After unloading our gear, we decided to go back out fishing just to the west of camp where our outfitter had again marked some hot fishing spots. To get out of the wind, we found a nice cove that was protected from the wind. The whole time I thought we were on the back side of an island but actually we were just fishing the west side of the lake. We must have fished 2 hours and I tried every lure I had but we just couldn't get anything to bite. A male and female loon were out that evening so we quit fishing for a while and paddled as close as we could to them. I was quiet and was able to get within 5-10 feet of them. I couldn't believe that they weren't afraid of us. The female was a little nervous because she would dive under the water but the male didn't care at all. We got some good close up pictures of them. There weren't really too many loons around during the week and we only heard a couple call out. We were about 10 minutes from calling it quits for the night when dad casted and lost one of my $5 spoons. He is notorious for having the line wrapped around the tip of the rod or else not having the reel open to cast. As a result, my lure went flying. This was the only lure we lost so I guess that isn't too bad but it is irritating.

I fished a few more minutes and then we went back to camp to get it set up. We set the tent up quickly and organized our gear. Tonight we wouldn't get our sleeping bags our of the compression sacks because we had a terrible time getting them in the sacks earlier that morning. We found out later that our sleeping bags were a little longer than the ones that normally go in the sacks so this would explain it. The plan was to put on all of our jackets and use a tarp as a blanket. After that was all organized, we ate a quick supper which was more leftover bread, jelly, breakfast bars and candy bars. It wasn't as good as how we had been eating before but it was enough to get us by. Besides, we didn't want to pack out all the extra weight. It was kind of nice sitting there looking out on the water for the last night. If I wasn't so tired, I would have just sat there.

Before it got too dark, we wanted to get some pictures of us together which was easier to do since there were some big rocks that we could set the camera on. None of the pictures turned out very well because the flash reflected against the rock that it was sitting on and bleached out the pictures. The air was getting cooler but the wind was calm. I knew tonight wouldn't be the most comfortable night because of the cold and it would be made even longer knowing we would be leaving in the morning. Total portage distance for the day was 63 rods or 346 yards with 4 miles of canoeing.

When the sun finally came up, I got up because I wasn't sleeping well anyway. I walked along the shoreline which was covered in rocks an boulders. It was kind of fun to be up at the crack of dawn walking along the shore as the sun was just coming up. There was another camp site just to our south and I walked out on a rock to see if I could see any activity there. Not much going on so I walked down a trail that connected our camp site to theirs. I didn't go very far before I turned around and started walking the shore in the other direction. Along the way I saw a very round boulder about 8 foot tall. I decided to stage a photo of me trying to push it into the water. After a couple tries, I finally had one that I liked. I also took some pictures of the fog on the water and some video of what things looked like from our camp. The battery on my camera was getting low but it didn't matter so much because I wouldn't be taking many more pictures. Dad bought an extra battery for his camera so that we wouldn't run out. Unfortunately our cameras don't come with normal AAA batteries to replace easily. You have to buy a $50 small flat battery if you want an extra otherwise they just expect you to charge it.

I must have wandered around for 30 minutes before dad finally woke up. We ate some more breakfast bars and got camp packed up. We didn't hang our food pack this night either and we would pay for it. Dad brought along a family sized bag of sunflower seeds, which we didn't even open. A ground squirrel had found his way into our pack and shelled out almost the whole bag. Every shell was neatly cracked with the seed missing. That gopher must have had a stomach ache or else he brought along his friends because that would have been quite a meal. It was maybe 7:30 when we finally had everything packed up and ready to leave. No one else on the lake was up yet as we headed back out. When we got to the first of the portages to Mudro, we saw a couple guys in their 20's or 30's that were headed in. They must have gotten up very early to cross the long portage and be on Fourtown by 8. I guess this was my original plan if we hadn't got lost on our way that first morning.

The portages this morning didn't seem nearly as bad as they did coming in. We knew what to expect and it was about 40-45 degrees which made it nice. I should mention that the last portage out of Mudro was the first time since the first day that I would be getting my feet wet. I had managed to portage for 4 days without having to step in water. Dad lost his balance the day before and got his feet wet. An aluminum canoe can be nice because you can get it closer to the bank an not get wet. There is no way you could have a kevlar and not get your feet wet with as low as the water was in some areas. On the long 141 rod portage, we met a couple guys who were from a suburb of Chicago. The guy told us how he had done construction but when the economy started to slow, his business did too. They were headed up to Friday Bay to catch walleye in 25 foot of water. These guys sounded like they knew how to catch fish. After the first leg of the portage I saw these guy's gear there and thought about taking it back over the portage on my return trip. I didn't do it though partly because I was sore and my leg was stiff. I also didn't want to intrude on them, not that they would have cared if someone carried their pack. When I got ? of the way back over the portage, here came the two guys carrying our packs. I now wished that I had carried theirs. I wanted to take both of the packs but they only let me take the one. Dad was heading back on the return trip and I'm not sure if he took his pack or the the guy continued to carry if for him. It was fun talking to them and it sure did make the portage go much faster.

