Thursday, September 06, 2012 We lugged the giant 3 person rental boat off of our vehicle (it think it hung over the back by 6 feet) and carried it down to the shore of Lake One. We loaded up quickly and shoved off… to the sound of wolves in the distance! What a way to start! Lake One was beautiful with lots of inlets and a shoreline of large rocky cliffs with “bonsai” jack pines hanging precariously off the sides. We scooted along with good speed in our giant rig and have not come across many people so far. By the time we got to Lake Two, we could see the affect of the Pegami Creek Fire.

I was on constant rock duty through the Kawishiwi River. The dead and fire scarred trees were interesting at first but as the day drew on, they started to get a little depressing. Lots of wildflowers though. Super healthy and vibrant. Lake Insula’s south half was scorched as well, but we finally put our backs to the brown and black stubs and found a lovely cozy site along the western shore about halfway up the lake. The water was perfectly calm and the sky perfectly clear. We could not have asked for better weather to start our trip. We spent the evening relaxing around camp and watching the stars come out. The Milky Way swooped overhead and the stars reflected in the water like tiny floating candles.