Woke up at 4:30, got the vehicles loaded and made it to Britton's by 5:15. After a hearty breakfast, we stopped by TGO's place to pick up leeches, ciscos and crawlers and headed out to EP 22/23. We made it to the entry before 7:30, and I was really impressed with how the group was working. There was one group ahead of us who told us they were headed up to Gun, which was our original destination as well. But I also knew we'd be a little slower with three rookies and me having to rudder a canoe for the first time on a trip, so I was already preparing myself to stay somewhere on Boot if we found an open site. There was a light rain/drizzle that made a few of the portages rather slippery, especially the 140 rod portage just before Fourtown, but no one slipped or injured himself so things were going well. By the time we made the 50 rod portage from Fourtown to Boot we'd heard from a few groups headed out that Gun was full so instead of pushing up that far, we simply decided to stay on Boot, which was a good decision because the wind was picking up and my steering abilities were being tested.

Site 1092 was open and we claimed it before noon. Not exactly the best site for a large group, but the view across to the rock wall on the western side of Boot was beautiful. The rocks up to the site were covered with lichen and very, very slippery after the rain, and I thought we might twist an ankle or something just trying to unload our canoes. Got the fire started and fried up the steaks for an early dinner. The challenge we'd face in cooking meals was finding enough dry wood (we don't bring a stove). There were a lot of downed trees around the camp, but they were either soaked or rotten. So trying to get the fire hot enough to cook was never easy, but we managed.

Then it was time to fish. Fishing was slow in regard to the total number of fish, but a few of the guys managed to catch some really nice walleyes, including a 26" which was released. And one of the rookies, Brett, caught his first walleye ever, 21", so he was pretty stoked.