Another gloomy morning but, it’s a little warmer than yesterday and promises to not be as rainy. After being cooped up in camp for most of the day yesterday, most of us are itching to get out on the lake today. So, Aurora & I man the Black Pearl, while Cory, Jodi & Nora hop in their big white canoe.

It still misting a bit as we set out and overall, it’s far from ideal paddling conditions, but it’s not anywhere near as taxing as the day we came in; and our newfound freedom from camp is enough motivation to persevere onward west across the lake. As we near the mouth of the Perent River, another group is also headed that way so, we pull into the nearby campsite to give them some time to make their way down river a bit to avoid possible congestion at the portages.

The landing at this site is narrow, and the camp itself is pretty tight and overgrown. Maybe room for a couple of tents and not much in the way for convenient tarp or hammock options. I guess it would serve as a good staging spot for a solo/duo before tackling the Perent River but, other than that, I feel it leaves a lot to be desired.

There’s a nice sandy beach at the mouth of the Perent River, and we linger there before tackling the portage. The portage is level but overgrown which camouflages the occasional knobby boulder encountered along the way. It appears the group we waited for just walked their canoes down the mild rapids.

I always like the juxtaposition of river paddling especially after just coming off a large lake. The river typically affords a much more intimate experience, and it seems my senses are always heightened and appreciative in narrower waterways. After slowly drifting to the next portage, we discover an inconvenient boulder landing and an even more overgrown though level trail. It sports an equally inconvenient landing on the other (western) end but does put us on the water at a charming little pool just below a scenic set of rapids.

Cory hooks into a little walleye almost immediately, and we hang out here for a while picking up a few more small fish. Once the bite is done, we paddle downstream to the next portage. The vote is just to hike it as no one wants to put too many portages behind us; realizing full well that we’d have to do them all again to get back. Much like the previous trails, this one is also on the north side of the river; it’s fairly level and overgrown with tight bouldery landings. However, this one skirt pretty close to the river's edge so, it may be challenging (or even untenable) in high water. Cory catches a couple more fish on the way back, and then we get back out onto the lake. Once there, we are determined to stop at our original target site, if it’s unoccupied, when we pass by.

As we paddle up to site #1002 on the large peninsula before the lake totally opens up, we note the elevated rock shelf isn’t conducive to providing a convenient harbor canoe landing and lack of a canoe storage area appears to be another chink in the armor. The fire grate area is somewhat exposed but otherwise this is an outstanding site that sports several nice tent pads, an awesome view, is garnished by a ring of mature cedar trees, and an ideal shoreline birch provides a scenic shady sanctuary to lounge in. The openness of the surrounding forest makes exploration and firewood gathering very effortless. We bask here awhile, pondering what might have been and taking time to savor the solitude and ‘quiet noise’ of our wilderness surroundings.

After paddling our way back to camp, we share the tale of our adventures with Dan, Roxie & Eathan and hear about their day too. Cory got a lot of fish cleaning experience this trip as another tasty fish fry helps supplement our copious evening meal, and we all languish in camp for a while afterwards.

Eventually our collective spirits are stirred and everyone, but Jodi & Nora, decide to head out on the lake to try some fishing and enjoy the tranquil evening that God has graced us with. Aurora & I get no further than a couple hundred yards or so from camp when we hear what sounds like a schoolgirl screaming. I erroneously surmise that it is Lt. Dan finally hooking into a fish; only later discovering it was Nora & Jodi taking a “polar bear” plunge into the lake. While it is a beautiful evening, it is still quite cool.

Fishing success mostly alludes us tonight, but we are entertained by the local busy beaver swimming to & froe hauling branches to its hut. The silver lining of it having been so cool is that the bugs have been virtually a non-existent factor as we gratefully bask under our Creators spectacular sunset on our lazy paddle back to camp.

One of the traditions Jodi has incorporated into her trips, which really came in handy yesterday during all the rain & wind, is a fun little game called “Pass the Pig.” Since it's our last night, most of us are up for another game. The premise of the game is to get 100 points. You get points by having the 2 (game pieces) pigs land in various positions. There are a multitude of different scoring positions the 2 pigs can end up in, but the most typical position they ‘usually’ land in cancels out all points accumulated during your current turn. Once you pass the pig, then all the points you’ve accumulated to that point are saved. You can certainly choose to keep rolling but, if you roll the most typical position, you lose everything you accumulated on your current turn and then you must also pass the pigs. Hopefully that verbose explanation does a decent job laying out how to play? Anyways tonight Aurora goes on a truly epic run and, in one turn, gets all 100 points and wins the game! Quite the wild nightcap and memorable finish to our last evening together.