We woke up Wednesday morning and drove back to the Kawishiwi Ranger Office to pick up our permit right when they opened.

We ended up back at the Wood Lake entry point by 9:00 am to start our trip. I told him the first portage was either 180 rods or 220 rods, depending on the map (I tend to believe the 220 rod measurement more). "Dad, what's a rod?" I explained that it's an old method of measuring distance. "Did they use an actual rod?" I told him I didn't know (I still don't). I mentioned it was close to 3/4 of a mile. That seemed to satisfy him. Branches, uneven rocks, and mud holes all conspired against us on this portage, but we both made it through and were ready to hit the water. We loaded the canoe and headed down the wild rice and lily pad choked stream to get to Wood Lake.

As luck (bad luck) would have it, we ran into a couple on their way right where the stream like area ends and the lake begins. They told us the wind was really blowing through the lake and to be careful. "Dad, are we going to be ok? You're not going to fall out of the canoe again this year are you?" There's that paranoia thing, already creeping in. I assured him that wasn't going to happen (it did to us in Sylvania while fishing one day in very high winds- but that's another story).

The rest of Wood Lake, Hula Lake, and the portage to Good Lake passed quickly, with a fair amount of sweat and hard work from both of us. We spent the remainder of the day setting up, taking a nap, and exploring around our camp. I had forgotten how much up and down was involved with the portages for today, and had definitely over packed for the amount Jaden could carry. Oh well, we had made it. We caught a couple fish that evening, had a campfire, and just lazed around. It was a good first day.