Monday, August 03, 2020 Traveled total of 7.8 miles. 5.6 miles of paddling and 10 portages totaling 693 rods. Lakes traveled: Kekekabic, Strup, Wisini, Ahmakose,Gerund, Fraser, Saugus, Roe, Cap, and Boulder.

After breakfast and breaking down camp we were on the water at 9.30. I made a conscious decision and communicated to Lauren that we were going to take it slow from here on out and take in the sites as we travelled. Typically our trips our destination based and with larger groups I worry about finding campsites and potentially wearing out people if we have to push on. With just the 2 of us, suitable sites are easier to find and I am more confident of our ability to just keep going until we find one. Quick paddle to the portage into Strup and on to the 85 rod portage. This is rated 8 out of 10 for difficulty on the Voyageur map for good reason. Up, up, and up you go to Strup. Quick paddle and portage to Wisini and we stoped to take some pictures of the site on the narrows. I stayed on this site a number of years ago with my son and love this location. It is not fun getting all the gear from the water up to the site, but well worth it in my opinion. Met a group at the 90 rod portage to Ahmakose that was heading to Kek. Quick paddle to the 30 rod to Gerund. Steep decline at the Gerund end where we met a group of teenagers with 2 adults. Watching one of the teenagers take that hill up with the largest pack I have seen, I was worried the pack would pull him over! Quick work of Fraser and Saugus, and I asked Lauren if she wanted to steer the canoe across Roe. Pretty straight forward paddle on the map. Well the east end of Roe is a marsh and I had been using my Fisher map rather than the Voyageur as it was easier to read for me without cheaters in the canoe. The Fisher map shows the portage at the end of the lake rather than a ways up the stream where it really is. The Voyageur map has this portage location correct. We continued up the narrow channel until the obvious portage appeared. On Cap we refilled our water bottles for the longer, more difficult trip to Boulder. When I was here 25 years ago we took the no longer marked portage south out of the lake and remember having difficulty at times following the trail. This time we decided we would take the portage to Ledge and head south at the T to Boulder. Not sure how obvious the T would be I decided to leave the canoe for the 2nd trip. Right off the bat you notice how wide this portage is. Not the trail itself, as most of the portages today are noticeably narrower than the better traveled ones of yesterday, but after the 2ft high brush the trail was 15 to 20 feet wide and very straight before the trees started. Almost felt like l was walking an ATV trail that brush had been allowed to grow up. Didn’t need to have worried about missing the T as it was very obvious. Nice trail south until right before the stream a very steep decent down to the water! This was the 1st time we had some bugs on the trip and I used bug spray for the 1st time on the trip for the 2nd carry. Not sure how long this portage actually is as neither map is clear on length. 2nd trip with the canoe was tough! I usually never set down the canoe on a portage but had to take a break when I got back to the T. Finished by gingerly getting the canoe down the hill at the end and loaded for the very short paddle to where the trail picked up again. With the low water was not sure we could get through to the further put in so we just went east 50 yards or so and started from there. As tired as I was from the first part of this portage I was apprehensive about the remaining 135 rods to Boulder. This turned out to be a nice walk and culminated in walking through a mature Cedar grove to an absolutely beautiful landing! This day has been mostly sunny, estimate temps in the mid 70’s and the wind had shifted out of the NW. As we were traveling SE we once again had a tail wind most of the day. Lauren was also captivated by the beauty of the end of this portage and the views of Boulder! After the 2nd trip we headed to see if the island site was open. It was and what a site it is. Nice landing, numerous good tent pads, nice kitchen area, and a beautiful view to the east. As we discovered there was some great swimming around the camp and easy access to the SW corner of the Island for views of the Sunset as well.

With this awesome site and lake we both agreed tomorrow would be a great time to use the 1 layover day we had in the schedule. Set up camp, swam, and explored the island the rest of the afternoon. Had 1 canoe come by with a two guys from Kentucky. Chatted awhile and they indicated fishing had not been great for them the last couple of days and they were staying on Boulder for a couple days. Stayed up to watch a beautiful full moon rise over the eastern shore.