The tight quarters and deflating pad had me up early and ready to get going. Stew was not so eager, but he went along with it. Super hazy morning with an orange-red ball of a sun trying to peek through. Quick drive to the Moose Lake entry. The parking lot was much emptier than when I took a weekend solo trip last September. We were on the water by 7am and all was quiet except for one towboat buzzing past.

On the 190 rod portage to Wind Lake, we did a 1.5 portage. Not quite as efficient as single portaging, but definitely faster than double portaging for a longer portage like this. Stew took the canoe and pack basket all the way across while I took the small blue pack ("baby blue"), daypack, PFDs and paddles about halfway across and returned for the giant blue pack ("big blue"). When Stew reached the end, he started to return for the load I left at the halfway point, but a member of a large group that had been doubling back for their remaining packs had already brought it to the end for us. The group also informed us about the low water difficulties with the next portage.

It was shaping up to be a very hazy, smoky day and we were questioning our decision to head west. The plan was to get to Pipestone Bay. The day was incredibly still and the water was perfectly reflecting the hazy sky. It was extremely disorienting with the water and sky blending into one, combined with the poor visibility. Visibility was less than a mile.

The portage from Wind Lake into Wind Bay required getting out significantly early due to the low water in the stream leading to the original landing. The stream was just a big river of mud. We got out just before the beaver house which looked like it was wearing an Easter hat (big clump of fireweed in bloom). This meant we had to portage through a dry bog area with plenty of tripping hazards and hummocky footing. It was slow going and we both nearly landed on our faces. I took the "baby blue" load just past the original landing...as soon as I could find a poison ivy free zone to set it down, and then returned for "big blue". The extra distance from the low water landing added about 80-90 rods by our estimate.

Speaking of poison ivy, I have never seen much in the BWCA until this trip. But it was all over many of the portages and campsites around Moose and Basswood Lakes. `

We met a group of women as we crossed the main part of the portage. It looked like a camp group. We took a break at the end of the portage and then set off across the glassy lake. We went down into Hoist Bay and Back Bay. We stopped at a campsite which a group of motorboats just left so we could use the latrine and eat a bit of lunch. Disgusting! They had cleaned/filleted their fish and then dumped all the remains in the water at one of 2 landings for the site. It was just floating in the water where you get out. The sad thing was, the group was dads with their sons so they are teaching the next generation to be irresponsible.

We did the 70 rod portage from Back Bay into Pipestone Bay and started looking for a campsite. The one directly across from the portage (#1566) was the only one open in that part of the bay, so we set up camp. This site feels like being in a huge cathedral. It is flat and open with lots of very tall red pines. Incredibly hot today so a swim and a nap under the shady pines felt good.

We saw 3 kingfishers today. And we had the cutest young chipmunk in our campsite climbing serviceberry trees and munching down the berries. He was light enough to get out on the thinnest branches. Good to see a chipmunk gathering natural food rather than begging.

When Stew was setting up the bear rope, he was using the carabiners/pulley as a throwing weight on the end of the rope like he usually does. However, this time they got stuck about 30 feet up and we could not get them down. We managed to still hang the pack, though it was a pain to not have the pulley. We'll worry about how to get it down in the morning.

Tonight we discussed where we want to go for the next couple days. One idea was to drop south and portage into Sandpit and then make our way to Horse Lake, then Horse River to reach the Basswood River just east of the closure area. But that feels like it goes against the intent of closing the Mudro entry point. So while technically legal at the time we were discussing it, we decided against it. We will just plan to stay on Basswood Lake but visit the Upper Falls before turning east. Turns out that was a very wise decision...

Distance: 13 miles Time: 7am-1pm

~Moose Lake, Wind Lake, Basswood Lake