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We were up at 5 AM. The temperature in the tent was 33 degrees, and as I was moving around outside in the sunshine a few minutes later it was 35. There was a misty sunrise, so I spent the time from 5:20-5:40 taking photos. It was a really pretty morning, and there were some fairly good shots to be made.

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But Neil ended up making the best one!

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Neil appeared to be feeling better this morning. We had a good time at breakfast, with a fire for warmth and the “God-light” streaming through the trees.

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We staged our portraits.

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Breakfast was oatmeal with NIDO and freeze-dried blueberries, and that tasted good. Then I cooked scrambled eggs with bacon, and we enjoyed hot chocolate and coffee.

The wind was picking up at 7:45 as we were beginning to break camp and pack up. It was a sunny morning, with a totally clear sky, and by 8:00 the temperature had risen to 44 degrees. The birch trees barely had leaves at all, they were just beginning to form on the branches.

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Our last campsite (if, indeed, that was what it turns out to be) was a pleasant one. No beautiful view, no sitting rock, but user-friendly and comfortable. Sheltered. We saw no humans all day yesterday. I think we both departed with some sadness, especially because it was warming up and the sun was shining. We left firewood for the next campers.

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Now Brule just needed to let us leave without incident. Somehow this trip had seemed jinxed: forgotten gear, cold weather, problems with the insulin pump, and Neil’s illness. (a 24-hour “bug”?) Even a portage that was beyond my capabilities. Surely there wasn’t another unpleasant surprise coming??

We set off at 9:45, after “toasting” the journey’s success with squares of German’s Sweet Chocolate for luck. Neil was looking tired and not very strong, but better than yesterday.

And Brule was lovely, blue, and most cooperative. Not calm like glass, but not at all scary.

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I noticed the difference in the way this little peninsula looked just two days later when photographed in sunshine.

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We met 2 canoes on the water and saw one camp. Not a lot of people out here yet.

We thought this log in the water looked like a wolf’s head.

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And the loons came out to visit with us again, too.

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We ended our trip at the landing at 11:06. Safe and sound.

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I camera-stalked a mourning cloak butterfly while Neil loaded the packs into the car and got the canoe tied down.

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By the time he had the car loaded, Spartan1/Neil was looking tired. It was the right decision to end early. This trip just wasn’t meant to be, somehow.

We sent another “We’re OK” message, but we didn’t really mean it.