What a wet morning! It was rainy and stormy all of the night before, and still raining in the morning. After breakfast we broke a wet camp and got on the lake at 7:40. Since our proposed route didn't seem to be possible, we backtracked to Agnes Lake.

All day we battled the rain and the wind. But at least the route we were now planning would be smaller lakes. Many short portages, too.

We had our lunch at the portage to Silence Lake at 11 AM. It was a short portage, and then we crossed the lake quickly in heavy chop, with a wind assist.

My notebook now says "bluebirds". I don't ever remember seeing bluebirds in the canoe country, but perhaps??

Made the 40-rod portage to Sultry Lake, a short carry to Summer Lake, and another little hop to Noon Lake. After one more short portage we were at Shade Lake and we decided to camp about 2:30 on a point. It was still rainy and windy. The tent and rainfly were very wet--and it seemed like everything else was damp.

There was a partial clearing at 3:45. Some of the stuff got dried out a bit. Then more rain. More sun. More rain, etc. A very changeable day. The temperature was 66 degrees.

Another group (3 canoes) paddled by. It looked like they had planned on this campsite. Sorry.