When we had all of our gear across, a group of 4 college aged guys from Ohio State had also finished the same portage and were right behind us. They had been up to Friday Bay but hadn't had much luck fishing. They must have been packing light and were in shape because they were flying through the portages. They must have just single portaged as fast as they were going. I could probably go that fast too if I would have only had a 40 lb kevlar canoe instead of a 65-70 lb one. With a light canoe, you could easily carry one pack or maybe two over the portages. On the last portage, they passed us and we didn't see them again until the parking lot. At the last portage I also talked to a guy going solo who was from South Dakota. He was going to be out for 2.5 weeks. The man said that he needed to come up here just to relieve some stress. This would be the place to do it at. I told him that Thunder Lake was where he should go and that is exactly what he had planned. He had 3 packs and said that he wasn't going to get in any hurry and just take his time. If you were going to be out for as long as he was, you could definitely do that. Too bad I didn't know how his trip turned out.

Mudro Lake was bittersweet because it was nice to be done but yet I didn't want to leave. What I had planned for an entire year was now over and I will have to wait another year to take another vacation. It seems kind of pointless to have to work a whole year just to take one short vacation.

As we continued to the south west end of Mudro where the stream is, we passed two canoes with people just sitting in them wondering what they should do. They looked a little lost as far as what to do next. Even though this was my first time in the BWCA, I now felt like a Mudro Lake expert compared to them. The one gal in the canoe was also dark haired and good looking. Probably not as good as the one we saw the first day but still pretty impressive. A woman who isn't afraid to rough it is hot. Just up the stream a little way was a couple in their 50-60's who looked like they were clueless. The stream was too narrow to pass so we just waited for them to pass. They decided just to get out and carry their canoe over a rocky pinch point so I got out of our canoe to guide it through the area. I thought I was in just a foot of water until I fell in a hole up to my waist. This wasn't a big deal until I got my camera out that evening at supper and realized that it was ruined. I should have had it in a plastic bag but I had made it this far and thought I was good. I didn't even think about the camera being in my pocket when I got in the water. My camera was ruined but at least I was able to get my pictures. This would be a sign of things to come.

The couple we passed had to be from the city the way they were acting. The woman didn't have any idea what to do and the guy, who was talking like he was an expert, didn't have much of a clue either what to do to get around the rocks in the stream. Dad got out of our canoe and helped them get their canoe up and around the obstacle. I hope those people don't read this if I post it on the BWCA forum. Just up the stream we met another canoe of two larger women maybe 200-250 lbs who were in their late 40's or 50's. That canoe was riding low to say the least. I thought to myself that there is no way that they will make it over the portages going to Fourtown Lake. Maybe they were planning on staying on the one campsite on Mudro. I just don't see how they could make it. It would be nice to see how their trip was. We met a few other groups coming in and I think I counted enough to be the 6 daily limit for the permits. I think the same entry point also offers 6 more permits with no camping on Horse Lake so maybe there were more to come. Irregardless, we continued up the stream which was now only a few inches deep. The water had really dropped just since we had entered. We ended up dragging the canoe the rest of the way to the takeout point. Total portages for the day were about 200 rods or 1100 yards with 4 miles of canoeing. Overall we did 1117 rods of portaging or 3.49 miles and covered around 30 miles as the crow flies. This distance doesn't count all of the canoeing we did back and forth getting water, fishing etc. We more than likely paddled 40 miles and maybe up to 50.

When we got to the parking lot, the construction crew was working on the parking lot just as we had been told. It was Friday and they made a lot of progress since when we went in on Monday. With the crew working, we carried our gear down the road and set it down. Also waiting for their pickup were the group of guys from Ohio State. I went to go get the vehicle so that we could pack up and leave. It was around 11:30 so we could either spend some time around town or get a good start on the road. As I walked up the hill to the overflow parking lot, I noticed that the left rear tire was flat. No big deal, I had checked the spare before we came and it was good to go. I walked to the right side of the vehicle and the back right tire was also flat. Now we had a problem. We were 20 miles from town and I was ticked. What are the odds that we could have two flat tires? I looked at the other vehicles in the parking lot and no one else had flat tires. How were we lucky enough to pick up two nails on the same trail everyone else had driven on?

