I woke up naturally a little after midnight and could see that the stars were out in full force. I made myself get up and check out the stars after setting up my camera. My tripod was set up from the evening before to give me the framing that I wanted for my star trail shot over Canada. I spend about an hour taking photos including one 30 minute exposure. The humid air, however, resulted in massive amounts of condensation on my lens, so the 30 minute (and even 15 minute) exposures were pretty much useless. The best I could do was a high ISO 4 minute exposure. Drat! Oh well. Lesson learned. I did see a bunch of shooting stars as I sat out and gazed for about an hour. It was a lovely way to spend my final night.

I went back to bed a little disappointed about the condensation, but I was very tired. I woke up to the sun beating down on the tent. It was hot, but it still took a while for me to want to get up. Had it been cool, I probably would have slept another three hours. We got up and packed up quickly as our camp site provided no shade (and we were not in the mood to set up a tarp the night before). The bugs were getting a bit bad as we sweated through the pack-up, but we were on the water and fairly comfortable within an hour or so of waking up. We were almost an entire day ahead of schedule, and we had every intention of getting off the water that afternoon.

A few navigational issues had us doubting ourselves at first, but we eventually figured the correct way back to Pipestone Bay without having to do much extra paddling. The final stretch to the portage to Newton Lake was a bit of a heart breaker. There was a strong head wind and neither one of us had much energy to paddle quickly. I called the outfitter from the middle of Pipestone Bay at about 10:30 and told them we would want a pick up at Fall Lake at about 2:30. The portage trail from Basswood to Newton seemed longer and steeper and less road-like than the first time we were there, but we knew we were nearing the end.

We divided up lunch at the landing to Newton Lake before we pushed off. This was now familiar territory, and we took the shallow short cut around the south of the big island on Newton lake to save us about 15 minutes. It was fine, but I was glad we did not choose that route on our way out (it was good to have some experience before navigating really shallow and rocky terrain). A motorized fishing boat caught up with us at the portage landing, and Matt and I readied ourselves for our final portage which, again, seemed steeper and less road-like than before. We put back in to Fall Lake and reached the landing just after 2 PM (we were really dragging). The van pulled up after we waited for only a few minutes, and the driver gave me the coldest and best can of Hamm’s beer that was ever been in existence. Thank you!!!! The chill of the beer was beat only by the shave and shower I was able to get in back at the outfitters’.

Reading these notes nine years later reminds me of some of the difficulties of the trip. Overall, I am thrilled that I went on the trip, and I am thrilled that Matt did it with me (he might be less thrilled). I loved experiencing the wilderness, and I really wish we could have stay a night near Basswood Falls in retrospect. I think I was quite pleased with the decision at the time, though, so no regrets. I feel blessed to get to experience such natural beauty, and I can't wait to go back with all that I learned.