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Hit the road a little before 7am; at the Tofte ranger station by noon. Had to watch the BWCA video for the first time in a long time. Tried to call Amy as I was leaving town but the signal failed (tried a couple more times before I put in with no luck). At Sawbill Outfitters 30 minutes later; picked up a Wenonah Prisim then off to Baker Lake. There were a couple guys taking out as I unloaded my gear at the waters edge. Before leaving home, I packed a left-over cheese burger and A few beers for lunch. I was eager to push off and only wanted one of the beers for myself so I gave both of the fellas, who were taking out, an ice cold beer… I overheard one of the two call me his hero; nice guys.

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Starting to rain as I write this, we will see if the “Convert Mountain 2” is still sound.

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I put in and took off across Baker; a Hooded Merganser stood sentry before the 10 rod to Peterson. He gave me the quack, I gave him the up-nod; my official welcome to the ‘dub. Met a stiff head wind on Kelly and found out the hard way that I did not have the boat trimmed properly. After being blown in to the eastern shore (a light bow caused me to weathervane to the point where I had zero control, no amount of frantic paddling would correct my course), I shifted the load and set sail to the north with much more favorable results. An easy 65 rods into Jack. Just before the portage to Weird I see a cow moose. She’s at a narrowing of the river grazing on aquatic vegetation and seems to care less that I am trying to pass. I approached slowly, as far to the opposite shore as I could get which wasn’t too far, probably 25 yards. She finally, reluctantly, sauntered back in to the bush and left me to my travels.

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The fellas whom I met at Baker said that the site on Weird wasn’t bad. I stopped for lunch and thought that I might make camp but the sun was simply too high in the sky to stop now so I pushed off for South Temperance. This is when it hit me that I was finally soloing; I didn’t have to try to convince my trip mates to move on, there was no guilt for pushing people harder than they wanted to be pushed, I simply made the decision to keep trucking and did it… it was a truly liberating feeling.

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80 rods from Weird to “Unnamed Widening of the River” were no sweat. Pulled over the biggest beaver dam that I have seen up here, probably 2.5 – 3 foot drop.

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Hit the 240 to S. Temperance in no time and met a father heading south with his 3 sons. They had been fishing on the north side of Brule in a rented Bell Northshore; Pops said that the boat was very hard to control when lightly loaded but quite responsive carrying 4 grown men and 600 pounds of gear. I learned that fishing was slow and that these guys were headed to the site on weird for the night… I am so glad that I decided to move on; now they would have the site that they were hoping for.

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The 240 was flat and easy but long and I’m double portaging so it’s long x 3. Met a father son tandem on the trail on my last trip over; the father gave me crap for not waiting for them to land on the north end to help carry their gear over, we shared a laugh.

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Grabbed the south site and it’s a gem! The main camp/fire grate is elevated, aprox 20 feet up from the lake… A good breeze, a great view.

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Set up the tent; physically not feeling too hot. I know that I need to eat, my body needs fuel but the thought of food makes my stomach turn. I choke down a couple handfuls of peanuts and a liter of water. Body feeling better, mind still not right. I’m thinking about my bride and feeling like a Richard for leaving her on her birthday. I know that she is excited for me, she fully supported my taking this trip, but I still feel like a donkey.

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I broke out the Makers Mark and poured myself an attitude adjuster. Found moose plums in the middle of camp… big spruce down across the latrine trail, had to bushwack to the thunder box.

[paragraph break] The wind picked up and blew in a front… looks like they are really getting nailed to the south but I’m thinking that it will just glance us. Then:[paragraph break] -A few sprinkles[paragraph break] -A rainbow[paragraph break] -A break in the clouds along the western horizon; yielding to the rays of the setting sun.[paragraph break] -A light show the likes of which I have never seen[paragraph break] -A truly remarkable sunset[paragraph break] -A Cliff Bar dinner[paragraph break] -A camp fire[paragraph break] -A red sky tonight; sailors delight

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Baker, Peterson, Kelly, Jack, Weird, Temperance River, S. Temperance[paragraph break] 410 rods

