Sunday would be our first official day of the trip. While I wasn't initially loving Clearwater Outfitters, the breakfast made up for a lot of that. Being able to have a hot and hearty meal in their lodge was a perfect way to start the day. Our group of 8 took a large table and enjoyed laughs over breakfast.

Considerable time was taken to pack our portage packs, barrels, and BWJ food pack. As the trip leader, I take a lot of the blame for this. Between myself and another group member who came last time, we handled the majority of the food. It was hard trying to determine portions for a trip like this. How many people drink coffee? Will everyone eat breakfast? How big of a lunch is needed? How much trail mix do I need to make? As much planning and research as we did, it was impossible to get the correct amount. I mention this now because a lot of the packing time was us determining what to bring as we both over-packed on food just in case. You don’t want anyone to be hungry.

We are on the water around 11AM with the goal of making it to Mountain Lake and camping there. It is a gorgeous paddle leaving the outfitter with the palisades in your sights the entire time. We were fortunate to have the wind to our backs at times during this paddle. Clearwater Lake really lived up to its name!

The portage from Clearwater to Mountain was okay. Shorter than most of the portages we would have but the elevation adds an element. After portaging, we would have lunch on the Mountain Lake side of the portage. The first lunch of the trip would be fresh cheese curds, mozzarella whips, and smoked salmon. Food tastes great in the outdoors and it tasted even better after the portage. You'll notice throughout this report I will mention a lot of our meals. I took the time to plan and we carried the extra weight to have more fresh meals. Everyone would agree it was well worth it. Especially compared to having our meals outfitted last time! We will never forget just how bad spaghetti can be.

Back on the water and it's time to look for a campsite. Heading East on Mountain Lake, I was hoping for the 3rd campsite (721) and my backup was the 2nd one (717). These seemed to be the best sites to handle a group our size. We paddled only to see every site had people at them. I knew Mountain Lake would be popular but after seeing the first 3 sites taken, I started to get worried. The 4th site was open but there was no chance it was fitting us (we are all tent camping, 4 tents total). We get to the 5th site, 722 which will be a tight fit but could work. It's a small site right along some serious elevation. The walk to the shitter is a workout. We make do and set up camp. Two guys (I gave up halfway, screw that hike) decided to take the path all the way to Pemmican Lake. They were ultimately disappointed. Some other guys stood along the rocky shoreline and put the fishing poles to work. Bass and northern were caught, smaller than eating size sadly. But catching is still fun.

Dinner tonight is a classic. Fresh steaks, asparagus and mashed potatoes. Cooking 4 steaks last time was something but 8? That was a challenge in and of itself. Relying on just the fire, it took time and patience. I will say, this is the last time I'm doing steaks on a trip. I love a good steak but it is so hard to cook in the wilderness. It’s just not worth it anymore. I had some great grass-fed ribeye’s and New York strips. Only for maybe half of them to turn out decent. There are plenty of other options for a great first night dinner.