Boundary Waters, Trip Reports, BWCA, Stories

Girls on Slim
by BWPaddler

Trip Type: Paddling Canoe
Entry Date: 09/29/2011
Entry & Exit Point: Slim Lake (EP 6)
Number of Days: 5
Group Size: 3
Day 2 of 5
Friday, September 30, 2011

Morning brought more giggles and uncontrollable urges to laugh. We packed the last odds and ends, picked up our permit at VNO, and headed off in search of breakfast. The Boathouse was the diner of choice for this meal, and we ate our fill. We circled back to VNO to grab a pack liner. I had a brilliant idea to take our indoor fleece sleeping bags along just in case the nights were too chilly for our regular bags. One liner bag (under $5) inside a mesh laundry bag we had along, and that would suffice for this trip. The day was sunny and cool as we drove up the Echo Trail, enjoying the dips and curves on the road we had to ourselves.



Yesterday's wind had returned by the time we reached Slim Lake, and we had to paddle like the dickens to go where we wanted to go. dd1 soon relinquished the bow to "C" who had more energy for paddling. The wind was against us, and it took a while to figure out how to work together to go in the direction we wanted to go. The lake was surrounded by splashes of brilliant color. It was all familiar to me from my trip with ds in late August. We passed the campsite where I stayed with him, and it was occupied by a couple with a dog. I was hoping for a 4-lake day, but the wind and the girls convinced me that maybe we could just stop at the northernmost site on Slim. So with promises of a 4-lake day trip the next day, we set up camp. The site was on a point designed to catch all the wind possible (for those sunny summer days with bugs). We nestled our tent back in the brush a bit and made the best of it. Soon, it felt like home sweet home.


Next, came a huge surprise for me... teenagers nap!! We got everything set up, then just snuggled right into our sleeping bags and took a nap. What fun! We woke up just in time for supper. Only problem was that we weren't very hungry. "C" had brought enough candy to stock a Halloween cauldron, and maybe it was the sugar high-fall that sent us into our comas...


With "barf" and "canned dog food" jelly bean taste still fresh in my mouth, I made us some Mountain House lasagna using the water the girls collected and purified. We could barely finish off the 4-serving packet before thinking of bed again. So we stashed the new "Bear Vaults" of food, and a portage pack of extras, and went back to sleep.