I awoke early to filter water and make breakfast. When everything was ready, I woke up Teresa. We ate our cheesy grits and drank our coffee and tea. Then it was time to head to Johnson Falls.

We paddled back to the west end of Crystal for the portage to Canoe. Once in Canoe, it took no time to reach the Pine portage. Instead of carrying the canoe, we stashed it off the right side of the portage and left our paddles and PFDs with it.

Without gear, our hike to Pine took about 20 minutes. Plenty of up and down during the portage, and it felt like some of the steps on the south side required *big* steps. I was happy to not carry the canoe and gear over this.

Once at Pine, we took a left and followed the trail over to Johnson Falls. Due to the recent rains, the beginning of the trail was often covered by 6" of water. We mucked our way through it and were thankful when the trail started climbing in elevation.

We made it to the lower Johnson Falls in just an hour from when we stashed the canoe. It was beautiful and chaotic all at once, and thankfully, we had it all to ourselves.

After a quick stop for a bite to eat at the upper falls, we headed back down to Pine. A mama duck and her babies were at the portage as was a young couple who were debating the portage to Canoe. We gave our opinions and then began our hike back to Canoe. Along the portage, we saw a group of four men making the portage with gear, and they made it seem easy.

We paddled and portaged back to our site on Crystal in time for a later lunch of garlic potatoes (the only meal that was so bad we couldn't eat it). Naps and reading followed.

After a dinner of Indian korma, we took the canoe out to the east end of Crystal to watch the sunset. As we paddled, we saw a few beavers and loons... and of course, a gorgeous sunset.