Cold nights were definitely the norm, and I guess my sleeping bag, liner, and pad were not rated high enough (boys were great though) - sleeping in base layer, fleece, and beanie was the only way to go :). However, this morning's sunrise was amazing over Ester with fog lifting off the lake and loons calling to each other! We had another hot breakfast enjoying the views and solitude (we only saw one other party since entering Ester two days ago), then packed up camp, and pushed off as we thanked our Lord. Another bald eagle kept watch over our paddle as we said goodbye to Ester, and with light winds we made a smooth trip to the Enchanted Portage on the south end of Hanson. What a cool portage and waterfall halfway down the trail! On SAK the wind began to pick up from the SW and with strong thunderstoms likely in the afternoon/overnight, we decided to cut through Toe Lake on our way to a campsite near Eddy Falls. However...there were some awesome reefs just prior to reaching Toe and they produced a handful of healthy smallmouth! Toe also produced some fish, so at this point we had caught fish on every lake. We found campite 2037 open - it had a nice landing, perfect rock out front for fishing/viewing SAK, and you could hear Eddy Falls roaring in the distance (however, there were not a lot of good options for tent pads). Just after we set up camp, strung a tarp, and ate lunch, light rain started to fall. We played some more cards, and my older son decided to go out fishing as the rain was still light while the rest of us napped. He returned a couple hours later boasting of the quality of smallies on SAK! Meanwhile, I found the weather radio signal calling for strong t-storms that night and winds still gusting to 35mph the next two afternoons. Fortunately, the skies broke long enough for a simple Mountain House supper, another campfire, and best sunset of the trip! The t-storm did move in from the west just after dark and put on an impressive lightening display - luckily, the wind/rain was not too bad and we had a good night's rest. ~Ester Lake, Hanson Lake, South Arm Knife Lake, Toe Lake

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Awake at sun up; fog so thick that I can’t see the lake 10 feet away. I packed up camp and hit the water as soon as the fog cleared a bit. I headed south toward the 100 rod in to Smoke and made my first navigational error of the trip. I was within 25 yards of the portage but didn’t see it and convinced myself that it was further down shore. I paddled about a mile further, realized what I had done, called myself an idiot and headed back to where I knew the portage was… saw it from about 100 yards out this time. Easy portage; the put in on Smoke is interesting as I have never launched a canoe from a doc before; all goes well. 90 rods in to Burnt where I planned to stay for the rest of the day. My plan was to make camp early and take it easy for the rest of the day, I packed my hammock for this very reason but I was feeling too darn good to stop now. I can’t explain it, my plan to create a little down time worked out perfectly and I’m a lounge in the hammock with a book and a cocktail kind of fella but I choose to paddle on. The 230 rod into Kelly is not bad, a little up and down; I got destroyed by the skeeters. A quick paddle through Kelly and Peterson. My Merganser friend swam with me a little ways on Baker as if to “say see you later”.[paragraph break] -Take out at Baker, parking lot is deserted[paragraph break] -Square up at Sawbill[paragraph break] -Fresh hearing for lunch in Silver Bay[paragraph break] -Home in time to sing the kiddies to sleep

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Sawbill, Smoke, Burnt, Kelly, Peterson, Baker[paragraph break] 433 rods

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Closing Tidbits

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-Sorry for the lack of photos, forgot to pick up a disposable camera and made a game time decision to leave the phone in the car.[paragraph break] -It was a great trip; I will definitely do another solo. I really appreciated not having to worry about trip mates having a good experience.[paragraph break] -I pushed harder than expected but the harder I pushed the stronger I felt.[paragraph break] -My bride was happy to see me earlier than planned although she gave me crap for coming out early… what a woman.[paragraph break] -Saw a deer on the Sawbill Trail; not technically in the ‘dub but I’m counting it.[paragraph break] -Katidyn Base Camp water filter gets my vote for gear of the year… if you don’t have one, get one![paragraph break] -First time ever taking a trip without fishing gear; didn’t really miss it although I might have stayed one more night if I could have fished.[paragraph break] -I think that I need solo paddling instruction, I struggled with course corrections more than I probably needed to.