I was up early and hit the water at 7:00am. I paddled about 50 yards and a moose came crashing out of the brush to my right and jumped in the water right in from of me! I took several pics as he swam by. He had small knobs on his head so I could tell he was a young bull. I had a tough time finding the portage to Glenmore but after studying the contour lines on the map I homed in on it. The portage (210 rods) was mucky with several logs down over the trail and in the water making it tricky to traverse. When I carried my equipment pack through to Glenmore and returned for the canoe and food pack another moose was standing in the shallows beside my canoe. What a sight as it splashed through the shallow water and into the woods.

Glenmore lake is rather unattractive with low hills and just generally unappealing. I paddled quickly through as the wind picked up and started the next portage (195rods) to Western. This portage was fairly tough with many wind falls and elevation changes. I started to pick up ticks on my pant legs this time as the temperature warmed. They were moving slowly so they were easy pickings from my pants. The wind picked up with the sun out and I paddled into a west wind across Western lake. The camp site on Western is out on a rock point which is very exposed. It was a last-resort type site. Since the lakes on the loop were small with the exception of Cummings the wind was not as big a factor as it could have been. The portage into Buck was wet but it also had a nice little boardwalk over a swampy area. This was unusual since there were so many other worse spots on the previous trails so far. When I was about 2/3 of the way though I came to a spot where a beaver actually built a dam right across the trail. This was comical as I laughed out loud. There was about a foot to 18” of water across the trail and he had numerous trees down all through the water so I could not paddle it in my canoe. John at VNO warned me about this one and I had to bushwhack around to the left. This was interesting as I traversed the jungle like foliage. The mosquitoes were trying to have their way with me but the Deet and Permethrin treated cloths kept them at bay. I finally reached Buck, my destination and flicked off several ticks.

Buck Lake is a long narrow lake which harbors walleyes. I managed to keep my leech stash alive and I was anxious to try them out. I setup camp on the main site on the western side of the lake. The site was up on a small ridge and had a few nice level tent sites. It was actually a nice site as far as layout but the lake itself was not all that attractive. Still, it had its charms. I managed to catch a few walleye off the site on leeches and jigs. I was able to fish the narrows to the east with success as well. Nothing especially large but all eaters. I made dinner and turned in for the night early in anticipation of the ball-buster portage into Cummings in the morning.