Saturday, June 08, 2013 We decided to start our journey home a day early. I wanted to stay, but in hindsight I am SO glad we didn't. It was a gorgeous day, we all had our shirts off and soaked in the sun. This is ill-advised, but we braved the rapids on the portage from Hudson to Lake 4 in leiu of carrying everything. It was an intense and bumpy ride, but we made it. We took a little water in, but we didnt tip. I realize that it could have gone a lot worse, but no risk, no reward. Once our friends saw that it was possible, they also opted for the same challange. Same result. I think my bow man became over confident because he wanted to do the same thing on the next portage but the rapids were much more dangerous looking than before. He bravely decided to go it alone. We watched him disappear behind a large rock going like 20mph. We ran to the other end of the portage and waited for the result. Finally we saw the canoe pop out from a waterfall. The canoe was empty. Shortly after I saw my partner clinging to the canoe from behind. I laughed so hard I cried. He was alright. We stopped for another fish fry on Lake 3 and made it back to entry 30 just before dusk. It was such a fun day. We drove down to Virginia, MN, went to the Sawmill Saloon and stayed in a hotel. The next day it was pouring rain. That is why I was so glad we decided to head back early. If we would have had to make the trip back in the rain it would have sucked. Round 2 coming soon...