Woke up to another beautiful day. A little windy again, but the longest portion of the paddle out was the short trip across Fourtown. Not much to say about the trip out except that when we got to the portage with the steep rock face, someone in our group decided that we should just pull the canoes (gear included) up the small rapids so we didn't have to carry everything up the steep face.

I didn't want to cause an issue with the older guys by disagreeing since it wasn't that big of a deal, but it turned out to be a really bad idea. The water was about four feet deep in spots with lots of rocks and boulders. Someone could have easily gotten an ankle caught and either twisted or broken something. The older guys walked the portage while us younger folk pulled the canoes up the river. Not something I would ever do again. Got a pretty good gash in my shin from one of the rocks. At least it will be a scar to remember the trip by!

We were pretty tired and happy when we got to the EP. Got everything loaded and made our way to Ely. Talked to a bearded fellow that was in for 14 days. They were waiting for their outfitter to come pick them up. Said they were from Colorado if I remember right. If you are a member of this site say hey!

Ate a BIG lunch at DQ, felt like crap and we all made the drive home. Most everybody slept the whole drive back to Mankato so I cranked up the radio and relaxed. All in all, it was a great trip, great memories, and a lot of fun. Not sure if we will ever take a big family trip like that again though. Hard to organize and plan, and with that many different personalities, it was tough sometimes, but I'm still glad we did it.