On the water

We were on the water early. We were able to leave right from he outfitter's pier. Our first lake was Moose lake. We had about a 3 hour paddle up to Prairie Portage were we would use our remote CANPASS to cross the border into Canada.

There was lots to see as we skirted he windward shore to stay out of the wind. At least a 1/2 dozen bald and golden eagles soaring high above our heads.

Our arrival to Prairie Portage found us in the ranger station going over documents. It got kinda confusing, as we didn't make any of these arrangements and didn't really know what was paid for through the outfitter and what was paid in other fees. We ended up having to pay an additional $60..00 dollars for camp site fees. We were very lucky to have brought any money at all. Right before we left I just through my wallet into a dry bag. Laura's mom was originally heading up this family outing so we were going at it a little blind to the details.

Our first portage went pretty good. We did a one haul over to Inlet Bay and met some paddlers coming across from Bayley Bay. Laura and I were wearing matching shirts with our Mid-America X-treme logos embroidered on and they thought we worked at the ranger station and started asking us all sorts of questions about crossing back over to the U.S. Yea, we looked a bit dorky.

We made our way into Bayley Bay and stopped on Sunday Island for lunch. The wind was really blowing and Bayley Bay is quite large. Huge rollers white capping coming down the lake. I over shot the portage and ended up near Hobo Island, so we had to battle our way back a bit. We were taking waves over the gunnel's and bow so a bit of maneuvering was needed. The water was pleasant and the shore pretty close by. We weren't in any danger, but it made it exciting to surf the swells and bash some waves coming across the lake.

As we prepared to portage onto Burke Lake we met an outfitter and another paddle coming back to the world. They said rain was coming and we could see clouds in the distance filling in. We opted for a short paddling day in hopes to stay dry our first day out. We camped on this very cool island with plenty of shelter and a great fire pit.

It never did rain, it blew over north of us. Stopping early was still a good move as we swam and hung out and started to un-wind. Played some cribbage, sat around the fire and went to bed early.

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The makings of a beautiful vacation. - The Capt'n