Last Day & Drive Home

Saturday, May 31, 2025

It's the coldest morning of the trip. The fog is heavy which makes looking out at the lake pretty wild from our elevated site. Quick breakfast and coffee then we are packing things up for the last time. Truly this is the saddest part of every trip. Thankfully, I know our last day won’t be like our miserable end last year, paddling into strong winds the entire length of Clearwater Lake...never again. Today we have a short paddle and about a 200-rod portage. We are on the water at 8:08AM. When we reach the portage, we have a little extra time and we spend it sitting there looking back out at Little Gabbro Lake. Soaking it all up before it’s gone.

Not only was this the longest portage of the trip but it was by far the buggiest. In all honesty it was pretty miserable. We get to the parking lot by about 9:40 and our shuttle arrives early and we begin the trip back to Ely. We have the same shuttle driver again so it’s fun to chat with him about our trip and how we need to inflate the numbers and size of the fish we caught. I mention to him the number of swans we saw and he said there was an effort to restore the trumpeter swan population in the area. It was clearly visible as I bet we saw over 20 pairs of swans on our trip. In hindsight, some of them could have been the same pair but still, we were constantly seeing them. Everyone is tired by the time we get back to the outfitter. My friends head back home while I grab lunch at Gator’s Grilled Cheese Emporium with the friend who flew in. A pretty solid meal and it's nice to sit and eat before driving to the Duluth Airport. Once I drop my friend off, I begin the lonely drive back home. This is actually the worst part of the trip. The fun is over and after spending days with friends, I’m alone in a car for the next 5 hours. Yuck. On a positive note, I have to say it was great going from my Memorial Weekend Paddling trip to the Boundary Waters trip. I spent 7 of the last 8 nights camping! Can't ask for more than that.

I’m not sure when I got home but I spent more time than expected laying things out in my garage to dry and organize. Unpacking from these trips is worse than packing! So much gear, especially when I am supplying gear for others. All in all, another great Boundary Waters trip in the books.