late start and had sustained winds from the northeast ( Wind & Waves on Insula ). We paddled through Lake Carol and Hum Lake (clearly not the most traveled route) to Alice that was a white capped mess. [paragraph break] [paragraph break] The first portage from Insula into Fishdance was really beautiful. It was very green and like entering a tropical forest. If you’re day tripping it’s worth doing, but if you’re loaded down I would recommend just taking the Kawishiwi River which is also a very nice paddle.

We ate a late lunch at the campsite nearest the entrance to the Kawishiwi where we found a nice blueberry patch on the path to the latrine. While they were really small, we picked a cupful for our pancakes tomorrow. We decided that it was way to late to try making it to the pictographs and didn’t want to deal with all the waves beating the south shore of Alice, so we headed back via the Kawishiwi River. [paragraph break] [paragraph break]

Overall we paddled 9 miles and covered 144 rods in four portages. [paragraph break] [paragraph break] Mom and Dad were fairly pooped again, but we had a beautiful sunset that evening. [paragraph break]

Today we decided to paddle over to the southwest side of the lake to search for raspberries (Kyliah loves to pick berries). We found that the island campsite that is closest to the portages to Hope Lake was one large raspberry patch. [paragraph break] [paragraph break] [paragraph break] While Kyliah picked I decided the landing area looked like a great place for Samllies and put on a top water popper. After the 5th cast or so a Smallie flew out of the water smashing the lure. My kids jaws all dropped seeing the action. Unfortunately for me he went right into the lily pads before I could keep him away, tangled up the line and got away along with my lure. [paragraph break] [paragraph break]

That night we listened to the weather radio which said that Friday and Saturday were likely to be wet. We had planned to move on Friday to make coming out Saturday not as long of a paddle, but decided to make the move tomorrow instead to avoid moving in the rain.

After some discussion and looking at the maps we decided that we would head to Fire lake to spend two nights there. We encountered a couple at the portage into Hudson who weren’t sure where they were going to stay and heard we were headed over to Fire since Hudson is burnt up mess. They were ahead of us and turns up they decided to go there too. My initial worry about going to Fire was if it was filled up, we'd have to keep on paddling. We paddled over to the campsite across from the portage from Hudson to check it out. It was terrible. There was no way it looked safe for the kids and had several risk dead falls, looked buggy, etc. We decided to try the site to the west, but as we headed out another group a canoes came into view. It was obvious that we were paddling towards the same site. The women and four teenagers informed us that they had put in that day with that site in mind. I was really frustrated at this point as it was 2:00 pm, we were hungry and it was threatening to rain. There was no way I was going to have an argument over a campsite so I turned the canoe to look for the fourth and furthest east campsite on Fire. The lady told me she knew for a fact that it didn’t exist as we paddled away, which turned out to be true.

Tired and hungry we decided to head over to Lake Four. I was really frustrated at this point and being peak season and all, was hopeful that we would be able to find a decent or even any site on Lake Four. Between the two short portages we grabbed a bite to eat and put on our rain pants and it started to sprinkle. The first and second sights that were empty on Lake Four were less than desirable. I remembered a site we had day tripped to on our last trip (site 1498) which turned out to be empty. [paragraph break] [paragraph break] It worked out to be a great site for the family as it's large and there was plenty of room for the kids to run around ( Bear Fun ) without risking turning supper over on the stove.

We paddled 10 miles that day and covered 160 rods of portages. [paragraph break]

The weather turned out to be not that bad, but the new campsite was a much better fit for the family so we were happy that we had moved. We enjoyed hanging around camp and than that afternoon I decided to actually do some fishing from the canoe and try out my new windsock. The whole family climbed aboard for ballast and Kyliah read Harry Potter to the kids while I fished across the bay letting the wind push us, but not too quickly with the windsock deployed. It worked really well and I’ll be adding it to my regular mandatory gear for trips with fishing. I caught a few small Eyes jigging with twister tails and leaches that I released. On the last drift toward our campsite I hooked onto a nice sized Northern that we decided to keep and add to our dinner. [paragraph break] [paragraph break] [paragraph break]

Today we packed up after breakfast and paddled back to Kawishiwi Lodge for hot showers and a soda. We were all happy to clean up, but already missing being out in the wilderness. Everyone had fun overall and we are all looking forward to our next family trip! [paragraph break] [paragraph break]

We paddled 6.5 miles and covered 65 rods on our travels back to the Lodge. [paragraph break] [paragraph break]

Lessoned Learned:

- Fewer packs are not always better. Having four large packs instead of three actually enabled us to double portage whereas three big packs would have required triple portaging.

- I bought some watercolor pencils and nice Moleskin Journals to take for each person. The kids really enjoyed them, keeping notes on the trip of what we did/saw and really enjoyed coloring.

- Campsite selection for the family is even more critical than with adult only trips. I’ve always thought of this from a safety perspective, but hadn’t as much from a space perspective. The kids need plenty of room to roam without all of us tripping over one another, which leads to everyone becoming grumpy.