Nick and myself were up with the sun and we ate our breakfast of rolls and some OJ and watched the sun rise as we looked out over the lake. Within the next half an hour everyone was up and we were packed up and ready to head out quickly. We watched the video and got everything squared away and were paddling out by 8:30. It was a sunny day with a few clouds with the temperature in the low 70s. We were halfway across Poplar when coach realized he left the permit on the dash of his truck so he and Chaz go back to get it while the rest of us continued on towards Meeds. The portages were pretty short but the portage from Caribou to the little pond was the rockiest and worst footing I’ve seen on a portage. We still made good time and found one of our preferred sites open so we took it as we could see the other one across the way was occupied.

The island campsite is pretty nice with at least 4 tent pads but only one really nice one. We found 2 other decent ones to pitch our tents on and put up our rain shelter and set up the rest of camp. Then we went out to collect some firewood from the west side of the lake that was burnt a few years back. The wind slowly picked up throughout the day which made paddling across the lake a pain but nothing too bad. We sawed and chopped up the firewood and got a big stack to last us a few days then headed out fishing. It was getting very windy so we tried to fish some small bays and tuck behind the islands but the wind made it a pain. Nick and I were fishing rapalas and managed about 10 smallmouth in about 2 hours small to medium size with the biggest being like 18”. We came back for a dinner of ham steak and baked potatoes and headed out walleye fishing for the evening. We were hoping the wind would die down some but no such luck. Between the 6 of us we caught 15 walleyes in a couple hours but it was pretty windy and rainy so that hampered the fishing. Mostly eater size but I caught one 22”. Once we got in from fishing we lit a campfire and just sat around and reminisced about memories and stories of the old days. It was very fun and nostalgic. We all went to bed at different times. Nick and I stayed up awhile just enjoying the campfire and the peace and quiet that the boundary waters offers.