It was another hot and humid night so the sleep wasn't good. The humidity would prove to make it very difficult to find any dry firewood. Hard to get a fire going which is not great when I'm hoping to cook over the fire for a lot of our meals. The first camp breakfast would be bacon, farm fresh eggs, and hashbrowns. Much needed fuel for the day.

We hit the water hoping to make it to Moose Lake and camp there. I have to say, paddling these lakes provides great scenery with the surrounding elevation. A totally different feeling than our trip in 2022. We also found enjoyment (and plenty of jokes) with paddling border lakes and I look forward to paddling more border lakes in the future. We say goodbye to Mountain and begin our 3 portages for the day.

The first portage to Fan Lake led us to an absolute muck fest (though the middle portage would prove to be the worst). Horrible....standing in knee deep mud. It was at the end of the first portage that we ran into a solo paddler that we will call Detroit John. Talking to him we learned he was at the 2nd site on Mountain Lake. He had been to the BWCA many times before and was reminiscing on past trips with his daughter. Detroit John was doing the same route we were, which would prove to be a blessing in time, but had me worried we may be fighting for sites. He would end up passing us here, with the intention of camping on Moose Lake. We would be shortly behind him. Double portaging 4 full canoes takes time.

The final portage to Moose Lake called for a much-needed lunch break. Lunch included 2 different flavors of hummus and pita bread to slap it onto. Tasted great and enough for everyone to be satisfied. This was our last planned portage for the day so we took our time at lunch. At one point, I thought I heard people coming up the trail behind us. Worried we would be fighting for campsites, we decided to pack up and start paddling Moose Lake.

From my planning, it seemed like most of the sites on Moose Lake would be difficult with a group of our size. I figured we would still be able to work something out. As we paddle down Moose Lake, we once again noticed that every site was full. I knew this route would be fairly popular but I didn't expect it to be THIS popular. Panic and stress started to set in. As we approached the 3rd site (741) we were greeted by Detroit John. We paddled near him and he informed us that the next site was taken but the last one was open. He scouted ahead for us and determined the last site would be more accommodating for our group. It was at that moment we were grateful to be doing the same route as John. And it was a sigh of relief knowing that there was a campsite open on Moose Lake. If not, we would've had to push to the Fowl Lakes which would’ve made for a long day.

The last site on Moose Lake (743) was okay. It was bigger than our site last night but difficult to find tent areas that weren't covered in roots. The landing did not allow for much fishing from the site either. After setting up tents and unwinding a bit, it was time for dinner. I had made a batch of chicken fajitas in advance and then froze them. Threw that in a pot with a little bit of water to prevent it from drying out. Another pot had some Spanish rice heating up. Take some of each and throw it on a tortilla. This was the meal I was the most worried about. I ate the recipe before but never made it myself. I was fully prepared for it to not turn out well. To my surprise, everyone loved it.

Everyone was pretty tired after the portages today and the feeling of not being able to find a site. One went out and did some solo fishing with no luck. As we went down to bed, we got hit with a little bit of rain, maybe 20 minutes of some sprinkling. In the distance (looking North towards Canada), we could see what looked like heat lightning. Thankfully, we didn't have any storms.