Wednesday, June 30, 2010 This morning it is 6:15 when I awaken, no loons, no airplanes, just the squirrel running up and down the log outside our tent window. That’s okay, he’s just being a squirrel! I get up and prepare coffee as usual, and have another bagel for breakfast. I prepare things for our daytrip as Kim gets up and has breakfast as well. After our second cups of coffee and just sitting on our chairs on the rocks we see the first canoe we have seen in over 24 hours entering our lake. It is a solo! We make our final preparations for our day trip and head over to the 173 rod portage from Little Loon to Slim.

At the portage is a smallish figure which I at first thought to be a man, but I was wrong. It was “Sue”! Sue was attaching her portage yoke to her Bell Black Gold Magic. Sue stands close to 5 ft tall, and barely weighs 100 pounds if she does at all. She is well over retirement age, having retired 9 years earlier she said from teaching. She and Kim talk as I unload our things. She says she will have to double portage, maybe triple to get all of her stuff across. Her stuff consisted of a #2.5 or #3 pack that weighed about 35 pound and a Sealine dry pack which weighed about 10 pounds. Of course we are without packs so we carry them across the portage for her. Kim carries the larger pack while I carried the smaller with our canoe. She paddles the length of Slim with us, where we again aide her at the Slim to Section 3 Pond portage. This scenario continues until we reach South Lake where we turned left to go to Snow Bay and she turned right to go to the campsite close to the portage to have lunch and decide whether she would continue farther that day or not. While traveling together Sue tells us of her travels, Canoe and Cycling. How she has traveled to New Zealand for the last 9 years in a row to cycle around the island and camp while she does it. She told us of the Paris to Istanbul Ride she did, which took a month with a group of people from Canada. She told us she has been coming to the BWCA area for 50 years, and thinks nothing of doing a solo at her age. She was by all rights a unique, eccentric woman we are blessed by meeting and getting to know her. She gave us one of her cards when we parted so we could remain in contact with her!

Now on with the daytrip! The water level in South and North is about 6 feet lower than what it was two years ago! The beaver dam went out over the winter according to the Forest Service. I get to the South side of the portage first and realize how muddy it is, so I head to the right where there is tall grass to walk in and not sink. Kim does not see me and head across the mud where she sinks to her knees and looses a shoe. She drops a paddle to mark the spot, gets out and comes to where I am, not very happy! I go and get her shoe for her, like a good husband is supposed to do when their wife is very muddy and not happy at that particular moment. We catch Sue before she enters the mud flat and direct her toward safe walking and a gravel bank for entering the canoes. We visit for a few more moments as she gets my thoughts on what she should do on her trip then our party’s part!

The paddle or should I say “pole the canoe” through north to Snow Bay was fun, a narrow path about 3-4 feet wide, with 8-12 inches of water in it showed you the way to go. Throw in a few shallow rocks and the person in front needs to have good polarized sunglasses on to see it all. Luckily my bow partner did! Once we reach Snow Bay the wind is out of the North/North East at about 10-15 mph, not too bad. We head to the first of three campsites to visit and evaluate. See the map section again! We lunch at the first site which has a neat picnic table. Lunch consisted of Tuna Salad with Ritz crackers and Beef Jerky. The time now is about 2:30 and we are trying to decide if we want to backtrack the way we had come or paddle down through Beatty Portage. We decided to go through Beatty Portage even though my map (McKenzie) did not show the path. The wind was at our backs when we started but somehow shifted and started blowing as a slight headwind. After an hour of paddling we see boat with a canoe on top of it, the Forest Service and I ask them how far it was to Beatty Portage. They tell us less than a mile, and be sure to see the picto’s on the left on the bluff. They then ask where we are camped and we tell them. Beatty Portage is by far my wife’s favorite portage! The manicured cut grass, no roots, no rocks, fairly level, she loved it! I must agree it was nice except for the deer flies!

We reach camp at 6:00 and I prepare dinner. A one pot meal consisting of Stove Top Stuffing, foil pack Chicken, and instant chicken gravy. Very good! I got the recipe off the BWCA.com cooking thread from someone, thanks!! While eating the wind does shift from the northeast to directly south, and it does start blowing hard 20 mph at least. I tell Kim we had better get everything together because some weather was coming during the night. Everything battened down and secure we retreat to the chairs for a while to watch the sun go down.

Today’s highlights would have to be Sue, the beautiful Snow Bay area, and the quality time Kim and I are sharing, and the adventure of paddling off somewhere I do not know where I am exactly going. Even though it would have been hard to get lost and miss Beatty Portage. Again, Lord I am blessed beyond what I deserve!