Day 1 - Bell to Fish
On the water by about 11. Bell L parking lot completely full. Saw an old co-intern from Ignatius. Small world sydrome stikes again. Coincedences hinting at us that we're right where we should be. Felt so good to paddle barefoot and in a bathing suit after 2 months of workboots and overalls.
Got a REALLY lucky break on David. Wind was gusting hard but from the E. Paddled for a while and then sailed from site 102 to H34 until the wind switched to come out of the S. Lunch at the beginning of Portage: Hard boiled egg sandwiches with sprouts, pickles, tomato, mustard and cheese. Gourmet compared to pepperettes and cheese of my usual workdays!!
First leg of portage decent enough. Took our time going through the swamp. Made the bad decision of trying to go past the spot where the trail picks back up. Stuck on a lots of logs/mud patches, Corrine fell in twice but quickly recovered her spirits. Saw lots of flowering sundew and found a big heron feather before turning back to the portage. Portage wasn't as much of a chore as it usually is but still really long and moderately painful. Some decent climbs in there too.
Went for a swim at the end of the portage (hooray for vacation time!) before battling a good stiff SW wind across Grt Mountain.
Saw a big red tailed hawk and the awesome old dilapidated cabin. Threatening rain by the time we got a quarter of the way down Fish L. Spitting by the time we got to site 153. Set up tents and tarp double time in order to have some shelter for the downpour that followed. Shared the site with a large abandoned beaver lodge. Stole a stick from it to use on the tarp. TVP, pasta and sauce for dinner. My stove really needs to be cleaned. Nice flame height for simmering though. Rain still coming down hard and continuously all through prep, dinner and cleanup.
Went to bed almost immediately after that (about 9).
Stayed nice and dry all night and got to sleep in this morning to wake up to sunny blue skies (9:30!). Can't wait to see what got packed for breakfast!
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