Sunday, June 26, 2011 Up early but have to wait until 6:00 for Boathouse breakfast which was very good. Loaded up the van and made a pitstop at Skubes for leeches and nightcrawlers. Finally unloaded everything at Mudro parking lot at 8:00, parked the trailer and van then divided up individual responsibilities. The last person on the portage was to be a person with a backpack and have the responsibility of picking up anything that was dropped by the others. Our goal today was to make it to Crooked Lake and get a site near the falls or closer to Wednesday Bay. Just as we were ready to shove off a whitetail doe walked right in front of us through the channel about 25 yards away. The paddle through Mudro went smooth along with the portage to Sandpit. Hey maybe this group of newbies can do this!!!!!The portage to Tin Can Mike was more of a test but the only issue was one root jumped out in front of our Scout Master and tripped him and his canoe. Those roots are tricky little devils. Horse Lake was easy as we had a slight breeze from our backs.The trek up Horse River was a little tricky as we had some walk throughs besides the 3 portages. Before the last portage a short break for jerky and gorp was in order, Basswood Falls was only a short distance ahead. We continued on and arrived at Basswood Falls at 1:00. Total trip time so far 5 hours. Jeff and Trent did a fine job being in charge of navigation. The campsite at the top of the falls was taken so after a quick vote it was decided to continue on. We found a campsite on a penisula farther north. We set up camp then did some shore fishing while watching 3 bald eagles play around. Dinner was spaghetti made with dehydrated sauce and hamburger. After dinner more fishing was in order before hitting the tents for the night. What a grueling but beautiful first day.Rain seems to be in store for us tommorrow.