Sunday, September 30, 2018 When I got up it was overcast and 34', one of those day you don't want to get out of your sleeping bag and I prayed to almighty mother nature for a nice warm indian summer soon. Was on the move at 8:30am paddling north towards one of the toughest 50r portages I have ever done into Ottertrack Lake. I had done this portage 6-7 years ago with heavy gear and an aluminum canoe from Ottertrack and it was very memorable. If you have done this portage you know what I'm talking about. It is not for the weak or lazy. It doesn't have very good landings, it's mucky on top, overgrown, and one heck of a drop down to Ottertrack, with iffy footing in a few places. But, I love a good challenge and it warmed me nicely for the paddle up Ottertrack. I had lighter gear now and was going down hill and it was still one of the more difficult portages of the trip. Paddling up Ottertrack brought back memories from many trips. I have spent a fair amount of time here with friends, my wife, and kids. A gorgeous lake I have had great times on. All kinds of emotions the flood of memories from decades of trip brought up, and I laughed at myself as tears came to my eyes. I think I've been alone too long. I must be getting old and soft. I'm such a dork. Anyway, I was amazed at how low the water levels were, it has to be 2 feet lower than I had ever seen, and I had done more than a few fall trips through here. As I neared Monument portage I was surprised by the blown down of trees in the area. It must have happened this year or last, because I was though here in late Sept. 2016 with my daughter. Humped my gear up and over 80r Monument Portage, and paddled Swamp Lake to the 5r portage and into Saganaga Lake's back bays. Usually a lot of the camp sites in these back bays were occupied but there was no one in sight. I forgot to mention though that I did see one canoe on Ottertrack lake, the first people I had seen since the Vera to trader portage, and we exchange waves. or the paddles. As I passed through the last narrows, now only wide enough for a canoe to slip through I eyed to main body of Sag. I had done some pretty hairy paddling on this lake before and knew it was about a 30 minute paddle to the camp site I wanted to get to. The wind was coming from the NW but it was a steady 5-10mph and the waves were not bad. But of course as I neared the opening to Cache bay I saw a storm line coming from behind it. I poured on the steam. Now only 15-20 minutes from my destination. The wind increased, and I stayed close to the shore. I noted that with the water as low as it was the whole shore was 2-3 feet of broken rocks with the wind going right into it. It would be hard to land anywhere without doing serious damage to my canoe before I could get it and my gear out of the water. I said some words to whatever gods would listen and bent to the paddle. It was touch and go. The waves getting bigger, the storm front was at the mouth of Cache Bay now less than a mile away. I could see the line of sand that was the beach landing of my camp site #2074, now 5-7 minutes away. Well, I landed on that beach exactly as the storm hit. And I watched the seas whip into a frenzy glad to be safe and on land. Glad it was a beach landing and the site was unoccupied. I did get a video of the water but am unable to upload videos into this report. The storm was short lived but brought with it colder temps behind it and I froze my hands and feet setting up camp. As I was getting the tart set up I watched a skunk walk right towards me and I spoke to him to let him know I was there. He turned around raised his tail but then decided I wasn't a threat and walked away. I ran across camp to get my camera and got a short video of him skirting camp. I decided to go for a hike to warm up. I had been at this site several time and so it was familiar to me and one of my favorites. The last time I was here was about exactly two years ago with my daughter and very different weather. I remember sitting out and watching star gazing with her for hours on the rocks by the water. I would not be doing that this trip. There were no stars and I would have frozen to the bone if there were. There were a couple of friendly red squirrels quite active and chatty, very entertaining. And several ground squirrel that were trying to get into everything I had out. I must admit in the evening I had my first thoughts of ending the trip early due to the cold. I was fine if moving, but when I relaxed for any period of time in camp I got uncomfortable to say the least. Quote from my journal "And then a big voice, a choir of voices in my head said 'Heck yeah, this is the experience. It's not gonna be what you plan up here. It has it's own plan, and I want to experience more of it. To back out early would be a no win deal. I am so grateful to be hear. Getting through what it throws at you is the spice of the wild'. This however would not be the last time I had this inner battle, but for now I was determined. Shortly after that the clouds broke and was rewarded briefly with sun and blue sky while eating supper.