We left Pocket Lake at 8:00am. There was heavy dew so the tarp and tent were packed wet. We had a smooth paddle to Finger Lake and on the way we saw a beaver swim under the canoe. We saw signs of beaver almost everywhere we went. The 90 rod portage into Finger was easy and as we paddled across Finger we saw a couple paddling out from a campsite headed to where we came. The 9 rodder (Is that a real word?) into Thumb Lake was more of a carry over for us but the 200 rods into Beartrack was a killer to me. The gear pack is nice to carry but the canoe pads hurt my shoulder muscles, especially walking downhill. I'm going to look into a different type of portaging yoke that spans more of the shoulder instead of just a 3 inch section of each side of the shoulder. Beartrack was pretty as was Little Beartrack. Those 30 rods and another 30 rods brought us to Eugene Lake which looks like two lakes in one, just separated by a thin channel. I really liked Eugene. 45 rods more and there was Steep Lake, another pretty little lake. The 120 rods into South Lake was mostly downhill going our direction but folks coming the other way would be in for an uphill hike. I carried the canoe and good ole Wil carried both packs. South and North Lakes seem the same. The channel separating them was wider than the channel in Eugene however, the USGS decided to split them into two lakes. Go figure?
The maps show a campsite on the island in North Lake. We paddled up to it and there was a sign on a flat rock that said the campsite was moved a 1/2 mile north. We instead checked out the campsite next to the portage into Section 3 Pond. It was a wonderful site with massive rock from the shoreline sloping up 30 feet to a level tent pad. We took it and again we were the only campers on the lake. We didn't see any campsites occupied the whole day; in fact, we are seeing far fewer people then I thought would happen. We spread all our gear out on the granite rock and the hot sun quickly dried everything, except our boots. Both Wil and I are wet footing the whole trip and our Chota Trekkers were never dry. Got camp sat up and Wil took a nap in the tent while I stretched out on the rock. My body feels great and my mind even better.
Supper was creamy spinach, chicken and rice. MMM... After supper we watched a beaver swim around "our rock" and eat its supper of vegetation that chocked the little bay to our north. It wasn't even concerned that we were watching. How do they keep their head above water, eat and swim all at the same time? Six ducks landed next to the beaver and it just didn't care, kept on eating. Wil pulled out his cell phone which of course didn't receive service but his intended task was to play music. John Denver, Celtic Pink Floyd, etc. As the evening grew darker the now 98.82431% full moon rose. You know all statistics are made up on the spot 82% of the time? Sitting on "our rock" with a perfectly clear view to the east and south, that blue moon was gorgeous (second full moon in August). Wil started playing Bob Seger's Fire Lake and now for the rest of my life that song will bring back the memory of that moment. It was a very warm evening and both of us slept on our sleeping bags. The bugs are not bad at all with just a few mosquitoes here and there, thank goodness.
