Boundary Waters, Trip Reports, BWCA, Stories

Finally back in the BWCA
by 2NDpaddlers

Trip Type: Paddling Canoe
Entry Date: 07/31/2018
Entry Point: Lizz and Swamp Lakes (EP 47)
Exit Point: Missing Link Lake (EP 51)  
Number of Days: 4
Group Size: 2
Day 2 of 4
Wednesday, August 01, 2018 8:00 – woke up – we got our best sleep once it got light out and morning. Still raining – tent stayed dry and our gear was dry – everything outside very wet. We had breakfast – fresh eggs and sausage. Miserable in the rain. As morning went on it was sprinkling and misting – saw a canoe go by. We decided to push on – so started packing up wet tents. 11:00 – we were on the water pushing to get to Long Island Lake. Tough portages today. Everything was very muddy. Temp was in the upper 50’s to lower 60’s. We wore our rain gear all day and traveled in mist and rain the entire paddle. Every portage was tough. Steep, rocky, muddy, long.

4:30 we arrived at our site on Long Island Lake (564) - first site that was open. This site was our least favorite of the trip, but was still a good site. Rain had stopped but still overcast and very damp. We set up wet tents – Had lots of hot chocolate. We were very hungry because we didn’t stop for lunch in the rain only eating a candy bar on a portage. We had supper – beef stew with vegetables. It was pretty good.

9:00 – got in the tent, as we were both very tired – had our best sleep this night. The sounds or lack of, didn’t seem to bother us this night. We were physically and mentally exhausted.

~Winchell Lake, Omega Lake, Kiskadinna Lake, Muskeg Lake, Long Island Lake