I sleep later than planned - probably from travel lag the day before. We were packed and on the lake by 8:30. Just like the day before just after starting we had to stop at an island and don rain gear again. It was only a 10 minute shower and proved to be the last rain we’d see on the trip but had us wondering if day two was to be a repeat of day one.

The short 25 rod portage into Ahsub Lake was quick. As we approached the water we could see a trout lazily swim along the shore line. Ahsub is a trout lake with special restrictions and spotting that fish was to play a role in our trip later on. As we started out across the lake the sun came out and it became warm quickly.

A short 15 rod portage brought us to the muddy, plant choked landing at Jitterbug Lake. With the low water it was a more difficult load up and push off than would be normal. The lily pad choked lake is a quick paddle. Leaving this lake for Adventure Lake you must wind along some shallow narrow channels through a grassy bog in order to reach the landing area.

Adventure lake was really quite pretty after the 40 rod portage it takes to get there. The landing area was wide open and gives a great view of this tree lined lake with a good view of Disappointment Mountain.

Our next Lake is Cattyman and even though the low water conditions actually make this next portage easier it’s kind of depressing to see that instead of using the 10 rod up and over portage we actually walked through what would be the creek connecting the two lakes. With no water flowing it was an easy flat walk.

On the shore of Cattyman I actually got the satellite phone to work and had a short chat with home to let them know we were on our way and things were fine. I was paying for the peace of mind that we could get help if there was any medical problems and I wanted to see how it worked. Overall it was a real trick to get and maintain a signal.

Cattyman Lake is small so the next portage came up quickly. After 55 rods we came down a huge rock that is the Jordan Lake put-in site. The low water makes for worse “canoe scraping” conditions all over but at this site it also diminishes the flow and sound of the rapids connecting the lakes which I remembered hearing last time I was through here.

The sites on Jordan were all full so we pushed on. As we entered the channel between Jordan and Ima we made it through the gap in the rocks with slight scrape of the canoe and were in one of my favorite spots to paddle. It was spectacular in the sunlight with the massive rock wall. We have learned that there are pictographs alone here but have not been able to spot them. We bumped into two fellows that were day tripping from out of Ahsub lake. We told them about the trout we saw and they led us to believe the fishing was pretty good for them.

The portage into Ima is a 5 rod up and over that gave us little warning of what leaving the smaller lakes for a bigger one was to bring.

Entering Ima was like someone turned on a wind machine. It was getting really windy and choppy so we hugged the west edge. The rocky point where we had stayed once before was open but the wind would have made it uncomfortable even for a brief stop so we pushed along to the next campsite. We could feel the wind picking up in strength so we made the short push to a tucked away site on the portage between Ima and Alworth Lakes. It was open so we pulled our gear up into it and decided to take a break and have a lunch. The site was tree filled so it was shady and kind of tucked away so we decided to dry out some clothes and veg out for a while. With the wind the way it was it was decided to stop here for the day but that put us really behind with two short days of travel. It was another great decision in that the wind was troublesome for travel and just sitting around relaxing and reading was a great tonic for the both of us.