Day 3 Thursday, August 8

We left camp early and paddled into clear blue skies.

I immediately caught and released a small bass and then lost a larger one to poor technique before making the portage into Other Man Lake. When I carried the canoe across the short portage into a little no name lake south east of Bit Lake my sacroiliac joint protested loudly by burning and sending pain down my right leg. Though it didn’t seem to bother me carrying the portage packs I was concerned that it wouldn’t hold up well to anything too steep or long without risking a trip ending injury. The 39 rod portage into Bit and then the 21 yard portage into Bell Lake were straight forward. We had a great tail wind all day but the fishing was intermittent. Zach hooked a large pike that tore through his line but this appeared to be OK with him as the fish’s predominant teeth dissuaded him from landing that species anyway. The kids had a great day paddling together. By the day’s end everyone was tired but still laughing. Over the past 3 days we have settled into an efficient routine of portaging and setting up camp. It appears to be cooler tonight and we set up a nice camp on Bell Lake at what the kids name “Meditation Rock.” It is very open with lots of tent and tarp spots and has the advantage of being near the morning’s portage. Tony, Zach, and Ryan did a little fishing from shore with vastly differing results.

The mosquitos appear to have thinned out considerably with the cooler weather and we are only bothered by the occasional “fly by.” After the last two nights experience this is a welcome shift.

“I like 4 rod portages,” says Me.