Tuesday, July 11, 2017 We awoke the next morning to a loon calling. We rolled out of the tent, and I quickly grabbed my camera, because we had a visitor. The loon stuck around for about 15 minutes, and we quietly watched as it swam in and out from shore.

After spending some time with our Loon visitor, it was time to finish what we started. We decided to make a day trip to Fraser. We packed our lunch in a single bag and headed out to find the portage to Hatchet Lake. As we crossed Ima, we noticed that most of the sites appeared to be occupied, including both Island sites. The sites on the island both looked really nice. The portage to Hatchet is well marked on the maps, but can be difficult to see, because it is all boulders. 

A quick paddle across hatchet brought us to the ponds and river that leads to Thomas. Another map item to note is that there are 4 short portages between Hatchet and Thomas (not 3 as are shown on several maps). The paddle itself was pretty nice, and had some great views. We took our time, and it was refreshing to single portage, just carrying the canoe!

As we crossed the final portage and caught our first view of Thomas, it took our breath away. The water was as smooth as glass (it turns out that it was the calm before the storm), and the lake goes on for what seems forever.

The wind really started picking up as we crossed Thomas, so I knew that we were going to have limited time on Fraser, but we slowly worked our way northeast towards Fraser. As soon as we hit the narrows, I knew it was worth all of the effort to get there. The narrows between Fraser and Thomas really are something to behold. It instantly moved into a top-5 place for me.

Sadly the weather continued to develop, so we pulled into an open campsite and cooked up some Zup’s Hot Dogs for our lunch. One little thing that I learned from my Dad was to always leave the fireplace with tinder and sticks set up and shielded from the elements if possible. That way if you get back to camp (or the next person gets to camp) and is in urgent need of a fire, it should be easy to get going very quickly. and loaded back into the canoe just as the rain began to fall. Thankfully we had the forethought to bring our rain gear. 

The return trip back to Ima was easy, until we hit Ima. By the time we were back on Ima, the wind had really picked up, and the light rain had turned into a solid rain. We worked our way along the southern shore back to our campsite, and made it in time to adjust our tarp to cover our seating area and fire pit. The rain let up a bit, and I was able to throw my line in the water to see if we could catch some fish.   

Alas it was not to be, but to be honest, I wasn’t really trying all that hard. The rain picked up, and I checked the weather radio (another tip, a metal fly swatter handle can double as a weather radio antenna extension). Thankfully the weather wasn’t likely to turn severe, but they were now forecasting rain through the rest of the week.