Sunday. Up at 5:45, looks like rain. Heavy mist off and on all day, wind mainly from the east (at our backs.) The peace and quiet is so lovely. While I did enjoy traveling with our friends, they were "talkers". Neil and I keep a very quiet presence on canoe trips, and there is very little idle chatter. It felt good to adjust to being just a silent twosome again.

Had the Mountain House beef, hash browns with bacon bits, and Tang for our breakfast. Left at 7:45, portaged to Rattle Lake and Little Saganaga. This would be fantastic scenery in the sunshine--Little Sag is a lovely lake, many islands (hard to navigate.) Choppy today.

There are two 19-rod portages with a pond between into Elton Lake. The beavers have really made a mess here! The portages go through marshy, muddy, bog-like areas (a former lake, maybe?) and are nothing but moose trails. Many moose tracks, too! Also there were raspberries and blueberries.

When we reached Elton, it was a relief to paddle again.

It was at this point in the trip that I decided to lead us astray!

There is a 45-rod portage into Makwa Lake, and then a 100-rod portage into Hoe Lake. There is also a TINY LITTLE STREAM on the map from Elton to Hoe! Just a very fine blue line, and it looked so inviting. Why not?

I suggested we try the stream, and it turned into a real adventure. The stream wound around through grasses and lily pads to a big beaver dam, which we lifted over. It kept winding along, getting rockier and narrower and shallower until we had to bushwhack through dense woods to a small pond, then through REALLY dense woods over moss covered rocks.

When Neil finally got me and the packs settled near (not yet on) Hoe Lake, he made the trip back for the canoe. When he arrived back at my little perch on a rock (I amused myself by watching ants), he discovered that he had left his life vest back at the end of the stream! So he had to retrace his path one more time to get his abandoned equipment. By the time we got this all behind us it had taken two hours in misty rain and we sure wished we had taken the portages!

[Note: Back in 1982 we still didn't have rain suits. I made this trip with a poncho and Neil had a knee-length canvas rain jacket from the Army days. We also had never heard "cotton kills" back then, and we were in jeans shorts (N) and Levis (L), with cotton t-shirts and flannel shirts. Cotton socks, too. Damp and rainy days were just more uncomfortable.]

We ate our lunch at a seldom-used campsite on Hoe Lake at noon.

We have decided to head for Boulder Lake, in an area where few people go. The 220-rod portage into Boulder tells us why--another long muddy marsh walk to a small stream into the lake. This area really reminded us of the Tim River in Algonquin, where we'd seen moose. Where is our "Moosie-poo"?

I photographed a water lily in the stream.

We camped at 2:50 at a gorgeous site on a wooded island in Boulder Lake. There is a strong east wind, gray sky, and it is cold. I'm chilled, especially my feet. [cotton socks in tennis shoes.]

There is a large, flat rock by the shore where someone has painted "Jesus died for you" in large white letters. The island is literally strewn with huge boulders--like a giant's marble game. We explored a lot, walked all over, gathered up cigarette packs, disposable razors, barrettes, and other assorted trash. (Why do people do this?)

Our tent is back in the woods quite a ways. We may sleep late.

We retired early, mainly to get warm.

[Note: I am so puzzled as to the reason why I don't have any photos at all of this "gorgeous" campsite, the offending evangelical graffiti (I love Jesus, too, but I don't write his name on boulders in the wilderness) or anything on this day except a water lily. Perhaps running out of film? Perhaps when they arrived back after being developed they weren't good due to lack of available light? Digital photography has spoiled us in the 21st century, that's for sure. And we tried to get back to Boulder and Adams in 2006, but the Elephant reared its ugly head. That's another trip report. See: The Elephant Trip]