Tuesday May 11, 2004
Departure day. I am excited to get home and see the family, but sad to leave after such a short trip. I wake first and start tearing down camp. Looks like a nice day for a paddle. Light E-SE wind, partly cloudy and it has warmed up over night. Probably in the 40’s after being below freezing last night.
I pack as Nibi awakes. It is about 8:30 now and time to leave. Nibi and I say our good-byes and the wind is picking up. What was no wind about 30 minutes ago is now about 15 mph from the east. I guess paddling the west shore is out-I will need to stay on the east side sheltered from the wind.
I begin my paddle thinking about the trip, the drive home, the wildlife I have seen etc. I now focus my attention on the paddle. I know I will see the rest of the protage clearing crew that enters today. Portage Keeper, J-Stroke, SEA and one other should be met sometime this morning between here and Mudro.
My first sign of how my day is changing occurs as I cross the bay and the entrance into Horse River. The east wind is really gaining momentum now and pushes me hard as I cross the bay. I decide to head into the wind a ways into the bay to avoid being sideways to the waves. After heading in and getting toward the far shore I make a quick tack and head with the wind back toward the main part of the lake. No problems are encountered, the maneuver goes smoothly and now I am racing with a tail wind. This is fun. Glad I am heading more west than east today.
The narrows are a bit of a challenge as the wind builds up going through but no big problem. I make the portage into TCM and decide I should not waste too much time as the wind continues to pick up and I can see there will be rain and possible storms sometime today. I make Tin Can Mike put in and paddle across again hugging the east shore. The next tw