Woke up full of ambition on this final day in the park, both of us were motivated to make the trek through seven portages and one of them was the 625 meter Monster. There was one thing certain about this morning, and that was, that Greg and I were going to have pancakes! There was two cups of Bisquick, maple syrup, and blueberry jam left over. We were not going to haul them out of the park. I mixed up one and a half cups or so of Bisquick and a spoon full of powdered eggs. There was a fresh cut bundle of wood left over from last evening where the Sven Saw and Sawvivor went to work on the downed trees around camp. Firewood was never an issue on this trip, very plentiful! Guess I was feeling ambitious with the pancake batter and proceeded to make a pan sized flap jack to start out the morning. It was bubbling up nicely around the edges and had every indication that it was ready for a flip. Well, Greg’s ambition must have been a level above mine this morning and he grabbed the pan handle and in one swift motion he tried to flip the pancake using the ole pan toss method! Now, the handle on the pan was one of those collapsible fold in handles and during mid flip the handle buckled on Greg which sent the already airborne pancake spiraling into a new direction and got away from Greg, hitting him in the leg and then crash landing onto a rock! If you could have slowed down time while the flapjack was in mid air you could have heard me yell “Noooooooooo”! Still very hungry and no more batter mixed up, Greg pointed out the remains in the Bisquick zip lock bag. We still had about three quarter cup or so left over. Pancakes were back on the grill in no time and we both laughed and ate up all the batter, syrup, and blueberry jam, just what we had intended to accomplish!

It was now time to pack up camp and on a full stomach we paddle one tenth of a mile to our first portage! Glad we went the whole distance across Telescope Lake the afternoon before. We loaded up and waved goodbye to snake island and Telescope Lake. On our way now, I think it was the third portage of the day, there was a small creek that meandered around a corner that really spiked our attention. Would be nice if we could paddle this creek instead of making another portage so Greg and I took a chance and paddled into the narrow, shallow bottom water way. Success was getting greater as we paddled around each bend. I ended up spotting a huge snapping turtle that was the size of a huge rock. Trying to put my paddle on him and almost tipping over the canoe in the process, I realized there was no way I could have caught him. Around another bend now and there was a gigantic white pine down over the creek, blocking our way to the next body of water. Oh well, time to turn this ship around, feeling very satisfied that we paddled the creek, it was very calm waters with trees right up to the creek bank that gave it that nostalgic canoeing experience. Making good time and now approaching the fifth portage of the day which was the 625 meter Monster. We both filled up our Nalgene bottles in the middle of the lake and hydrated ourselves for this monster. We were both trail hardened from a week of paddling and had made a huge weight decrease in the food pack. Greg kept one nalgene bottle behind and brought one over on the first run. I picked up the canoe and started through the narrow heavily populated mosquito infested portage. I learned the true meaning of burning shoulders that day but I kept on walking as the pain increased. The first day we portaged the 625 meter, it took us one hour and twenty min with me triple portaging. Greg was feeling strong after the third day into the trip, he was able to double portage today and we cleared it in 45 min. English muffins and peanut butter was our reward for conquering this beast. With both nalgene bottles severely depleted, we set out to a 50 meter and 350 meter portage back to the truck.

Greg had lost his GPS on day one of the trip, near a grass bog next to the 625 meter portage. We paddled over the drop site very slowly and not to disrupt the muckety muck. If you put your paddle into the muck, it can sink halfway up the arm of the paddle in no time. I couldn’t spot anything, when suddenly Greg says “I can see it!” The canoe rocked left and right and I had that feeling like we were going for a ride I didn’t call for. We found our balance and stayed dry amongst the chaos. I said to Greg, “You know, we just about flipped the canoe there, would have been up to our waists in the muckety muck but we are experienced canoeists after this week and got very established to the balance and speed of the canoe”. Greg said, “I just saw something orange and went after it, checking out the clear water now it was probably an orange leaf I was going after”! Woodland Caribou was just what we needed: decision making, teamwork, ambition, strengthening and the occasional leaf that looks like a GPS mirage effect. Woodland Caribou made us both “Happy Happy Happy”!

Day Eight Done