Wednesday. Broke camp and headed out for Pillsbery lake .I was a little concerned about the portage because although it is shown on my Fisher maps as a 95rod portage it isn't on the interactive map on the forum. Easy-peasy, portage was muddy but had been maintained probably last fall and was nice and wide and posed zero problems. Pillsbery lake is another nice but wallflower-ish lake, nothing real outstanding. There was a solo camper on the first site on the lake and we spoke for a few minuets. The second site was pathetic, very small, no tent pads I could see but the thunder box had a lid. Ah the little things in life. On to Henson Lake. Portage into Henson was a fairly easy 60rods, a little up and down but no problems. The plan was to spend two days on Henson but was disappointed in the lake and the campsites. The lake was almost flat and the sites were rockey and small. I settled on the third site which was small with no sitting area and a very difficult mountain climb to the latrine. just ok for one person for one night. Dinner was penne with meat sauce (home made and dehydrated) Excellent if I do say so myself. The weather radio was calling for rain the next 5 days, east by south east winds and thunder storms on Saturday so I made a change of plans. I decided to skip Omega and Winchell lakes (I have been on Winchell before and it is not a lake to fool with especially with a head wind) That night it rained and I forgot to close the window, damp but not soaked gear. On to Gaskin, the 80rod portage was a little narrow with a few ups and downs and a little less traveled than I expected for a portage to a popular lake. There is a reason Gaskin is a popular lake , beautiful with excellent camp sites, great vistas, islands and deep bays Gaskin has it all. Enough said. Dinner was beef strogonoff with noodles ,homemade and dehydrated by moi. Excellent once again ( i have one talent so i'm going to brag a little) I used the afternoon sun Friday to dry my gear and just relax, made fry bread with butter and honey and dinner was dehydrated turkey (my own) stove top stuffing and turkey gravy. Good but not great. Felt a little sad knowing this was the last night. And some more details: My stove is a generic model from Amazon works just fine, my main cooking pot is an MSR 1.1L stowaway pot I also carry a small 16oz pot for coffee water, spoon and fork, no spork for this guy . Sawyer mini water filter and Seven-saw for fire wood.  I would have liked to spend more time on Gaskin but figured i had better bail ahead of the weather so Saturday morning I broke camp bright and early. Long portage to Horseshoe into Caribou and Lizz to Poplar and out. No weather issues at all! I was having second thoughts about leaving early but then the dark clouds rolled in. Watched a bad thunder storm Sat. night from the comfort of a Rockwood bunkroom, am I smart or what.  One last time for details: My paddling clothes consist of CQR ripstop pants , button down DU shirt( and yes it has little tabs to roll up the sleeves and velcro on the pockets), old Colombia hikers with neoprene socks. Camp cloths are fleece pants and long sleeve T and trail runner shoes. Rainsuit and down jacket, gloves and Omechy boonie hat. I can't believe how much I left out of this report: moisture in my (waterproof)camera made taking pictures a joke, my expensive Colombia rain coat was useless, lost or forgot fire starters, friggen black flies!! I did meet some real nice people on this trip and didn't see any trash or (new) abuse at any of the campsites I stayed at or visited or on any of the portages. I love the BWCA and will be back in Aug. One more thing, if a fat old man can still trip in the BW so can you! no excuses put down your phone and live a little while you can.      

           Thanks,Merlyn