Saturday, July 09, 2005

After a long day of driving which turned into a late night camp set up, we slept in a little on Saturday morning. We made a big hearty breakfast that consisted of eggs and more pancakes than I have ever seen. It tasted delicious and filled everyone up with enough energy for the following day. Beth and I took the dishes to the water spicket while the boys took down the tent. It wasn't until afterwards that there was a problem. Breck was having second thoughts. She was relatively knew to the group, being Ryan's girlfriend, and had never gone camping with us before, let alone camped in the Boundary Waters. We assumed Ryan had prepped her well but it seemed as though she wanted to turn around and go home. I felt bad for the girl but selfishness set in. I was ready to go. I had been dreaming about the BWCAW ever since my last trip there two years earlier, and I wasn't going to let anyone stand in my way. Ryan talked Breck into going in a little ways, promising heer that if she still wanted to go home after the first day, they would turn back. This seemed to be a good plan since we were starting later in the day and didn't plan on paddling very far. We left the campsite around noonish and headed into town to pick up our entry permits and some odds and ends that we had forgotten. We then started our drive to the Chain Saw Sister's Saloon, not at all sure what to expect. When we finally reached the Saloon we were all too excited. We paid our parking dues and unloaded quickly. The portage to Mudro was quick and easy. Once we got our canoes in the water it sank it that we were finally leaving civilization behind. Our paddle through the reeds was interesting. We ran into many groups who were on their way out, warning us about the horrible portages that they lay ahead. In a way, I think this was a good thing. After hearing about the hard portages from multiple groups, we had it built up in our heads that they was going to be unbelievably tough. However, when the time came to tackle these portages, they weren't as bad as we had imagined at all. In the late afternoon, after perhaps only a two hours of trekking, we decided to look fo camp. The traffic coming out of Mudro made us nervous about finding a site so we took the first we could grab on Horse Lake (the second site on the left). We set up camp at this spacious site and made some dinner. Breck seemed to be doing alright but it had been an easy day, tomorrow would be more of a test. Mudro Lake, Sandpit Lake, Tin Can Mike Lake, Horse Lake