September 12, 2015 Day 9: We woke at 6am and were met with cold air and everything soaking wet in dew. Looking out at the lake was a dense fog. We packed up and hot chocolate and hot granola for breakfast. It was getting really foggy out now and we headed off into the abyss. We took some neat pictures in the eerie stillness as we paddled for the portage. After quickly portaging we made some casts in the stream hoping to get Laura that elusive pike. I was having her cast here and there with no success. At one point I cast to where she had previously cast and of course came up with a pike. Laura continued fishing and I stopped entirely, acting as a guide for her, maneuvering the boat and calling out likely fishy looking spots. At 9:15 we called it quits…no pike for Laura. At the last portage we found a traffic jam. There were people EVERYWHERE with gear strewn further beyond everywhere. We waited for a spot to open up and then quickly unloaded and brought the boat and 2 packs across. I stowed the boat IN the stream leading out of the lake and put our packs off to the side out of the way when the tow boat operator asked me if I had any more people coming across because he was trying to get his guys on the water. Really guy? Your guys have stuff everywhere and are causing problems for people going the other way, but somehow I’m in your way? The mess of people is finally gone and we sit for a little while taking pictures until Blaine showed up. He said it would be a cold ride back to the outfitter and he wasn’t kidding. We were dressed in almost everything we had with us, including our rain gear but eventually the wind started to creep in. Thankfully, we pulled up to the dock of the outfitter before freezing in place. Once we unloaded the boat we met up with Charlene who gave us clean towels and a beverage. We talked awhile about how things are at home (they used to live not far from where Laura and I now live) and how their season was. After cleaning up and taking a warm shower we drove into town for lunch. We were surprised by the Harvest Festival that was going on in town, so we walked through that first. Lots of neat things on display and being made, along with some traditional Scandinavian bands and dancers in the band shell. Laura got a big bag of kettle popcorn and then it was lunch at the Boathouse, then on the road to Eau Claire for the night. Dinner that night was at the Northwood’s Brewpub, a traditional stop for me when staying overnight on the way home. The next day we pulled into our house around noon.