August 30, 2015 – Day 4 of 9. We awoke early at 6:30 or so when the sun came up and we decided, over coffee and eggs to spend most of day four fishing the deeper sections of Iron Lake. As a mental note that wasn’t in my journal, it is amazing how good instant coffee made with lake water tastes first thing in the morning on day four. Not so much on day one, but after four days and the view we had, instant taste pretty good that day.

We set out after breakfast with high hopes of larger fish, the success was limited to a couple of medium sized walleyes that we decided would be that night’s supper. The wind picked up and made open water fishing more difficult, so we headed back for lunch and then back to Elizabeth’s favorite south cove where the “most fish” differential grew larger. Just to add context to the fish she was catching, these were not little rock bass or perch. She was catching 4-6 pound walleyes in 12-15 feet of water on the last second purchase, baby bass rubber minnows. These baby bass minnow have become so infamous, that every gift giving opportunity since has included a pack of them. I think she has nearly a life time supply by now.

After many hours of being out fished, my back thought it may be nice to return to camp and explore the island we were camped on. We walked the south shore and followed it around, then worked our way inland a bit as we continued around the island. The beauty of the shaded, seemly untouched forest can never be adequately described. Elizabeth spent some time getting some nice pictures and unique close-ups and as I look back on those pictures, as beautiful as they are, they just can’t capture the overall wonder the back woods has to offer.

We returned to camp after a couple of hours of exploring and had a nice meal as we watched the sunset. We were fortunate that evening to have a cloudless sky and there was no sign of the moon yet. This would be a perfect night for star gazing. Elizabeth has always been fascinated by the night sky, stars, planets and space in general. When the sun had completely set, and darkness overtook the lake, we laid out on the southern rock landing and just looked up in amazement. With the lack of nearly any light pollution, the view was amazing. We laid there and just took it all in for an hour, having a running total of passing satellites vs. the number of falling stars. The view was so nice, I could have easily stayed there until sleep set in, but I knew that my back would hate me in the morning, so the now usual cards in the tent and then sleep was in order.

Elizabeth's eye for the unusual

Who needs grass...

The old guy with a bum knee makes it to the top of the island.

Beautiful camp site sunset. I love sunsets, it is just a reminder of how beautiful the day was.