Wednesday, September 07, 2022 I swear I heard a bear walk right by my tent at 6:15 am. Made a low grunting/snorting noise. What else would make that sound? I froze and did not open the tent to look. Whatever it was it kept on going through camp. Every morsel of food was packed airtight into that barrel and it obviously worked. Bear couldn’t smell anything.

Fog on the water at 7:30 am. Made myself hot chocolate and ate peanut butter M&Ms for breakfast. The outfitter packed me a bagel with cream cheese and an apple. I ate the apple for lunch. Next time I bring my own food.

Went for a paddle Wed morning around 9 am to look for the hiking trail. Got lost again (the map does not show every inlet and bay so I keep going down dead ends).

Went to the portage into Ashub looking for the hiking trail and couldn’t find it. Everything is overgrown.

When I came back there were people in my camp. I could hear hammering and as I got closer realized it was two women from the Forest Service replacing my fire grate. We had a nice visit and I got some intel on where I can access the hiking trail tomorrow on my way out from Parent Lake.

Went for a swim around 3:30. Water was surprisingly warm. Wednesday afternoon was absolutely gorgeous on the lake. No wind, sunny, warm. Only issue is there is a camp site right around the corner and I can hear talking. So much for being alone.

Speaking of being alone, there is a chipmunk in this camp who obviously has been fed by other campers. He is not afraid of me and keeps coming right into my area looking for food. Some will say “cute!” I say leave me alone. Wish I had a BB gun.

As far away as the BWCA is from civilization, the one noise you still hear is airplanes overhead. Really high altitude but you can still hear them and sometimes see them.

It always takes me until the second day away to get peace. This trip it happened at 4 pm on Wed after my swim. Everything calmed down and became very peaceful. Until then, I was going through the motions, still a little anxious. Enjoyed a really good cigar after dinner waiting for it to get dark so I could see the famous BWCA stars. Turns out the moon was so bright it drowned out the stars.

Tomorrow I begin the long journey home from this remote campsite. Paddle across Disappointment Lake, find the portage to Parent. Plan to find the hiking trail and do a hike. The nice thing is you can leave all your gear on shore. No one is going to steal anything up here. Then portage into Snowbank and paddle back to Entry Point 27 for my 4 pm pick up. Then a half hour ride back to my car. Then the 4 hour drive home from Ely. Looking forward to my own bed (and bathroom!).