We spent last night in the van in the parking lot of Sawbill Outfitters, then got the canoe and gear down to the landing just before the outfitter opened up. We were the first ones on the water . The first portage was no problem. Jaryd did great--he was really pumped. He carried the food pack the whole 80 rods. Second portage was a little harder–more rocks and hills. Third was a brutally rocky 92 rods. Fourth one was brutally long but we made it without incident. Boy, was I proud of Jaryd! He never complained, we both just kept on pushing. Some nice folk from Eau Claire told us about a nice campsite on Cherokee straight across from the entrance to Cherokee Creek. We were happy to see that it was available. Set up camp and ate lunch, which was peanut butter sandwiches because I forgot the jelly. We went out fishing for awhile but had no luck. After dinner we sat by the fire enjoying the sunset and watched the stars come out. It was at that point we had our man to man talk, well I talked he listened. Good first day.