We woke up early for our 8am tow. It was 38 degrees, windy and snowing. We did some final packing, had a quick breakfast, and loaded our packs into the Seagull truck for the short shuttle ride to the Saganaga Lake landing. Dave looked at us with a smile and said, "What? Did you think I was joking?" The stiff north wind solidified the decision for the tow to drop us off at American Point rather than Hook Island. Hook Island is across the Canadian Border on Saganaga Lake and is right in the middle of the lake. The tow drops you there for Quetico trips since it is within the Quetico boundary and so you don't need a BWCA permit. Dropping off at American Point technically requires a BWCA permit even if you are entering Canada. But in the spirit of safety the outfitters have an agreement with the BWCA and Quetico that American Point drop-off's for Quetico trips are allowed should the weather warrant it.

Another group was being towed to American Point at the same time as us, so one of our canoes rode with them. As the tow began through the Sag Corridor, we became cautiously optimistic that the wind would not be so bad. However, any hopes of reaching Canada today were quickly dashed when we caught site of the big part of Saganaga and realized just how angry she was. The north wind brought rain, sleet, and snow with it. The driver recommended that we turn around as face backwards. It was probably best that we didn't see what was coming. The tow boat constantly slammed against three foot roller as we slowly made our way across. By the time we reached American Point we were cold and wet. We were relieved to be on dry land and felt sorry for the tow drivers that now had to motor back through the torrent.

We gathered our gear and our thoughts as we determined our next step. The other group seemed content to stay put, so we knew we should move on. Getting across Sag and Cache Bay wasn't going to be an option, so we decided to head for the campsites around the corner from Rocky Point. Rocky Point is a small point that is part of the larger American Point. We could either hump our gear through the woods or brave the water and paddle. We scouted the land route first and decided that we'd prefer to give the water a shot. We carried our gear to the other side of Rocky Point and made our run. Once we got around the next point we were fine as we were able to tuck behind an island and keep out the wind. We picked the western campsite on that island.

The campsite had a nice view to the west of Cache Point and good wind cover for the tent pads. It was a huge site with pine needle carpeting and a nice quiet bay behind it for fishing. We set-up Kyle's CCS lean shelter and got a fire going. After some lunch we pitched our tents and teamed up with our three Sven Saws and hatchets for an impressive wood pile. It remained windy and cold well into the afternoon. Around 4pm the wind started to die down so Jan and I headed out to fish. I caught a pike for dinner and Jan and I spotted a moose along the bay behind camp.

We shared pike on the half shell for dinner. What a great way to cook fish. You fillet the fish and leave the skin on. Cook it skin side down on the fire grate, season, and eat it right off the grate. No mess, no clean-up. The meat flakes right off the Y-bone and skin. Burn the skin when done. I also had a ribeye while Jan and Kyle had brats. It turned out to be a great evening as the wind died off completely and it even warmed to around 50 degrees. We enjoyed a nice conversation around the campfire and agreed to head out early tomorrow (5am). We didn't intend for a layover on the first day, so we would try to make up for it tomorrow and cover some ground.