Friday, May 22, 2020 Once again, we woke early and ate breakfast and coffee, and were paddling by 7:45. After the last few days, today was going to be relatively easy. We only had 7 portages and 6 or 7 lakes to travel before we were back to the Snowbank landing. We had to be back today as my mother-in-law would be arriving in Ely with our 3 kids to spend Memorial weekend with us at our cabin. We needed to get back around lunch time so that we could grocery shop ahead of their arrival to feed the 3 bottomless pits for the weekend. We portaged through the first couple of lakes quickly and easily with a few nice scenic rapids along the way. When we got to Disappointment, we started to see more groups. I wanted to check out a few of the sites on this lake as we'll be heading this way for a June basecamping trip with my dad and the kids. I saw several sites that would be kid friendly and that was enough to make me happy. Once we got to the end of the lake, it was no doubt we would be doing the portage to Snowbank as the water was calm as can be.  Snowbank was uneventful and after landing at the Entry Point, I ran back to get the car. I thought it was a 1/2 mile or so, but nope, it was closer to two miles. I was a sweaty, smelly beast. When I got to the Kekekabic Trailhead where the car was parked, it was full! 5 days earlier, we were the only car in the lot. I drove back and we racked up the boat and headed for the cabin. After a hot shower, we went and got a burger at the DQ and ran our errands. It was a great trip, one of those trips that was incredibly challenging, but in the end, we will look back on it years down the road and smile. The Kek was a formidable opponent and I have a lot of respect for the trail and it's history.