I’m sitting on the southern site on Heritage Lake. The site is nice enough, although the latrine is pretty far back in the woods and seems buggy. There’s a nice breeze though here by the water. I need to get an early start in the morning so I really don’t want to set up the bug net.

There is some old bear scat in camp and a tree that has been clawed. I hope I don’t get a visit. In all my trips to the BWCA I have never seen a bear in the BWCA. I have seen them outside the BWCA in campgrounds, near cabins, and along the road, but never once after I have entered.

The canoe landing at this site was tough. The camp is one of those steep, sloping granite slabs into the water. There is no place to step out and the sloped rock is slimy and very, very slippery. I decided to land about 50 yards from the front of the camp, tie off the canoe, and portage the gear to camp. Safety first, especially on a solo.

This site has a couple of nice places for tents and tarps. There are a lot of nice sitting places. Fishing looks good on this lake. If I was so inclined, I bet I could catch a fish right from camp.

There is another campsite on this lake so it does qualify as a lone site lake. Still, the other site is a mile away at the northern end and nearly on Heritage Creek. It is about as close to being a solo site without being one as you can get.

Last night I went to bed about 9:00pm and went to sleep pretty quickly. I did wake up at 4:30am but just couldn’t force myself to get up – same thing at 5:00am. Finally I got up at 5:30am.

The most time consuming thing in the morning is breakfast. I only had instant oatmeal and a Folgers Single, but it still took more than a half-hour – cooking, eating, clean-up, and packing.

The portage to Heritage Lake was easy but seemed longer than 100 rods. Maybe I was just tired.

…………………………………………………………………………………………….. 1:30pm

Saw my first people on the water. They paddled past my campsite going south with an empty canoe towards the Shell portage. I’m guessing they are camped at the northern site on Heritage heading to Shell Lake on a day trip.

It’s overcast. The last forecast I heard it wasn’t suppose to rain, but who knows. Weather changes from lake to lake up here. So I set up the tarp even though I didn’t want to. It’ll add time in the morning taking it down and packing it, but I thought I’d better. I rather do it now than do it in the rain.

I also stripped off my clothes to air them out. I’m wearing … well, never mind. I know that both me and my clothes really stink.

……………………………………………………………………………………………… 2:45pm

It started to rain. I’m glad I decided to put up the tarp. Mosquitoes started to gather under the tarp, too, so I bug doped up.

I’ve made myself a cocktail (rum and lemonade) and am going to read my book under the tarp. I hope the rain doesn’t last long.

…………………………………………………………………………………………… 4:00pm

The rain has stopped but a big wind kicked up about 3:00pm and it’s still blowing. I was smart/lucky and got the tarp oriented perfectly against the wind. I am snug as a bug ….

The couple paddled past again at 3:30pm going the other direction with the wind. Even though the wind was blowing hard, they seemed to be doing fine. I hope the wind settles down by 6:00pm so I can make supper by the fire grate, but if not I’ll make do under the tarp.

I think this campsite is the location of a former cabin or lodge. I haven’t found any artifacts but there is tons of grass, dandelions, wild roses, and violets growing here. There are also wild strawberries and a few wildflowers, too. I have never seen so many robins in one place in the BWCA. It seems to me that twenty years there were hardly any robins in the BWCA. …………………………………………………………………………………………… 6:00pm

Everything is dead calm. Weather sure changes quickly.

Great supper tonight – Tyson chicken with Stove Top Stuffing. Good!

I had my first camp visitor, a red squirrel. Saw a Pileated woodpecker, too.

I think I’ll have a granola bar and water for breakfast tomorrow so I can get an earlier start. I want to get across Shell before the wind. Also that will give me extra time in case all the sites on the Paunesses are taken and I have to make my way all the way out. I’m estimating 4 hours to get from here to Lower Pauness.