The first portage was long, but not difficult. We expected the water crossing on the first section. I missed the turn to the right but fortunately Lib was not far behind and got me going the right way. The landing at Ledge was very strange. A nice log structure had been laid a few feet out in the water. I thought “I will step out to this nice log structure and lay down the canoe”. I made the first step in front of the structure with my right foot and sunk to my waist into a very slushy bog. The other leg did what it could, twisting fortunately in a way that didn’t really hurt it. I guess I laid the canoe down from there. Lib noted a giant leech (yay!) and a huge dragonfly larvae (they grow ‘em big up here to handle the mosquito monsters).

We worked our way through small and lovely Vee and Fee, feeling like we had the whole place to ourselves (we did). We stopped on a rock on Hoe for snacks, and most certainly a swim although I don’t really remember. We talked about the rest of our trip and realized with the nights we had left, it was still possible to do both the Louse and Frost Rivers, while still giving ourselves an out if the Louse proved too difficult or unpleasant. So, we pushed on to Makwa.

Paddling across Makwa it was not hard to find the cliff-jumping site we had heard about. This impressive striped cliff is just to the east of the western campsite. We took the little trail up to the lowest jumping spot on the cliff, where there is a triangular rock that juts out -- like it was put there for jumping. It was just about the right speed for us, and we had no need to go higher. Fun.

We got quite good at portaging today, and by the time we got to Malberg (site 1057, in the northeast arm of Malberg) were starting to feel the burn from 12 portages totalling 980 rods -- about 3 miles. Fortunately, we were able to single portage everything, which allowed us to efficiently cover that kind of distance.

Fishing was light today -- a couple of hits but nothing sizable hooked -- so I fished in some shallow water off a point to the north of the campsite while Lib made dinner. I got a couple hits on a whopper plopper and then decided to tempt the fish with a Mepps spinner. One cast and it was hooked. Being the newbie that I am, I reeled it up near shore and tried to net it in the shallow water, where it broke the line (likely with its teeth as I had lost my nice, pricey titanium leader on day one) and disappeared. Lesson learned: pull the fish onto land and jump on it next time.

The site was notable for its long and lovely walk to the privy, which was atop a hill and surrounded by birch trees, most of which had had their tops blown off.

We had a nice evening, watching the very pink sunset. In the morning I paddled solo through the narrow channel to the southwest of our site, trolling a taildancer. Hooked a small pike and released it.

For the day: 12 portages, 980 rods, 7 miles paddling