Saturday, July 19, 2025
The next morning looked like another great day for paddling and the plan for today was to move back to Birch Lake for one more night in the woods. So, after a quick oatmeal breakfast, we struck camp, got loaded up and were on our way across Knife Lake to tackle the portages once again. This time, even though we did meet some groups, the portages were not nearly as busy as on our way in a few days before. Our travels over the trails once again took us to lunch time by the time we reached our last lake for the day so upon getting to Birch we paused for a mid-day meal before finding a campsite.

On the way in towards Knife, we had chatted with the occupants of site #1280 as we passed by. They proclaimed to us that their campsite was a really nice spot and mentioned that they'd be gone by the time we came back through again. We now targeted this site and were pleased to see that it was indeed open. Upon landing we agreed with the previous party's assesment! It had a decent landing, a beautiful open view of the lake from a fire grate fairly close to the water, numerous nice tent pads, trails for exploring and a latrine that was in good shape, private and just a short walk from the main camp site. We were home for the night!

On the downside, we did not have any luck fishing from this site so our freeze-dried food was going to have to fill in as back-up. But before we had a chance to start supper, a pesky goose came ashore and assumed it was invited to join us. This bird appeared to be quite habituated as it showed no fear of us and seemed to know to go right toward the fire grate in search of scraps. We chased it away several times yet it kept coming back even after we'd hit it with a thrown rock. Finally, I think it got the message but I'm sure will try again with the next campers after we are gone.

Right as supper was concluding, we noticed how smokey it was getting due to what was now drifting in from the continuing wildfires to the north. At one point it was so thick that one could barely see across the lake to Canada. While this made for a stunning sunset it did inhibit breathing a bit and for a while Doug actually needed to use the respiratory mask he'd brought along for just this situation. While wearing the mask he did just fine and everyone else was doing OK as well.

As dusk fell, we were quite relieved to see many fewer mosquitos. They were still there, for sure, but not any worse than most people's back yard and a HUGE improvement from what we'd gone through with these nasty little critters at our previous site. This allowed us to enjoy a little more time outside in the evening. This included a few card games, a cozy little campfire and a few more pulls from our flasks before turning in for our final night in the woods.