Friday, July 14, 2017 I slept sans rain fly as the forecast was good, and I woke to a chilly morning, my gauge read 43 degrees when I got up and checked it. I had debated just bringing a blanket on this trip, but I was glad I decided on my 20 degree bag instead. After a quick breakfast of oatmeal and coffee I started to pack up camp while chowing on some blueberries I found in camp. I was amazed at how smoothly things went packing up to go. I was on the water at 8:30, not sure where I would end up today. The portage into Eugene, Beartrack and Little Beartrack Lakes were uneventful, but I did notice that although very clear water, these lakes had nothing on Fat Lake, the clarity was remarkable. As I got into Thumb Lake after my first long portage of the day, I realized that it had been over 24 hours since I saw the family of 4 on the Little Loon-Slim portage. I was certain I'd see somebody on Thumb or Finger Lake though. There's a little beaver dam to portage around between Thumb and Finger, and once into finger, you paddle a little channel that leads out to the main lake and it offers a beautiful view. After surveying the lake and realizing I was the only one out here, I paddled over to the south island site to see the Pictographs on one of the big glacial boulders there and decided I'd camp there. This site was a beauty, sitting up high over the water and offering great trails to view the lake. I caught a northern from camp after setting up, but it was too big for just me to eat, so back she went. I had camp set up before noon (another surprise for me) and I realized that I had underestimated the speed at which I could paddle/portage in my planning. Oh well, it just meant I could take my time a little more. After lunch of a bagel with PB, I was about to hop back in the canoe and see what "Blueberry Island" had to offer when I noticed a pretty big chip in the gel coat, on the stern end of my canoe. Bummer, but at least the fiberglass/kevlar under the chip appeared to be rock solid. So I busted out the duct tape and filled the void, put a few pieces over the chip and covered it all with a piece of "tent repair tape" made of nylon. Amazingly, this little field repair held for the rest of the trip. I don't know when the chip happened, but I must have set my pack down hard in the stern when the canoe wasn't in deep enough water. I am religious about making sure my boat is completely buoyant before loading, but I must have hit a rock when loading or something. After an hour delay, I headed for Blueberry Island and it did not disappoint, I loaded up on blueberries and tried to fish a little, but had no luck.
Since I didn't keep the northern from earlier, I was going to be eating garlic mashed potatoes and peas with a little beef jerky for dinner. No complaints here. A lone loon paddled by during dinner, didn't say a peep, but he/she was so huge that all I could do was sit and stare at it, totally forgetting to take a pic. ~Fat Lake, Eugene Lake, Beartrack Lake, Little Beartrack Lake, Thumb Lake, Finger Lake