Sunday, July 04, 2021 Got up at 5:30 Had oatmeal. Packed up camp and headed to Ima. We got across the portage to Thomas pond and were starting the next 25 rod portage when people started coming up. We thought the next group would start across while we were taking our first load across, but they were waiting when we got back as well as a group of 4 canoes behind them. We finished the portage and told the 2 brothers in 1 canoe to go ahead of us since they were single portaging. We made it to the the Ima portage and were dropping our 2nd load when the other group caught up to us. Dan had told me to get across the rocks and drop my pack in the canoe and hold it to keep it from floating out. This portage is really tight and rocky. I inhaled a bug on the way down, slipped and sat down on a partially submerged rock with the pack on. I was busy hacking up the bug while he went back for packs, paddles, poles etc. Not our most efficient exit. I should have moved the painter to the back and tied off the canoe. Sorry guys from Atlanta. I hope you finally caught some fish. They'd been skunked so far. I think the heat and sun was not good for the fishing.
We looked at the sites nearest the portage to the east on Ima. They seemed really exposed and the wind had picked up so we turned and went to the site west of the portage. (2207) We got out to look at it and it seemed pretty nice. There was a long point of rock to the water, decent logs. I looked at the map and figured out it was the site that was rated a 1 - 2 star site, I hadn't written down why, and it seemed ok so we decided to stay. It was very scenic and had shade in the back. Marginal tent pads but we found one that was ok. It took a while to get up bear bag ropes, but not bad. We put up the tarp back in the trees since it was 90 degrees and the fire pit area was really exposed with no trees. We started noticing a lot of frogs and toads everywhere. It was fun watching them hop across the site. Had PB&J for lunch. We did laundry, and showered to cool off and sat in the shade under the tarp. Omelettes with salsa and cheese, hash browns and lil smokies for dinner. When we were cleaning up we could see clouds and rain across the far side of the lake, then lightning. The setting sun made the sky look like it was on fire. and the lightning was getting worse. it started to rain so we moved back under the tarp to finish packing up the food bags to hang as it started to get dark. This was when we found out why the site was rated 1 to 2 stars. I have never seen that many mosquitoes. It was like some of the films of Alaska where the caribou are driven crazy by mosquitoes. There was still a lot of thunder and lightning. The rain stopped and we got the bear bags up. We used the bug head nets to go to the latrine, but it's hard to see at night with it on. We used Slappy to clear the tent of mosquitos before calling it a night. We called this the Frog and Mosquito site.
Thomas 7 R Thomas pond 24R 20R Hatchet 28R Ima. looking for site 5.1 Miles total 4.2 paddling .9 miles portaging