Wed 3:00 AM Time to leave. unforunately, I'm still asleep.

I accidentally set my alarm for 3:00 PM. Oops.

I drag my sleepy butt out of bed by 4:30. A bit late, but no problem. I check the house, throw the boat into the truck, and by 5:00 am the truck is gassed up and on hwy52 headed north to EP38 just 330 short miles away! The drive goes wonderfully, it's a nice trip from Rochester to Sawbill, with just a couple easy turns. I've got an atlas, a map, and 2 GPS units with me, but none of them are needed. The morning is beautiful, and the traffic is light. As I head north out of the cities, I see traffic piling up on the way into the metro, but my route heading north is clear.

A bit before Duluth the sun becomes strong enough to turn off the headlights. What a beautiful sight to see misty fog hovering over the lakes while the morning sun makes them sparkle. The stands of pine and bold red granite are becoming more and more common, reminding me of why I love this place. I want to stop to take pictures, but I'm on a mission to get to the water and press on.

On the way in, with morning sun shining through the forest onto rock formations, rivers, lakes, hills, I catch myself thinking, "My god that is beautiful." and then laugh at my own realization of what I'm thinking.

I reach Sawbill outfitters to pick up my permit at about 10:00. The parking lot is empty, and so is the store. I wander around inside the store for a good 15 minutes, looking at the shirts, finding some last minute food items, growing impatient, but trying to remember I am in no hurry here. I go outside to waste some time looking at the livery canoes for sale, and a couple returning from their trip shows up and asks if I work there. I reply that I do not, and we all go inside to wait for someone. I'm screaming on the inside as a worker appears and helps the person who just showed up, proceeding to talk about how their trip went and what shower options were available. :) Eventually another employee is summoned and I am able to pick up my permit, purchase some groceries, and watch the video, then skip out the door. It's been more than an hour but I'm now on my way to what I hope will be the best experience of my summer. I load up the kayak and cautiously jump in. It doesn't sink, in fact, it handles extremely well under the added load. Yay!

The plan is to find a nice base camp, then take easy day trips without gear. The short portage into Alton goes very well, even better than I had hoped. I load back up and head into the lake to find a campsite.

I had already picked out a couple of centrally located sites, and the first one I checked on seemed pretty nice. Good view, easy access, lots of trees, sandy landing. This would be the site for me. I unload the yak and set up camp.

After the tent is up and most of the gear is distributed, I begin to look for a site for the bear rope. None of the trees have appropriate branches for this. Doh! 100 trees near camp, and none have good branches for throwing a rope over. Well, I'm not moving now. I finally find 2 trees which will work, and proceed to put the rope up. I regret mocking my friends' difficulty putting up the bear ropes during our last trip. This is harder than it looks.

Time to filter some water, put up the hammock, and relax. I spent a few hours just lying in the hammock soaking in the wonderful solitude and marveling at how quiet the world can really be. There are no bugs, I see no one else on the lake, and the weather is absolutely perfect. Life just does not get better than this.