Woke up with the light thinking I have to push through this if at all possible; not the kind of thing one hopes for as a first waking thought. Got out and saw a little blue sky, then more, then more. Had a quick, standard breakfast and packed up my wet gear to get going. The sky continued to clear, so despite feeling in a hurry (expecting the weather to double back on me) I had to take a paddle around the lake. I really am not sure why, but some BWCA lakes just really look more beautiful than some others. I retraced the portage down to Chase, then a quick up and down portage to Pencil. Across Pencil I was thinking of another trip report I read this spring stating that the maps showed the portage on the wrong side of the river. I was very grateful for this information, as I could easily have spent too much time looking for it in the wrote place.

The 65 rod portage out of Pencil had plenty of wet, leafy branches across, so my pants and shirt got pretty wet right off the bat. Hauling my boat across the portage I kept noticing something snagging the overgrowth along the trail. I’d soon find the culprit; the rock guard and a small piece of wood on the blade of my paddle had split loose and were snagging brush as walked. Then as I went to set my canoe in the water, I slipped on the muddy bank and one of my rubber boots went deep and filled with muddy water. I get in the boat and get going, then wring it out. At least it is now sunny, so I can deal with it.

The lower portion of the Frost River seems to have a different, slightly more open flavor to it. I lost track of portages, as some were needed and many were avoidable by pulling over beaver damns. I was able to really start enjoying the paddle now, though the split guard on my paddle was continuously snagging river grass which had to be cleaned out about every five strokes. Still I’d finish out the day with it then switch to my bent shaft. There were a few deer flies following us but Regent was happy too. He is actually quite skilled at defending himself against deer flies, so they were preferable to swarms of mosquitoes. And he liked all the big frogs we’d see when pulling over beaver dams.

Eventually I rounded a corner and the river opened up into Afton Lake, where I stopped at the campsite to filter water and have a quick lunch of a protein bar and some trail mix. By now there were just a few puffy white clouds, and the warmth of the sun felt great as I started to dry out.

I paddled on through Fente and Whipped where I saw another open campsite. Finally I reached the last portage (hopefully) of the day, 100 rods into Mora. I felt like I was crossing an invisible border onto a more well traveled route, a route I had taken from Little Sag through Mora to Tuscarora decades ago. I paddled on to Mora and headed toward the site on the small channel near the island. It was open. I started up the channel thinking I’d scope out the island site too as it was still fairly early, but seeing the channel north of the island was not passable turned back to take the the other site. I pulled into the site and as I set up my tarp and bug I heard the clanking of aluminum and muffled shouts, then moments later came 4 canoes from the Little Sag direction. They moved swiftly past with just a wave. These were the first people I had seen since Long Island 5 days earlier, and were the only people I’d see for a while longer. The sun was still warm, so I spread gear all over the open boulder face like a garage sale, then relaxed a while as everything dried. Thought I had set my bug net up, for the first time in many days the mosquitoes were thankfully minimal.

For dinner I was very much in the mood for something more than boil in bag stuff, but was also not much in the mood to gather fire wood. I had brought along, as I usually do, one meal of pizza which usually do over a fire but decided to try on right on my stove. I was a little worried about how much gas I had left, but I knew this would hit the spot. I mixed my dough - flour, salt, yeast, water and sugar - just as I do at home and let it set a while. I noticed Regent was thoroughly amused playing with something he had found. It turned out to be a small sun-dried moose skull, which I traded him for a couple dog biscuits thinking it best for him not to chew up. Dough ready, I rehydrated sauce I’d made, grated some parmesan, and made stringy the string cheese, separated the pepperoni slices and tossed in some kalamata olives. I separated the dough into two portions, one for the bottom and one for the top. Calzone would be easier to heat and cook properly on a stove. I was surprised it was ready in just about 7-8 minutes; much faster than I had feared. It was enormously satisfying to sit and eat with shining sun and a gentle breeze drying my things.