Takedown was slow due to F taking an hour to take down his Draumr hammock. I was less than thrilled (having taken about 15 minutes to break down my hammock setup) but let it slide. I made us some instant oatmeal and coffee for breakfast, with 2 granola bars each in our pockets. The coffee was a Pinot Noir Barrel-Aged El Salvador that I had ordered online and ground the day we drove up. It is decadent at home, but out in the wilderness it’s even better.

Before we left, we headed up the hill at our campsite to get a view of the SAK. The photos aren't great unfortunately, but it was a cool view.

We pushed off at 10:30am, an hour later than I was hoping to leave. Truth be told, I was a little annoyed by how long it took us to get out of there, but was trying not to let it bother me, and once we got on the water I was fine. Whatever happens, happens. You gotta just go with it.

Weather was great all day again, sunny with light breeze. We pushed to Cherry by 3:15pm, after wasting an hour looking for the Knife-Amoeber portage (mismarked on the Fisher map at the southeast bay, multiple false portages around there - it’s at the northwest bay, basically straight ahead as you come into the main bay back there). It’s actually marked properly on my Garmin map, and I should have checked it sooner, but forgot that the map had the portages marked! Oh well. That portage was taxing, and we had to take a good 10 minute break after double carrying up and down.

At the end of the Topaz-Cherry portage, the end was in sight. We pushed all day and didn’t have much to eat, honestly, and it finally caught up with me. After I set the canoe down a little too hard on rocks that I thought I had cleared, I got winded and had to sit down for a good 10 minutes while F and I ate some GORP. I drank the last of my water and took it slow and we found the first campsite on Cherry open. We decided to check the narrows site, which was taken, so we turned around into the breeze and pushed back to the other site, which was thankfully still open. I took it easy unloading gear and decided to set up the tent we brought with us just in case we couldn’t make 2 hammocks work at a site. I could have found a spot for the hammock, but I wanted a good night’s sleep that night, so I took the tent that night which worked out nicely.

The site turned out to be absolutely awesome and had an amazing view of the islands on the lake. Weather reports before we left said it would be cloudy most nights during our trip, but almost every night was clear. The view on Cherry under the early dark skies (mid-Sept) was fantastic. The Milky Way reflected off the calm lake in a way that you have to see with your own eyes to appreciate. I highly recommend a pair of binoculars for wildlife spotting and stargazing for this site. The tall cedars of this site really give it a cool feel; combined with the view of the sunset and sunrise, it’s an experience I won’t forget.