This was a cranky morning. I was up at 5:15, saw the gray sky looking like rain, and became immediately irritable and crabby. It didn't help that I burned the coffee cake and didn't put enough water in the powdered eggs. (They were tough--ugh!) My arthritis doesn't like the stormy days and damp nights, and I was stiff and sore. Also tired of the low-sodium, low potassium, low protein adaptations of the infamous "kidney diet" that are challenging in a camping situation. Enough things to make a person crabby, and eight days of brushing flies off everything and every part of me hasn't even been mentioned yet this morning.

We packed up and were on the water by 8 AM.

Heading north again we experienced more of the really changeable weather pattern. It would rain, so we would put on the rain gear. Soon it would be sunny and warm. We were sweating in the rain jacket, so it would come off again. On again, off again. On again, off again. Of course, I was sitting in an aluminum canoe in rain pants with a split seat, so my bottom was wet for the entire day.

Isn't wilderness paddling fun??

Yes, it is! We were thrilled during one of the sunny moments to see a loon family with two chicks. On Karl Lake we paddled quietly and got close enough for good views of two adult loons. At first one of them had the two chicks on her back, but she encouraged them to float, and they followed her after that. The other adult (I am calling it the male, although I really have no idea) followed behind, doing shallow dives and coming up with little minnows that he fed to the chicks. Both adults were "talking" lovingly to the chicks and keeping very close watch on them. The chicks were quite small, and I would suspect not very old at all. We followed along with them for some time and were pleased to witness the family moment. The sun stayed with us, so we had lovely green reflections on the water and a calm surface for quiet paddling. I was surprised at how close they let us stay, and how long they would continue their fishing and feeding with us nearby. It was probably the highlight of the trip for me!

We continued paddling again (with rain off and on, as before), portaged to Lower George, paddled some more, and then saw two deer on shore near the portage to Rib Lake. It was fun to see the whitetails and watch them for a few minutes on the shore. We don't often see deer in the Boundary Waters.

We had our lunch at the portage out of Rib Lake.

Met a young couple on the portage and we asked the girl if anyone had told them about the flies. She smiled and said, "Yes, but they don't bite!" I found myself wondering if she would be so cavalier about it when their idyllic camp on Frost Lake was swarming with buzzing monsters and all of their gear was covered with red-brown spots.

In my book this next photo says "portage trail". I assume I took the picture on this portage, but am not sure. I often have taken a picture on a pretty portage to remind myself that some of them are just walks in the park.

I love the spring flowers on a June canoe trip!

We camped at the same site on Cross Bay Lake where we had spent nights one and two. Part of me wanted to go on, but it was a nice site, the weather still looked iffy, and we wanted to dry things out before setting up camp. We had rain coming and going much of the afternoon but did get camp set up and became reacquainted with the resident chipmunk and squirrel. We positioned the tent 90 degrees differently from the first time, so we could come and go on grass instead of mud. It was a big improvement.

After camp was set up and a nap was enjoyed, we ate chicken with rice, corn, and savored our usual cappuccino. [This was a Nestle product, sort of like powdered hot chocolate, but flavored cappuccino. I have no idea if they still make it, but for awhile it was our dessert drink of choice.] The sun finally came out for good around 7 PM. We walked to the rocky point and watched the sun warm and light up the trees at the south end of the lake.

Came back to camp for a marshmallow fire and a nice sunset. It was cooler this evening, 58 degrees. We said goodbye to the BWCA on the last sunset--see you next year!