We managed to leave the campsite about 10 minutes earlier today (9:50 am). This is so different from my 7 am departures when I solo. The portage back into Chase felt so much shorter in the morning. Quick portage into Pencil. Lovely paddle down Pencil. It took longer than normal to find the portage out of Pencil, because Bear thought it should be before the end of the lake, but it is actually very close to the end. The path branches about one-third of the way. Stay left, but then go back and walk the other path as it leads to a beautiful stream that flows over a continuous rock slope in a pool and drop. Very fun to walk around and would have been a great lunch spot if we hadn't just eaten breakfast.

The river west of Pencil is very narrow and winding. Difficult to track your exact position. We kept a compass out just to track the big trends like the SW and NW straight aways. The portages just appear in obvious spots, but can be tricky to be certain which is which. We had one beaver dam pullover before lunch and then walked a boulder garden section after it.

We ate lunch on one of the 5 rod portages. We had not been seeing signs of people, no footprints in the mud or anything. However, Bear said he kept sensing people behind us. After lunch the stream was very winding. It was mostly a deep channel except for the 11 beaver dams that required a pullover. Some spots were shallow and you could see evidence it had been a beaver dam in the past. The 3-person canoe is fast on the straight sections, but a beast to turn tightly in the winding sections. We got to use our bow draw and cross bow draw strokes a lot.

The weather report had been for lots of clouds and a 50% chance of rain. But when you travel with the Hobbit, you are more likely to end up with the hot, sunny weather we had. With all the in and out, we were getting too fatigued to feel comfortable or safe doing the long portage to Hub. So we decided if the Afton Lake campsite was open, we would take it. It was open. We pulled up and unloaded. Thirty minutes later, the young couple we had seen on the portage yesterday popped out of the river mouth. I guess Bear was right, there had been people on our tail today. They had left Frost Lake at 8am and were exhausted, especially the young woman. The Afton site is too small for a second party and so they debated heading to Hub or Whipped, finally deciding on Hub since they were planning to head back to Sawbill eventually. Their parting words were, "The Frost River was more than we bargained for."

We settled in for naps and cards. Just after 5pm we started prepping dinner (Pad Thai). Looked up and 2 more canoes were paddling out of the river. Couldn't tell if they were one or two groups since they didn't paddle near each other or stop to chat.

~Bologna Lake, Chase Lake, Frost River, Pencil Lake, Afton Lake

Travel Time: 9:50am-2:50pm 5 hours