We took our time waking up once again. It was my first night sleeping in a hammock and I was pleasantly surprised. For me, I found it much more comfortable then sleeping on a mattress pad on the ground. Perhaps the only downside was that it was more challenging to get up in the middle night when nature called.

We made some bacon for breakfast and packed up slowly. We finally hit the water sometime after 10 I bet. We prepped the newbies that today would be a ‘long’ day (as in longer than yesterday). As an aside, if it were me, I would paddle/portage all day. I enjoy that more than relaxing at the campsite. But I know that is not true of most people. The goal today was to get somewhere between Ensign and Birch.

We paddled through the small lakes of Ahsub, Adventure, Jitterbug, and Cattyman. I really liked how narrow the lakes got close to the portage on these lakes. It was very scenic.

We portaged into Gibson, then Tim and I checked out Cattyman Falls. The big ball of fire was out in full force today, making traveling very hot and very tiring. Mike and Rick were beat down by the sun, and took the opportunity to rest in the shade.

Cattyman Falls:

Ashigan looked like a very private lake—didn’t seem like it got much traffic at all. We made it to Ensign, and Ensign really is stunning especially after coming through several smaller lakes.

Ensign Lake:

It seemed fairly busy, as every site we saw was occupied. I would definitely be interested in staying on Ensign some time.

The portage from Ensign to Trident had its ups and downs and you could tell it was not a superhighway like some other portages, but it wasn’t too bad. Once on Trident we saw that the campsite near the point on the western side was open. We paddled over to check it out and decided we would stay for the night! It looked ‘cozy’ with a giant white pine right in the middle of camp.

This turned out to be a great site! There was plenty of firewood, a nice secluded tent pad a ways from camp, and there ended up being decent fishing from the campsite. There were good views of the rest of Trident, and a slight breeze kept the bugs at bay.

We spent the afternoon resting, swimming, and fishing. Dinner was salmon, asparagus, and rice. Tim definitely got us a gourmet meal for tonight!

Later that evening I taught Tim how to play cribbage. Then we played smoke or fire with a bottle of honey whiskey. We went to bed a little earlier tonight because of how late we had stayed up the previous night.

Friday's Route:

~Ahsub Lake, Adventure Lake, Jitterbug Lake, Cattyman Lake, Gibson Lake, Ashigan Lake, Ensign Lake, Trident Lake