I left my home in the Twin Cities right around 10 AM, wanting to give myself time to get to Tuscarora before they closed so that I could get an early start the next day. It was fairly overcast at home, but the weather really got beautiful once I got north of Duluth. I thought to myself, “if I can just get one day like this in the wilderness, I will be very happy.” Just north of the Temperance River State Park parking area on Highway 61, I saw a black bear cub crossing the road. That would prove to be my most significant wildlife encounter of the trip, but it was still such a thrill!

I got to county road 47 just before 4 PM and stopped at the Cross River put-in point for a quick gander before settling up with Andy at Tuscarora. It was still a beautiful day, and I counted 11 cars in the Cross River parking lot (there were only two or three the year before). Andy was able to sell me a few partially used camp stove fuel canisters as there was no stock anywhere in the Twin Cities (and even he didn't have full canisters available to sell). I told him about my potential routes and contingencies, and he mentioned that making it to Little Saganaga would definitely be worthwhile with the amount of time I had. I got the satellite device functioning and connected to by wife and kids back home and had a simple dinner out of my cooler (that was staying in the truck during my journey) before retiring shortly after sun-down.