While the overnight rain promised by the thunder did indeed come, it was not as prolonged as the night before, it quit before morning and no overhead tent leak developed so we woke up this morning drier than the previous day. As we got up and started to move around, the rain continued to hold off so we hustled to get breakfast down and strike camp so we could get packed up to move on to our next site. After about a half hour's paddle down a calm West Pike Lake we again found ourselves at the portage to Clearwater Lake. This time it was slightly uphill so a little more challenging than going in but still, other than a bit of length, not too bad.

However, our next portage from Clearwater to Caribou Lake was a significant test. This carry starts out from Clearwater climbing steeply and my legs were complaining. It does level out somewhat near the middle before descending to Caribou. It was about 200 rods I was glad to be done with!

Once on Caribou we decided to grab a site as quickly as we could. We tried initially for the site to the east of the portage but it was taken so we opted for the site near the little island just to the west. This proved to be a good choice as it offered good tent pads, a fire grate near the water, nice sunning rocks out front and a good deal of general scenic charm. It was also interesting to find an old cast-iron oven door from the logging days of Caribou. What we were not pleased to discover was the debris left by previous campers. Too bad not everyone gets the concept and importance of LNT camping!

As soon as we had finished lunch here and spread out our gear, a couple of clouds blocked out the sun and a rain shower ensued, lasting just long enough to get everything wet again. We set up camp hoping the sun would return (which it quickly did) and dry everything while we were gone on our planned day-trip to nearby Johnson Falls.

Our trip to the falls took about an hour, taking us over a couple of portages and across a very dirty Little Caribou Lake. This water was green enough it could have stood in as a diving pool at the Rio Olympics! After a short paddle across the end of Pine Lake (weedy but not as dirty as Little Caribou) we started the half-mile hike through the woods back to the falls. This summer's storms have left quite a few deadfalls that need to be negotiated but no part of the trail was impassable without anything more than medium effort. When we arrived at the falls, we found both the upper and lower cascade to be running pretty strong. We made our way up to the higher section and had a great time swimming. We were able to sneak behind the cascade itself and then come bursting through the water for a ride on the current for a few yards. It was like a bunch of kids at a water park. Fun!!

When we returned to our site we found that our gear was "mostly" dry but we were going to be a bit damp in our tents that night. It still would not be as bad as the first night so no big deal.

The trip to Johnson Falls left us just a few hours before dark for fishing and we were not successful in the time available so it was going to be our freeze-dried back-up for supper. As they say, "Hunger makes the best sauce," so even this was not bad at all! By nightfall the temps had dipped a good deal so for the first time on this trip, I needed to break out some layered clothing to stay warm. A nice fire helped us ward off the evening chill before we all called it a night.