I was up at 5:30 to see a calm and just slightly misty dawn. It was 60-ish and the mosquitoes came out, just to help us appreciate the wilderness experience! We had an egg and pancake breakfast and were loading the canoe by 7:30 with a bright sky overhead.

The 56-rod portage to Rib Lake is easy, but I was dismayed at the extent of the forest tent caterpillars, which are accompanied by the swarming flies. Bright sun made the breeze feel hot. The portage to Lower George Lake (37 rods) had some mud, but it wasn't "sucky" and I did find that my new boots handled it in stride. I saw a lovely yellow bird on this portage, perhaps a warbler or an evening grosbeak. The 28-rod portage to Karl Lake is a nice walk through the woods. We saw some pink moccasin flowers along the way.

We paddled into Long Island Lake and took the second campsite at 11 AM. It is a pretty site, but the flies were really too thick to enjoy our time out in the sun. It was hot in the tent; still after awhile we just couldn't stand being swarmed! The outside temperature was about 80 degrees, and I (the one who really loves to come to the Boundary Waters in June to enjoy the crisp, cool weather!) was already complaining about the heat and humidity. Dr. M, my orthopedist who is also a Quetico fisherman, had remarked that it would be "nippy" in the BWCA this time of year. I don't think so!

I stalked a mourning cloak butterfly with my camera, and took a photo of the tent site.

After resting, playing two games of Racko, and reading, we started our supper at 5 PM. We heard some rustling in the forest and I got all excited about a moose possibility, but nothing materialized. Dined this evening on macaroni with butter, milk, a little cheese, and eggs stirred in. It was pretty good, and we knew with the warm temps we needed to use up the rest of the fresh eggs.

This was a lovely, calm evening and was enjoyable once the temperature dropped below the limits for the flies. I sat on the shore and watched fish jumping, singing "Summertime" in my head, but not out loud, of course!

We sat up and watched the setting sun disappear over the trees and also a lovely moon rise. Tomorrow we planed to head to Cherokee Lake, one of my favorite spots from our long trip in 1992. I could hardly wait!