I told myself that we would get this figured out because at least there was the construction crew and the guys from Ohio State around in case we needed help. On my way back to tell dad, I asked a construction worker if they happened to have an air compressor. He said that he didn't think so but would check with someone. After telling dad the situation we walked back to the vehicle and talked to the guy who must have been the crew chief. He was probably in his upper 30's and seemed like a nice guy. He said that if they had some hose adapters, they could hook into the air brakes on a truck to fill our tires up. No one had any though. Luckily he knew the guy at the service station in Ely and said he would give him a call and take care of everything for us. I can't thank this guy enough. This guy told us that people get flat tires all the time but mostly from rocks cutting tires. He also told us that he has lived in Ely his whole life. This explained his northern accent.

After an hour a tow truck driver showed up who was probably in his 50's or 60's. While we were waiting we also had another minor panic. To hide our wallets, we took off a panel in the back of the Explorer and hid our wallets there. When I opened it up, I couldn't find mine. We thought it somehow fell forward over the wheel well and was somehow stuck inside of the vehicle where we wouldn't be able to get to it. After 15 minutes, we finally found it.

The tow truck driver might have been the one who owned the station or at least ran it. We aired up one tire and changed the other. We also packed up all our gear and let him follow us into town. The whole way I could tell that the canoe wasn't riding right so I took it easy. The straps were tight but it just didn't seem to be riding right. I was happy when we finally made it to town. The service station was at the west end of town and was your typical 50's type station. It sat on the corner at an angle and looked like a typical old small town station. My kind of place. The guy fixing our tire said that he was originally from Illinois, I think, and that he fell in love with the area and moved there four years ago. He also said that he loved to fish so that was another big reason for him. He was missing a few teeth but seemed like a nice guy. We talked some about how to catch fish and he told us a story about how he almost landed a huge pike. He was fishing and caught a small fish when this big pike latched on to the fish he just caught. They fought him for 10-20 minutes and when they finally had him to the boat, the pike let go and was gone. While I was waiting, I also noticed that the guy who drove the tow truck was filling an older woman's car with gas. Perhaps this was a full service station too. You don't see too many of them these days. I also remember a picture in the office of a guy driving a snowmobile across a lake. It looked like it was during some kind of race. You would have to have confidence to do something like that.

After about an hour we were ready to go. AAA paid for everything except for the tire repair which saved us probably $100. The tire repair was $40. The guy that fixed our tire recommended that we eat at Britton's but it closed at 2 after Labor Day so we were to late. He then said to try a place that was located north west of the service station that is off the beaten path. He said it is a little pricey but you get your money's worth. We might have to try one of these places next time.

From there we headed back to Cliff Wold's to turn in our gear. Ryan asked us how things went and if we had any issues with the gear or service. Nope. I told him that we may have lost a couple tent stakes but he didn't act like it was a big deal. I might have mentioned this earlier but since we didn't know exactly how long we were going to stay in the BWCA, he said we could stay an extra day and he wouldn't charge us. That's good service that will bring us back when we go back up. We went into the office to finish settling up and talk about the trip. We then got a couple pictures. One with dad and I in front of their sign and another with me and Ryan so we would remember who our outfitter was. We even got a certificate that shows that we have conquered the BWCA wilderness. I can't say enough about how impressed I was with this place.

Our next stop was the campground to get showered up. I have read many trip reports that tell about how good it feels to take a shower after being out for a week. I didn't feel very dirty because I didn't sweat much with the weather being cooler and I also took a few baths in the lake which made me feel cleaner. The shower didn't disappoint though. Dad took the first shower and I repacked some of our stuff and threw out some trash. While I was organizing stuff, some people came up and asked if I knew where the waterfalls were east of town. I didn't even know there were any or we might have stopped by just out of curiosity.

The shower felt good just to know you were completely clean. When washing my hair, I specifically remember scraping either skin or grime off my scalp. It's kind of gross but was kind of cool too. I remember looking in the mirror before taking a shower thinking how I almost hated to give up my grizzly mountain man look. I had a week old beard, had worn the same pants the whole time and looked like quite a mess. As they were before, the showers and restrooms were very clean. Maybe we just happened to be there after they cleaned them but the facilities were excellent.

