The Last Portage!

After paddling through Splash Lake, we came upon our last portage. However, there was a family already on the portage, so we had to wait. However, we were entertained. The scenery, this dam kept us from plunging down into the rapids toward Newfound Lake. And, the people with their stuff. A kid of about 10 was helping his mom put on an absolutely huge backpack. She went to stand up and she couldn't move. It took quite an effort by the kid to get her standing up. We couldn't help but start chuckling, 'cause we know what it's like. She noticed and says to her son 'They're laughing at us, aren't they?' Of course, after they got all their stuff onto the other side, we beached our canoe and talked with them for a while. This wasn't that big of a portage, so there really wasn't room for two groups. I think they were heading for home, while we were just heading across to Horseshoe Island to snag one of those awesome sites we saw earlier.

Here's Tracy carrying the canoe on the last portage. Notice the trail is pretty level. That was nice. This how we portaged for the majority of the trip. Taking some of the gear, then taking the rest of the gear and the canoe on another trip. Notice Tracy's red nose from sunburn, also notice he's smiling 'cause he's almost done with the portage. Add to the fact that most people in the BWCAW use lake canoes where we were using a river canoe. Not made of aluminum, made of fiberglass. Result: much heavier. That's one thing that's changing for the next trip!

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