After what had been a pretty windy night that had us waking up to a rather breezy morning, we were just a bit apprehensive about our planned route this day which was going to start with a short paddle across Alpine to the 100-rod portage into Seagull Lake. Once on Seagull we hoped to paddle northeast towards the palisade area. This would take us right into the NE wind while we were on the more open west end of Seagull. After a brief strategy session in which we decided to maximize windbreak by hugging the north shore of Seagull, we got busy with this morning's coffee, eggs and pancake breakfast before striking camp, getting packed up and hitting the water for the day's travel.

The portage to Seagull had a bit of up and down and just enough length to give our BWCA newcomers a "true" portage experience but over all it was not bad and we had soon completed what was to be our last portage of the trip. Once out on Seagull Lake, the wind had dimininshed significantly and there was only a bit of bounce left to the water. This allowed us a pretty direct paddle to our targeted area, the vicinity of Miles Island. Travis Wanda and Kari landed at the first campsite they came to on the southern end of Miles Island (#471). This site featured a significant climb up from the water to the main site but once up there they found this spot quite desireable with its own protected little cove, decent tent pads and many trails for exporation. Plus, Wanda declared the latrine to be very "clean"! While Jeff and Rochelle joined them there, Jenna and I decided to scout out other area sites to see if we could find something even better. Finding nothing available nearby that would beat the site they had already landed on, we went back to join the others at our new home for the night.

After a quick lunch, we once again tackled the necessary chores to establish camp. Once this was sufficiently done, the trails tempted us with a hike which we assumed would reward us with some pretty nice views of the lake. This turned out to be true as some trailwalking and some bushwacking brought us to a high point on Miles Island that allowed us to see far out over Seagull in most directions. When done taking in the view, we returned to camp where some of the group decided to beat the heat with a quick swim in our private cove. After the initial shock of the water's chill this is usually quite refreshing and the swim did indeed re-energize the crew enough for some to finish with camp chores while Travis and I went out to try one more time for a fish supper.

Our plan was to make one pass around Miles Island and even before we had got out of our cove Travis landed a northern that was at least a few pounds. Then it slowed a bit and I thought about switching lures to see if that brought any better luck. Before I could do so I instead caught a nice bass and then another and then another. Travis added a bass or two as well and soon we had a respectable stringer of fish that would be enough to feed all seven of us. This time it WAS fish for dinner and we would be the ones eating them instead of any turtles. You can bet they got cleaned right away and did not spend anytime in the water once we'd returned to camp!

The rest of our group was pretty happy to see the stringer of fish as well and they were indeed delicious--pan fried with a cajun-seasoned breading. After another filling meal it was time for one last evening of laughter, bourbon and bonding before turning in for our final sleep in the woods.