This was going to be the last grind of a travel day. Our goal was to make it back to Jordan Lake, and we were hoping that because the portages were mostly uphill on the way out this way that the downhill travel would speed up our progress. Not only did that help but the rest day, the lighter food packs, as well as really getting into a good rhythm for loading and unloading the boats. Even without the lighter food barrels the efficiency difference between the first day and this day was really incredible - not just the rhythm but something about how you operate seems to change when you've been in the wilderness for a few days. This change in mode doesn't seem to settle in until at least the third day for me, which means shorter trips won't accomplish one of the things I like best about these trips: doing a "reset" on my mind and body in a way I have not been able to accomplish in a different way.

We made great time and did the same track to Jordan in two fewer hours. The campsite we had on the way in was occupied, so we checked out the other two. The central campsite was a pretty interesting and rugged site, but it didn't have any real great places to hang the hammocks. We were fortunate enough that the southern site on Jordan Lake was also available. It was a beautiful place to set up camp - but quite open without a lot of cover. There were two pretty good tent pads and one relatively sheltered area. Sean with his freestanding tent made a spot on the top of the hill work, and I strung my hammock between two trees right next to him. We cut our setup short to try to catch dinner again - but after an hour and a half of no bites we headed back to camp. This was fortunate because we had barely enough time to finish setting up before a pretty big thunderstorm started to roll in. James and I had delayed setting up our tarps, and we barely got them over the hammocks before the first few raindrops hit.

The leading edge of the storm had some pretty high winds, and I didn't manage to get into the hammock before the rain because I needed to increase the number and size of the rocks I had holding the tarp lines down since I couldn't stake them. Perched on top of the hill, with little to no windbreaks, I feel slightly lucky my hammock held. My brother had to sit in his tent to stop it from blowing away, and then the downpour hit. For over two hours it poured rain, and when the winds let up and the rain continued to fall several of my buddies joined me in hanging out in our raincoats, which turned out were not impermeable enough for the several inches of rain we received over the next two-plus hours. I was out there because I didn't want to change into my last set of dry clothes and lay in the hammock until I knew I was ready to settle in for the night.

Around 9pm the rain finally let up, and we used the Jetboil to boil some water for dehydrated meals. I changed into the last dry clothes I had and settled in for the night. Around 2am I woke again to lightning in the distance. One of the things I really like about the Amok hammock I camp in is that I can see so much from it. Watching the lightning in the distance I wondered if we'd get hit again and checked the Zoleo a few times before drifting back to sleep. ~Sagus Lake, Shepo Lake, Fraser Lake, Thomas Lake, Hatchet Lake, Ima Lake, Jordan Lake