Layover Day!

The morning started warm, foggy, and without a breath of wind. By now I realized that pretty much everyone except me were late sleepers, so I just enjoyed a couple of hours to myself watching the sun rise and burn off the steam that was rising over the lake. 

Once everyone was up and fed we proceeded to go straight to the Gaskin/Winchell portage. It was a nice little day trip with a good amount of paddling. When we set out on Winchell it was glass. Can’t imagine that happens very often! The falls after a warm 3+ mile paddle were nice and refreshing after the long paddle to get there, the boys really enjoyed themselves. We found a great little spot with a nice view of the lake to make our lunchmeat and cheese tortilla sandwiches for lunch. There was even a nice flat rock just at the right height to act as a table. 

It was another nice paddle On our way back across Winchell, we even got to see a pair of loons with their baby! It was the portage to Gaskin we had what everyone agreed was the highlight of the trip. My son and I were the first ones on the portage and just as we turned the last corner to the Gaskin Lake landing there was a cow Moose right there! She walked by the landing and proceeded out about 50 yards down the channel where she was munching on lily pads. We eventually all launched our canoes and were able to float about 50 ft from where she was eating and watch for a good 15-20 minutes before she waded out of the water and disappeared into the forest. We made it back to camp mid-afternoon buzzing about the encounter. Then it was more swimming/fishing/relaxing for the remainder of the day. 

Once again our hopes of seeing the comet were dashed by clouds but I think everyone retired for the night feeling more than satisfied by what we did and saw today!