DAY TEN, FRIDAY, 7/24/2015, 9.6 miles paddling, 1.6 miles portaging, 11.2 total miles, - Four portages, Lake Insula, Hudson, Fire, Lake Four, campsite #1498?

We posed for a group shot minus myself and then loaded up canoes. It was windy and getting worse and somehow in my hurry, my sunglasses slipped out of my lifejacket most likely when loading canoe gear. By the time I realized it we were a good half mile away and had been battling a strong headwind. So if anyone finds some floating sunglasses with a fish symbol on them, enjoy. I must say that paddling against a strong headwind makes one feel slow. We tried staying on the lee side of the land but we concluded that the wind would change direction just to torment us. We decided to take the narrow passageway north into Fire Lake to enjoy calmer water and that was a far better paddling experience.

The narrow passageway really made us wish that more of our trip had been on similar waterways instead of larger lakes. Next time we come, we told ourselves, we will look for rivers a bit more.

On I believe the 105 rod portage from Insula into Hudson my daughter took a bit of a tumble and bumped her head on a rock. She wanted to take it pretty easy for a bit after that experience and rested in the canoe during travel. On that same portage we met a few folks headed the opposite direction. I decided to help them carry some gear on my return trip for a double portage for which they seemed quite thankful. It was quite humorous to me that the pack they called their heavy pack seem extremely light, but I guess it is all relative.

Sometime during the trip the waist buckle on the 60L 49 North barrel pack broke most likely from the barrel laying on top of it. That same pack also had a shoulder strap start to tear at the top of the shoulder. All of our gear held up well except that particular pack. The shoulder straps were a faulty design with poor material at the top.

In our canoe with five people, the kids would take turns sitting or laying on the seat they called the "HuckFinn" seat. They all loved that spot as no paddling was done there normally.

We found a campsite in a burned out area but it looked like the forest service had protected the immediate site from fire as it was green where the actual campsite was. This site had a nice solid rock dock that made a nice fishing spot and a few wild strawberries were discovered also. The fire weed was beautiful as well. It was getting late as normal for us by the time we got camp setup. Our routine seemed to be leave late, arrive late. Certainly not the best for making long distances but for our group, I thought we were doing wonderful. My daughter certainly was a big help and was hauling more weight on portages than any of the boys. She is one tough cookie.

~Hudson Lake, Fire Lake, Four, Lake