I slept poorly last night. My watch lying on the tent floor registered 8 C. or about 46 F. (I can’t get it to display in Fahrenheit.) Anyway, it felt colder than that on my 4 AM trip to pee. Slept until around 7 AM and got out of the tent to a welcome sight of sun and fleecy flying clouds. I had a double “oatmeal plus” and a large coffee and as I was eating noticed the "point" party across the way was paddling west as if it were a traveling day for them.

I went fishing west of camp since the early breeze was from that direction, figuring if it got stronger I’d rather paddle back with it than against it. I fished some likely spots and caught one small smallmouth on a 4” fluke on a ¼ oz. jig and had some other bites using a jig and gray split tail body but didn't connect on them. I saw another bald eagle just after releasing a 24" pike that had just about swallowed my jig.

The fishing was slow so I snapped some photos and also noticed a campsite on an island that I didn't remember seeing on the PCD map of Cirrus. It had a good-sized fireplace and someone had lashed two poles between two trees to make a sort of table. The small island looked as if it were covered with nothing but stunted pines. (Later, back home, I checked the PCD and there is no campsite shown at that location.) The wind kept me from landing and checking it from shore and I intended to go back later, but didn't.

Around 11 AM or so I had worked my way almost back to camp when I got a big backlash on my casting reel and called it quits for the morning. (My other rod & reel was back in camp.) Back at camp around 11:30 two canoes came from the east heading my way but then turned and headed for the “point” campsite. I waved and they waved back. The point would not be vacant long.

For lunch I used hard-boiled eggs, small packets of mayo and a foil package of tuna to make tuna salad wraps with some Chi Chi’s tortillas. It was pretty messy but a pretty good change from sausage and cheese. After eating I was sitting in the sun with my shirt off and it was very breezy now with the temperature about 63 F and rising. I guess early September is a time when you can’t really tell what to expect from the weather!

After lunch I did some cleanup around camp then fished from shore until about 2 PM with no luck. By this time I had a terrible case of heartburn, from what I’m not sure, but I suspected the cranberry drink mix I’d added to the lake water for lunch and decided I would take my water “straight” for awhile. (By the way the Cirrus Lake water is very clear when filtered and is the best tasting lake water I can remember in Quetico.)

Around 3 PM I noticed two men in a canoe nearby headed east. I tried going out in the wind again around 4-4:30 but after a half hour or so of fighting it I gave up and came in. I ate a peanut butter granola bar and had some plain water and the heartburn seemed better, but I decided to skip supper this evening, since most of my supper meals were on the spicy side anyway. NOAA radio predicted 30-35 degrees at International Falls tonight with frost possible!

The “new guys” I’d seen heading for the point campsite earlier were out in the afternoon and evening apparently trolling while was stuck on shore sucking on some mints trying to combat the heartburn. I got myself ready for a cold night in the tent by making sure all my warm clothes were at hand before dark. I skipped the nightly fire, cigar and liquor and headed for the tent a little early. There were a few mosquitoes tonight for the first time. I took a couple of Benadryl tablets to help me sleep and called it a day.