The original plan was to pick our permits up at the Kawashiwi ranger station after breakfast. Since we arrived in Ely a couple hours ahead of schedule, and the r.s. wasn't open until 8am, decided to head to the r.s. and catch a quick nap in the parking lot while we waited for them to open.

However, as we were leaving Ely, noticed that a couple outfitters' signage indicated they offered permit pick-ups. We pulled into the Spirit of the Wilderness and the associate inside was very helpful, going as far as logging into my recreation.gov account and switching the permit pick-up location from Kawashiwi to the outfitter's store. So instead of waiting until 8 to get the permit, we were headed out of Ely, permit in hand, at 6. Many thanks!

Then we were off to E.P. 27.

Unloaded the truck and loaded the canoe up. Had a little trouble locating the portage from Snowbank to Parent lake. We chalked these troubles up as the result of lack of sleep :)

After finding the portage, did some fishing on Parent for 30 minutes or so, pulling out a decent smally. Finding a campsite and taking a nap was starting to sound too good to pass up, so we moved on up to Disappointment to start scouting.

The wind was at our backs as we paddled up Disappointment. Enough so that three canoes that came in after us tied together, side by side, then the outside canoes tied one tarp between them to make a large sail. It worked really well, pushing them across at a fast rate. Very entertaining to watch.

We set up shop on the South island campsite at around 1. It's a nice site. Very rocky, but with good trees to tie up a hammock. This was my first trip using a hammock. I found it to be very comfortable, and convenient. Will definitely be used in future trips.

After camp was set, took a (very much needed) nap. Then headed over to the bay to the West and put a hurting on the smallmouths. A couple of these made it back to camp, and into the frying pan.