It was around 4:00 and since we hadn't eaten yet, we went to Rockwood again to eat. The sign said that they weren't serving supper meals for another 30 minutes or so but the waiter told us we could order whatever we wanted. We decided to spend a little money and get a walleye meal. The total bill was $45. It was good but I actually got filled up more when we ordered a burger and fries earlier in the week. It was when dad said that we should get a picture of the restaurant that I realized my camera was ruined. Today just wasn't my day. A ruined camera and two flat tires will make it a memorable trip though. After eating, we went to the park where they were having a harvest festival. We missed the lumberjack show but walked around looking at all the different craft booths. There were some really neat pictures and furniture pieces there. Dad bought a picture frame from an indian to give to Hannah for Christmas. I really wish we wouldn't have had our flat tire because we could have spent more time looking around. Since it was around 5:30 and we didn't have much else to do, we headed for home. Rick called me just as we were turning around in the parking lot of the grocery store east of town by the visitor's center. From there we headed on the 13 hour, 820 mile long trip home.

While I did drive the whole way up to Ely, I also drove most of the way back. I think I ended up driving 1400 of the 1700 miles we drove. At Floodwood, MN we were supposed to keep heading south to Hermantown but the GPS sound was turned off and dad missed telling me which road to stay on. This would take us 20 miles out of the way to Duluth. At least we would miss the big gay convention that was the previous week. That was quite an experience last year. Anyway, it didn't bother me too much that we were going to Duluth because I didn't mind seeing Lake Superior and the town again. Duluth is a regular man town with all the mining and shipping that goes on. Kind of reminds me of Billings, MT with all the man type jobs. When you drive by the harbor, you realize how important this port is on the world stage. Once on the interstate in Duluth, I was pretty sure I knew where I was going. I was in the lane that had the big signs overhead saying to stay in this lane to get to Minneapolis. Seemed simple enough to me but not to dad. There just as well have been flashing lights to tell me to stay in the lane but dad insisted that we needed to turn off and get on a different road. Not only did I know I was right, but the GPS also confirmed it. At dad's insistence, I turned off and immediately knew we were headed the wrong way. I guess we would take the 'shortcut' to Nebraska by way of Wisconsin. This irritated me because now it would take us another 10 minutes getting back on the interstate. Once we got on the correct road, it was easy. Dad got in the back of the Explorer and took a nap while I tried to stay awake.

At Hinckley, I was too tired to go on and let dad take over while we got gas. He drove all the way to Owatonna while I tried to sleep. One thing I should mention about dad's driving is that driving through big cities like St. Paul and Omaha are always an adventure. Dad is so busy watching the road that he completely ignores the speed limits. We will be driving through downtown just flying by cars at 10-20 mph over the speed limit. I even play dumb and ask him what the speed limit is when we pass a sign. After a while I just have to give up and let him speed. I figure I did my part so if he wants a ticket, that is his problem. By the time we pulled into Owatonna, it was midnight. Dad had already called some motels so we had an idea where we would stay. The cheapest was one right off interstate called something like the Super Motel 6. Whatever it was called, the name was partly ripped off from a regular motel chain. As we drove by the place, we saw the owner, an Indian or Pakistani, peek out the window at us. We had been spotted so I would now feel guilty if we just drove away. I didn't have a problem staying there because it was the cheapest at $60. If I were traveling alone, I would have just stayed in the vehicle and saved the money. One thing interesting about this motel was that it was half motel and half liquor store. I've never seen anything like it. You could buy your booze on one side of the building and rent a room on the other. On top of that, it was right next to the adult novelty store. I'll always remember this place. The room was clean and it had a simple continental breakfast of just cereal and rolls but it was better than nothing. We were probably on the road by 8.

At some town in Iowa I let dad drive. At the Casey's gas station I felt like I got ripped off. They were advertising two Powerade's for $3. I didn't really want to and figured just one might be $1.75 or something. One Powerade ended up costing me $2.50. I should have told the cashier to hold on while I got another one but I didn't and just complained on my way home about it. We got home about 5 in the afternoon which was just in time to watch Nebraska play UCLA. What another disappointing end to my vacation. Getting upset 36-30 by a team that shouldn't have been able to put up a fight against us. Oh well, that just fits in with all the other stuff that went wrong on our trip. I still had a great time and can't wait to go back. It would be awesome to take Kyle or Rick because it would be party time up there. Total cost of the trip was around $1313.