Day 19. Friday, September 1.

9.73 miles and 1 portage (231R), 1 lining up a swift, 1 shallow river walk, and 2 more portages (36R and 4R)

Awoke to a clearing morning sporting a beautiful orange sunrise. We broke fast with hot drinks and banana nut bread with honey, while we watched an immature eagle fishing under adult tutelage.

We packed up camp and headed toward the portage to Fern with the topwater frog eliciting some fun hits. We met a couple with two dogs at the portage to Fern. It was a long walk with good footing and very pretty (when you didn’t have the boat on your head.) It’s quite pleasant as far as long portages go. The wind was growing from the SE as we hit Fern. We checked out a couple of camps for future reference and walked up a shallow swift to avoid the next short portage. We paddled a short distance to the next portage and fished the pools at the bottom of the waterfall before crossing. We caught a few bass and then a pike took my lure. Tony and I had a double after he called out the spots for simul-casting. Very fun. We made the short portage to Bud and had lunch by the falls in the shade. We fished along Bud catching a few bass, checking out a camp or two, but the wind made it difficult. We crossed the 4R portage into Beg at about 300pm and decided to camp on the knob just west of the falls. It’s a very scenic spot with some tent/tarp spots protected from the wind. I took a short nap and then fished from shore but only small bass were playing. We launched the boat late in the afternoon to try to harvest a fish for dinner but no takers. We got a few hits but couldn’t land them and it was still very windy. We did see a flotilla of mergansers and a couple of loons fishing for their dinner. Two boats cross the portage just before dark but otherwise it was quiet. We made sun-dried tomato and pesto pizza for dinner while the wind continued and the clouds built. We played some cards and hit the sack listening to the rain and thunder.

Day 20. Saturday September 2 6.15 miles and 2 portages (36R and 96R)

We slept in to about 730am waiting for the rain to stop. Everything is VERY wet this morning. We relaxed over cornmeal pancakes watching the low, misty clouds rise and the wind start to ripple across the lake.

The clouds started to break up about 930am so we packed up and launched around 1030am, fishing topwater frogs toward the first portage but not much action. We landed and discovered someone had used the pull-out as a dumping ground complete with TP (Not kidding.) We made the short portage to Bisk Lake and fished for a while but the wind was painful and kept pushing us around. We did catch some nice bass near the small falls below the next portage. Next we completed the 96R portage along the river to Pickerel, where we had a snack at the dam (1230pm). Following that we paddled into a full-on headwind toward the body of the lake with the intent of looking for a quiet place to spend our last night. It was here our plans were foiled. We started seeing boats on the water and tents on every island campsite and expanse of beach. Truthfully, it was a bit of a shocker after three weeks of near solitude. Apparently, Labor Day weekend is very good time to avoid Pickerel Lake-people in camps-boats on beaches-fires burning-coolers and beers-you get the picture. It was more than a bit crazy. We paddled on into the chop wondering if we were going to find an open camp or if we would end up at Dawson Trail, but eventually we spied a pleasant and private spot at a little point on Lookout Island (330pm). We busied ourselves setting up camp in the wind and began drying all our gear again. I feel like hours of this trip have been consumed with drying gear, just so it could get wet and damp again. We surveyed our remaining food and made a snack of smoked salmon and guyere croquettes on toasted tortilla wedges, and sat eating them in the sunshine behind a big rocky windbreak. Later we fished for a couple of hours from shore but only small bass and pike were interested. We consumed a simple dinner of Thai Peanut Noodles as the wind died, then enjoyed the sunset nibbling on dark chocolate with sea salt and toasting another Quetico trip completed. We received a wonderful gift of a last evening sans mosquitoes. We savored a last sip of Scotch toasting Tony’s Great White Nana from Canada who passed away this past spring at 107. A life well lived.

Day 21. Sunday, September 3 9 miles, 0 portages

We got up early, packed up a dry camp over a Clif Bar breakfast and beat the wind to Dawson Trail. There we grabbed a luxurious hot shower and set off for the wild western vistas of Wyoming and home, saying goodbye to the Quetico for another year :)