We awoke and chores were handed out again...at this point there was some level of mutiny. To which, he kept saying "Somebody has to be the trip leader". I don't know if this comes from scouts or what...but it just wasn't vibing with the rest of the group. We packed up in largely silence, while the now former Trip leader stood on the other side of the peninsula casting for lake trout. This continued to the point of us literally in the canoes and ready to shove off.

"One more cast" - and dang it if he didn't catch a lake trout on that last cast. This led to further tension, as he wanted to clean and cook his fish for breakfast. We were packed and ready to go. Much discussion was had and the fish was eventually released. We paddled down to Brule. I remember being amazed at how clear Mulligan lake was. There was no breeze, the sun was high and it was as if we were floating on air over the rocks and boulders in this lake. It was surreal. We paddled around Brule briefly and found many of the sites occupied, we did find an open site on an island near the EP, but it was terrible. Lots of bugs, kind of muddy and just not good in any way. Decisions were to be made - Continue looking for a campsite, call it and head to the nearest town for a beer and burger. A vote was cast 2-2 with the final fella not being able to make up his mind. Rock paper scissors came into play and we're headed to the bar for a burger and beer.

The rest of the story This was in 1999 - myself and two others from that original group have become the absolute best of friends. We get together for golf weekends, bw trips and vikings games. We've been on countless trips and adventures together...one of the best decisions I ever made was saying yes to a trip, where I didn't know many of the participants and barely knew the fella that invited me. "Trip Leader" guy went on one other trip with us and just couldn't vibe with the rest of the group. He's a great guy - we just don't go on BW trips with him anymore.