We woke around 6 the next day in order to get to Tuscarora with time to spare. After coffee and packing we were on the water around 7:30. We easily pushed through past Karl (or another part of Long Island Lake depending which map you view) and Lower George. We hit some strong wind coming in to Rib Lake and through Cross Bay Lake. Portaging into Snipe gave us all our second wind. It was every bit as stunning as Gordon--I admit I have a soft spot for the smaller lakes--and the air was cooler as you pass through the south end. The portage into Copper was jam packed. We took Copper into Hub and got ready for the big 265 rod portage into Tuscarora. My husband and I ended up trading off our canoe a few times, but we ended at the beautiful sandy portage landing on Tuscarora and were rewarded for our efforts. The wind picked up as we searched for a campsite, painting the lake with white caps. I specifically told my husband I was not down for the white caps and the possible associated flipping that comes with the territory. My husband made an excellent point that we are most likely to capsize if we don't keep paddling and that was motivation enough for me. A group at their campsite was all facing out at us, probably wondering what the odds we'd capsize were. It felt like we were barely moving forward. Finally, we rounded the island and saw it was open. Total, it took us about 7.5 hours from Long Island Lake to Tuscarora, with the wind and heavy portage traffic. We had a delightful feast this night, with fried pepperoni, fried tortillas, bacon, and blocks of cheese. It was chilly and still very windy but this meal made us all forget that we portaged those 624 rods earlier. We broke out the whiskey since we made our destination. The weather radio informed us that our last day would be all rain and storms so we decided to skip the intended layover day in Tuscarora. Last year up the Gunflint we made a super soggy exit, so we all decided to avoid it this time. We figured we would have our base camp day 7 in Sawbill, and leave early if the rain would be an all day occurrence. We heard a loud crack and a thud when one guy went to sleep. We ran over and saw the tree he was on had fallen over. It fell on a corner of his tarp and luckily he wasn't hurt. We looked at the tree and saw it was a dead birch. He's very lucky to not have been injured, and that just goes to show how careful you have to be when setting up hammocks (or tents even). It may look sturdy enough at a glance, but you're betting your life on it. This was the coldest night, in the upper 40s, but our hammocks and DIY underquilts did the job as always.