Monday morning Spartan2 had me up and fed before 5 AM. Ramsey was on time. We loaded my personal pack into the van and we were on our way. He stopped at the gas station by VNO and bought coffee, a muffin, and a banana. By 5:45 we were unloading the van in the dark parking lot for entry point #22, Mudro (Horse restricted). He had drunk his coffee and eaten the banana.

The water level was very low and later while pulling the canoe through rapids, I think he wished he had also eaten the muffin. We didn’t see anyone until we arrived at the portage to Tin Can Mike, three guys with one canoe going our way. Their method of carry was one on each end of the canoe with gear inside. We passed them on the portage.

Ramsey had it arranged so he would double and I would single on portages. His first trip was the equipment pack and the canoe. On the second he had the duffel and his personal pack. My load was the food pack, my personal pack, two chairs, three paddles and the fishing poles in a tube. If at all possible, we didn’t portage, just dragged the canoe through the rocks.

On one the water was so low we portaged around it and he said that it was the first time in 8 years.

As we ended the last portage on the Horse River, a party of eight, three adults and five teenagers, were unloading three canoes and were blocking the landing area. They were very disorganized, but while Ramsey went for his second load they cleared space for us to put in. A lady with shorts and low shoes inquired about leeches. I told her with my socks and long pants I hadn’t seen any. Ramsey said later that she had asked him the same question when she saw him on the portage.

The next portage was around Lower Basswood Falls. Again the water level was very low, nothing like it was when I was here in 1985. Here are pictures of the falls and of Ramsey waiting while I took the pictures.

At about 12:30 we stopped for lunch at the first campsite past the falls. All were empty and no people. This is where we had the discussion about whether we should camp or continue to Thursday Bay. Many of his groups continued on, but due to my age (66) and health concerns (diabetes and kidney transplant) he didn’t want to push too hard. I indicated that I felt fine and as long as I kept refueling with granola bars and Gushers I was able to go. I ate a total of eight that day.

So on we went at about 1:30, past the pictographs,

and table rock where Spartan2 and I had camped in 1985,

and past these scenes on the way to Thursday Bay:

We stopped at a narrows at the top of Thursday Bay due to low water. It is near a campsite that Spartan2 and I used as a warm-up spot on our 1985 trip, after a cold, rainy trip from Curtain Falls.

After a very windy paddle on Thursday Bay, we arrived at our campsite about 5:00. It seemed amazing that we had passed twenty-five campsites and had only seen three of them occupied!

Here are photos of our campsite before and after the tarp was erected:

Dinner tonight was hamburg, cheese, and onion burritos with rice and beans.

It was a long day, but enjoyable. Ramsey said we traveled 22 miles.

Camp chores:

It was my responsibility to filter the water. The filter wasn’t working very efficiently, so it was a tedious task, and not my favorite one.

When I started preparing to do the dishes, he said the normal procedure was to use cold lake water. That made me uncomfortable with my health considerations, so I used filtered water for rinsing. After that he would warm some filtered water for washing.