Up early for our tow with Seagull outfitters. We get dropped off at Hook Island and work our way to the Ranger station in Cache Bay. The weather is beautiful minimal wind, sunny, couldn't ask for more (I have to learn to keep my mouth shut). We wait in line behind 2 other groups for an hour before Janice gets to us. Janice does her best to scare the begeezus out of us about doing the Falls chain. Telling us how many people have died over the years, how the last guy to die did exactly what she told him not to do, the water is extra high and dangerous etc....We make it to the silver falls portage by about noon.

John and Angie are in way better shape than Sara and I. They run 2-3 miles each day, but I can see they do not have their portage legs on .... Angie really struggles on the first portage. The portage isn't what I'd call easy but definitely not super hard either. The only thing that made Angie and John feel better was a group from Kansas City that started about 30 minutes a head of us ended up behind us on the portage, but I didn't have the heart to tell them that was because those guys looked like they had 50 pounds of alcohol to haul across :) I'll have to find out where they are camping ;)

As we paddle up Saganagons we stop on the southern end for lunch. As we are packing up to head out wall clouds come flying at us from the western side of the lake. We endured 2-3 hours of sheets of rain, hail, lightening, and wind. Unfortunately my brother had the pack with the tarp and had repacked items so the tarp was now on the bottom. How was he to know? But we would have to soak the rest of our gear to get the tarp out...so we just got in the brush to hide and got soaked. It was about as miserable as I have ever been. What did I say about the weather earlier? :)

Finally the storm breaks enough to head out. We make it across dead mans portage and choose a camp just north of the portage.

It continues to rain cats and dogs but in between storms we manage to get a fire going and I start to cook our steaks. Then the skies unload again and we pretty much give up on a fire roasted steak. At this point Angie says, "This is beautiful I can see why you guys come up hear every year", Somehow I think she was being sarcastic.....later John tells me Angie told him she couldn't wait for Saturday when we left :) At that point I was thinking the same thing :)

Finally in the dark I fry some steaks up on the stove with hash browns, followed by Strawberry cheesecake for desert. It all actually turned out okay but maybe that was because we were starving.