Saturday, June 28, 2008

The winds picked up heavily through the night as rains beat down on my tent. I was afraid that my cousins were getting wet in my old two-man tent and when we woke, my suspicions were confirmed. The morning was bleak and rather chilly so we decided to pack up and head home a day early. After a late breakfast we were off down the long and winding creek that drains Moosecamp Lake into Fourtown. It was a slow and pleasant paddle on an overcast Minnesota morning and around one turn we startled a hen and her ducklings. The ducklings scooted rapidly across the water like they had Jesus feet while the hen splashed and balked at us for probably a third of the way out before finally flying back over our heads to find her babies. Nature can provide such good entertainment.

After four days we were wet and tired and we pushed hard through Fourtown Lake with a crosswind battling us most of the way out. We were hungry and sore and entertained ourselves as we paddled the westerly shore by telling stories of the beautiful young waitress at Sir-G’s in Ely who we titled “Pizza Girl” (we ate there the night before we entered). As we paddled I kept looking back at a nice open site and asking the guys if they really wanted to leave. Every time I asked I got the same answer, and so we moved south and out.

I snapped a picture of this island before we left Fourtown towards the rather miserable portage. On the last portage before Mudro, I took a picture of these lightly flowing rapids and then we finally arrived back at the car. It was now 4:30 PM and we took our time loading things up. Once packed, we headed back to Ely, wet, dirty and tired with warm food and hot showers on our minds. All along the way my mind kept looking back though, to the feeling that we just did something really special.