August 29, 2015 – Day 3 of 9. We were very glad we took the time to prepare for the un-forecasted rain, during the night a torrential thunderstorm rolled through. The tent survived with minimal leaking, but some of the tent gear did get wet, so we awoke to some dampness. There was a very nice strong SW breeze, so we hung out all the wet gear and the drying process was quick. Coffee, breakfast and the days planning were first order. We were feeling the effects of the previous days 13 ½ mile journey and the 5 portages, so we decided to do some local fishing and take it easy today. We finished drying out, reset camp and headed to the south bay of Iron Lake for some morning fishing. The standard “first fish, most fish, biggest fish” wager was in place and the looser would have the honor of driving through Wisconsin on the way home (beautiful state, but a long drive north to south). I secured the first portion of the wager with a little small mouth, but first fish is still the first fish. Elizabeth started fishing with night crawlers, but switched to a baby bass artificial with a jig head, and started killing the walleye in 12’ of water. We returned to camp for lunch and thought an afternoon paddle to Curtain falls would be nice.

We headed to Curtain Falls and enjoyed some sights on the way. With Elizabeth as the navigator, she was getting very good at monitoring current locations and finding reference points, we ran across a pair of geese and she was quick with her camera to catch one as took flight. Taking time to enjoy a small event like this resulted in a nice picture that was my desktop image for some time. As we navigated around the north side of three island, we spotted a rock with an international boundary marker. Elizabeth found that fascinating and had to stop for a picture and the ensuing jump from one side to the other saying in a rhythm “Now I am in Canada, now I am in the US, now I am in Canada” and so on. She seemed to enjoy the quick international travel.

As we came around the east end of three island, we found a larger group camped on the North Eastern most camp site. It was the Richie Rich group from yesterday, and they did not seem to have fared as well with the rain last night. It looked like they had ever single piece of their gear hanging out to dry. I felt for them, that is an unfortunate start to any trip. We made it to Curtain Falls and had a snack, walked the portage and spent the rest of the afternoon fishing the bottom side of the falls. It was a good thing I had “first fish” secured, because Elizabeth was starting to pull away from me with the “most fish” category.

We returned to camp in the late afternoon, cooked up supper and tried some late evening fishing in the South bay again. Elizabeth has always said she wasn’t a math whiz, but she sure could keep an exact count on those fish totals, as her lead grew every trip. We returned to camp and enjoyed a beautiful sunset to finish off a great day. The cloud cover was thick enough that we weren’t able to view the stars and the night time sky I had told so many stories about, but maybe tomorrow night we will get the chance. We retired for some cards in the tent and casual conversation about what tomorrow would have in store.

Drying out camp after the rain.

Elizabeth always ready with the camera, great timing.

First fish, little, but first.