A cloudy breezy day.
Breakfast on a log. Maybe I could squeeze on the end?
Everyone got to munch dried fruit while the hot cereal part of the breakfast meal was being cooked--this was the case for at least half of the breakfasts--which is very good because I'm FAMISHED when I wake up, and I don't deal with whiny hungry kids very well then.
The obligatory full canoe picture. That's everything except me in the canoe...minus one day's worth of food. It's much more compact than last year--maybe because Phil didn't pack any extra clothes. We reserved an even larger canoe, but they didn't even have it when we showed up...we didn't need it after all, but kind of defeated the purpose of reserving!
We took a long "detour" on ragged lake before we found the portage. After that I gave the map and compass to the man. That was the first and last "detour" of the trip. To be fair (I mean, to try make me look a little better,) I didn't guide us in the wrong direction, but had assumed we were camped on the east coast of ragged lake, when indeed, we were camped on the island. Oops. As for the logging and damming, you can see the dead stumps and such in the water, which, we assume, is because of the increase in lake size once they made the dam. Gives it a forlorn melancholy sort of look. :)
We made it to the portage after all, thanks to the correction of my error in navigation. This was an easy portage, since when we came through, it was very busy. Everyone looks at us, our luggage, and our kids--then they ask if they can carry anything across for us! Bonus for Philip--since he did all the lugging (I'm off duty this year :) ). The one helper (a chatterbox who had a kid Melanie's age and missed him) carried the canoe for part of the way, and when he got to the end it was windy, so he had trouble controlling it, and put it down with a rather loud crash. So he dashed to his buddies who were ready in their boat and said "Oops! I cracked it! Quick, let's get out of here!"
Matthew was pretty ready for his nap at the end of this portage--not that he walked it! Compared to the trip we went on earlier this year, he was a piece of cake!! Walking was much easier for him, but also, he knew what to expect. Melanie was a lot more independent too. Such a treat for me!
Paddling across the biggest most open part of Big Porcupine Lake was a big harry. It was quite windy, so the waves were pretty high. Some of them splashed in, but not enough to make us wait for the wind to stop. I insisted we stay close to shore, instead of going as the canoe flies, just in case. As soon as we got around past that one spot (blue and orange lines between 21 and 27) the water was completely calm again.
Once at the campsite, we found a complete roll of toilet paper waiting for us at the thunder box. What excellent timing! I had just warned everyone when we left the last campsite that I had taken an overly conservative supply of TP along, and was rationing it. And lo and behold, a whole extra roll! That made me feel watched over and protected! Such a "small detail" and God had it taken care of!
We packed zero toys and zero books, but the kids found entertainment galore.
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