Saturday, November 04, 2023

The night was definitely chillier and my little window of air in my sleeping bag kept getting smaller as I cinched it up against the cold. The sounds of a ruffed grouse drumming drifted through the night and I found myself sleepily wondering how late in the season such activities occur. If he saw us, he was probably thinking the same of us!

I got out of bed a bit before light, inspired to get a fire going. The reward was a beautiful sky as I paddled out for some clean water for coffee and oatmeal. After breakfast and packing up we loaded the canoes for the last time and pushed off for a 3 mile paddle to the takeout. The wind had already produced some waves and it was chilly enough to convince us to take the far side of the island. We saw a boat full of blaze orange clad folks heading out into the lake, presumably in search of deer on the opener. By the time we reached the take out I was ready for a warm car and found Bob’s keys to start it up and crank the heater on high. Unfortunately I had put it on full blast cool and when we hopped in after loading up it felt as cold as last night’s tent. A fitting end to a great and cool, out of the ordinary trip.