I woke up to the patter of rain on my tent. It seemed like an all-day rain. I could not believe it was only Thursday. It seemed like I had lived triple time in the past three days. So far this had been a great challenging adventure. I was wrong about the all-day rain. It cleared up fairly quickly. I made some coffee and oatmeal and thought about checking out the lake. But, my toe was looking very gnarly. All swollen, blue with somewhat detached nail. Before taping it, I would rate the pain an 8 out of 10. With taping, a 5 out of 10. I did toe soaks in the icy water, Naproxen, and stretches throughout the day. The stretches really hurt in the beginning, but made things better as the day went on. The pain subsided to a 1 of 10.

Amazing campsite; amazing day. Thursday was a gorgeous, sunny day on the rocks of my Cherokee site. The temperate was perfect. About 10:30 the wind really picked up. The wind was violent, cleansing, invigorating. Cherokee put on a cloud show for me, with amazingly beautiful cloud formations changing swiftly. I had a Captain Dan moment with the Universe which was very cathartic. Watching those clouds for hours will be a special moment I will never forget.

The wind never let up from 1030am until early evening. I mean, never let up. Even blowing my life jackets around. I was happy my tarp held and was happy I finally did my knots correctly (I’d been practicing for a couple of years). However, even though I love wind, I can only take so much wind! I could not believe it never let up. About 5pm or so, the wind started really bugging me and making me anxious. This obviously wasn’t a normal day wind. Relentless and becoming drier. It made it impossible not to think about wildfire, which I was trying super hard not to think about. I didn’t feel comfortable using the camp stove.

I had a decision to make. I thought the campsites closer to the Cherokee River might be more protected from the wind. I would have to battle the wind to get there, with the potential of having the sites taken. It sounded like a lot of work. I could just go in my tent and take a break from the wind. In the end, I decided to try for a more protected site. I battled the wind to the second campsite from the portage.

After being in the wind for so many hours, it was SO QUIET. I was struck by the quiet and the stillness. The campsite had beautiful rock formations, and everything was SO still. I had my late supper and noticed the full moon in the daylight. I sat there and watched it become brighter until I could no longer stay awake. GORGEOUS!