Lakes: Cherry, Topaz, Amoeber, Knife Lake, South Arm-Knife Lake, Eddy, Kek Ponds, Kekakabic Lake Portages: 11 Rods: 5, 20, 75, 30, 25, 15, 10, 20, 15, 5 Total Distance: 14 miles

The morning began cold and it was tough getting out of my sleeping bag. I made some coffee and oatmeal and was surprised to hear a human. A lone paddler in a tandem canoe paddled by, cursing his stringer for getting tangled up with his transducer. I whispered a kind hello and he returned it. He had caught a walleye.

I packed up and got moving soon enough. I had a lot of water to cover and several portages. I wasn't looking forward to the Kek Pond portages. I zipped through Topaz and Amoeber and decided on the northern, shorter of the two portages into the north side of Knife Lake. The southern looked swampy, though longer, and the northern looked steeper, but shorter. I was making good time and found it best to keep my pack weight low so I triple-carried over this 75 rod portage.

After loading up I paddled south into a bay that looked promising for solitude and perhaps some diversity. I stumbled on a bear cub at the waters edge. He scampered into the brush and I could hear two distinct animals crashing away. I turned around and paddled west toward my next portage, the portage into the South Arm. The wind was blowing harder now and I was glad it would be at my back for most of the way east along the south arm.

I had lunch at the shores of the south arm, making some fry pan bread under a tree. It was quite warm and the sun was beating down during this mid-afternoon. I read later that a marauding bear that was unafraid of humans lurked the area. I wondered if it was the same bear and cub I bumped into earlier. I doubted it though as they were quite afraid of me.

I paddled east along the southern shores of the south arm and noted the change in forest. I don't remember if it was fire or wind damage, but there was damage. I took note of a group of four canoes paddling out of the Eddy portage, probably toward Hanson. I soon got to the portage and made quick work of the triple-carry up that beast. It was short, but took the wind out of me. I took a few photos of the falls from the top.

I quickly paddled to the Kek Ponds and it took me a few hours to get through them. I marveled in the diversity they offered though.

I got onto Kek and was astounded at the size of the lake. The wind was blowing from the west and I had a nice headwind to contend with. This lake was my destination and I knew it was busier than others and wanted to find a site. And I wanted one close to the next days portage into Strup. It took a while to paddle Kek, and I dodged the wind when I could. I tried for a campsite on the northeast corner of the large body, but it was fully exposed to every element I could think of. The weather was changing and I wanted to get some cover and shelter. I feared it would storm. I was pretty tired by now. Not as tired as I would be the next day, but pretty tired.

The next campsite I checked was the south side of the large island. It was occupied, I think with a couple. I didn't want to continue paddling into the wind and was left with three alternatives. One I already saw. I paddled south a bit and found that campsite to just be unappealing. I settled on the site east and just south of the large island. It had a rocky shore and some nice pines lining the edge. I wasn't a big fan of how amazingly un-level it was, and wasn't a fan of how far the fire area was from the water, but found a tent pad nestled against some foliage.

I broke my handsaw trying to cut a dead-fall down. It would be stick-breaking by hand from here on out.

I washed up and made some dinner. Checked the weather on the weather radio and had some more dehydrated forgettable for dinner. Made a fire and listened to the night sounds.