At some point that sky that lent itself so well to stargazing took a turn and we sat through a storm overnight in the bunks. It sounded like more rain and lighting to me than overly heavy winds, but it was clear mother nature was angry that night.

Awoke to much better weather (albeit soggy still from all the rain). Had breakfast in the lodge which was excellent - all the pancakes, sausage, bacon and fruit we could eat.

Got packed up and ready for our tow across Clearwater. We chose the tow out of pure laziness, and I guess some fear of getting wind bound on such a huge lake. It's the consensus of our group that our time is better spent at camp or out fishing rather than humping it across a huge lake.

Since our trip is geared toward basecamping, we naturally like to try to get a good site. After reading the campsite reviews in this area, we of course were drawn to the lone site on Little Caribou...lots of 5-star ratings. So, we decided we would b-line there as fast as we could to at least check it out and see if it was open. I would have kicked myself if we came to this area and we didn't at least check to see if it was available.

The tow brought us to the portage from Clearwater to Caribou. We all did the portage one direction, then myself and one other jumped in the canoe with some gear and bolted off down Caribou toward Little Caribou while the others hung back and waited to get word from us (half our gear was still back over at Clearwater). Our back up plan was to backtrack that portage and go over to West Pike.

We took the little portage from Caribou to Little Caribou and had to paddle all the way out to the site before we could confirm......it was OPEN! We set up a tent and left some gear there and radioed back to the others that we had our site. They went back to finish the double portage (and we had to return to Clearwater and back as well). But all was good because we had the site we wanted so it was just a matter of getting our stuff there.

That Clearwater to Caribou portage is no picnic...it pretty much features all the characteristics that make a portage harder than others...some length, some elevation, plenty of mud/water, not a very wide path, etc. Nothing that should scare anyone away from the area, but like I said, no picnic.

Made it back to camp and made ourselves at home. This is where I'll provide my review of the campsite....I have to say it does not quite live up to its billing. Don't get me wrong, it is nice and has a lot going for it....solitude as the only site on the lake, ample space around camp, some nice large flat rocks and surfaces for a kitchen, good firepit, and great views being elevated up over the lake. But I have to say there are really no good tent pads, and not a great canoe landing, and getting up and down from camp to the water is a little tricky and a little exhausting after 3 days. Again, I was happy, but I'm skeptical that this site is really in the top-10 BWCA type of company that many of the reviews bestow upon it.

Anyway...the afternoon and evening were spent swimming and fishing. We did hook some nice nothern pike, which served as our dinner. Pike get a bad rap for eating, but I have to say that was one of the best fish frys of my life...excellent.

We ended the night at the campfire with some beverages. All in all, a great put in day.