Saturday, July 23, 2022 Got up early and packed camp. Skies grey but wind calm. Had rice cereal and fed Amelia and was off by 730. Sky kept getting uglier, and by the time I headed back down LIS it was raining pretty hard. Sad pup! She does not like it when rain builds up inside the canoe. Wind picked up right before devils cascade portage, and suddenly it took all the strength and skill I had not to get blown sideways up the river! Once on the portage, the rain quit and the skeeters swarmed and it was time to climb that hill. 3 times. With packs. Sigh. Humped all my load to the top of the hill and stood there in the bugs, breathing. The rest of the portage was easy as pie, just real muddy.

Once on Lower Pauness, started looking for my next home, cause I don't want the Poison Ivy Grove and I don't want to end my trip today. Everything on Lower Pauness was open, took site #43 on the point.

What a nice site- big white pines, multiple rooms for relaxing.....The front porch on the rocks where you first enter, the kitchen, a reading room under the oaks, a huge living room under the pines, and a back porch overlooking the marsh just perfect for setting up my tarp. Not a very good canoe garage- there was room for the Chickadee, but multiple canoes would be harder. It has an oddly large # of oak trees, that are not quite right for red oak and may be black oak. Gonna check with UMD when I get home- this is FAR north of black oaks' usual range. Could easily see spending a couple nights here. I have enough food for 4-5 more days, but coffee is getting low.

Got camp set up, found a little driftwood and collected twigs for dinner. Then it started raining again and Amelia sat next to the tent looking at me. So she is napping in the tent. I think she deserves it after enduring the rainy canoe all morning. I'm sitting under the tarp gazing out at the marsh. Really surprised at how easily I have found campsites this trip. In 2020, anytime we were near an entry point it was tough. Today I am about 4 hours of paddling and 2 easy portages from my car.....and it's deserted for the most part.

And Gortex for the win! At no time during my rainy morning and buggy portage did I feel clammy, hot, or uncomfortable in any way. I love this coat! Might be time for a new tent though. I was feeling slightly chilled just sitting around so went into the tent for some quality snuggle time with the pup. It started to rain hard, for about an hour. The mystery of the dampness on my bag some days back is solved- the seams are dripping when it pours. The taping is peeling off too. Maybe it could be salvaged, but maybe there is a tent out there that is lighter and nicer than the 20+ yr old North Face Rock22. I also have a CopperSpur2 Ultralight, but I worry about it being sturdy enough for canoe trips- I use it backpacking.

One the rain quit and the sun came out it was hot! fish jumping all over the lake, and a gorgeous 8 point buck grazed slowly along the shore to the marsh. A good end to the day.

~Loon Lake, Lower Pauness Lake