I awaken early due to the northwoods symphony of loon and owl calls. While beautiful, I resolve to put in my ear plugs at night from now on! After morning prayer and a few unsuccessful casts from shore, I make some instant coffee and begin breaking camp. We are paddling by 9 AM.

We soon approach our first portage, the Monument Portage into Ottertrack. It is partially flooded but still easily navigable. I fall in the water loading the canoe on the other side, proof that I have a lot to learn about portaging and loading!

Next is the portage into Ester Lake, which we have trouble finding, until we see a married couple in a tandem canoe pull up to the landing. We are so thankful for good timing here, and portage into Ester behind them. This is a tougher portage, but no less beautiful. The day is sunny and fairly warm, especially after portaging.

Ester is a gorgeous lake, with sheer rock faces and gigantic trees. We find a spacious campsite on the north side of an island, and set up.

We paddle across to a nearby shore for firewood, and spend over an hour gathering dead jack pine and cedar. We are invigorated by the task of finding firewood, especially the aromatic cedar we have already grown to love.

As we begin paddling back to our campsite, we are mystified by how difficult it is to make forward progress, especially considering most of our gear is back at camp, and the winds are light. We shift some firewood to the rear of the canoe, but still are barely moving forward, in spite of our strongest paddling effort of the entire trip. Are we in a current?! Are we hung up on something? Finally, I look back and see that our stern painter has “lassoed” a giant soaked log that we have been towing across the lake. We share a long laugh at our foolishness, and I release the log to the depths of Ester.

As I am hanging the bear bag and the tarp, Shawn informs me he is not feeling well. We later determine he has heat exhaustion, given the warmth of the day, our high level of exertion, and how little we’ve eaten. Thankfully, rest and salty snacks help him to revive. At this point, we make the choice that we will definitely be spending the day or two here on Ester to rest and relax a bit. Tomorrow it is forecast to rain, which would make further travel unpleasant. We love this site, and there are ample day trip fishing opportunities nearby.

We enjoy another beautiful sunset as we fill our bellies with spaghetti, and call it a night.~Saganaga Lake, Swamp Lake, Ester Lake~Saganaga Lake, Swamp Lake, Ester Lake