Day 4 -- Monday, May 28, 2001

We get up at about 6:00 and start packing up and getting ready to leave. Instant Oatmeal is on the menu this morning. It's chilly again so the hot chocolate is also welcome. We're packed up and on the lake by about 10:00, chased out of the campsite by the black flies. It's starting to look a lot like yesterday with partly cloudy skies.

I'm expecting the worst, with respect to bugs, on the portage trail and have my head net ready. I'm surprised to find very few bugs though. There are a few caterpillers here and there but they're not bad either. We again "leap frog" across the portage. I'm surprised at how quickly we reach the creek. I'm even more surprised at how quickly we reach the sign. At this point, we head down the real portage. This turns out to be a "walk in the park" with a wide level path with boardwalks across the swampy areas. It seems to take no time at all before we're back out on Burntside Lake. It is warming up and we're all changing to shorts by the time we reach the end of the portage. For those of us that are wearing zip-off pants, the change to shorts is pretty easy!

Out on the lake, we do a little exploring. We're particularly interested in the outlet of Crab Creek and wonder how difficult it would be to navigate up the creek to the lake, thus avoiding the long portage. The contour lines on the map make it look like it may be somewhat difficult about halfway up. There's a short section of rapids where the creek empties into Burntside. Even though there's a short portage around the rapids, we decide not to explore any further up this creek today.

On the north side of one of the islands, Bob and I spot some very colorful moss -- an occasion for some more pictures. Then, we head up and into the North Arm. Paddling becomes difficult when a strong north wind comes up. We take shelter in bays and behind islands where possible but, these are few and far between on this section of the lake. We stop briefly at the same campsite as before for lunch. Then, after a lot of hard paddling into the wind, we arrive at the landing, at once relieved to be out of that wind but sad to know that our trip has ended.

We load up the car and head back down the Echo Trail. We stop at the Holiday station for snacks, then go on to the Moose for ice cream. I drive the first leg to Cloquet where we stop for gas and then supper at Subway. From there, I sleep most of the way back to St. Paul and Basil's house. I arrive home at about 7:30pm

This was also the first time I'd been to this area of the BW. I highly recommend it. The long paddle across Burntside and the long portage into Crab deters a lot of people. Most people who do brave those however, seem to be content to sit on Crab or Cummings. I'd definitely like to go back and spend more time in the small lakes to the west, especially the Boulder area.

All in all, a very enjoyable trip with a group of very nice people. Many thanks to Sharon for teaching me about "froo-froo". Many thanks to Bob for the use of his car and his canoe. Many, many thanks to Basil for setting this trip up (as well as all the others) and the use of his canoe. I hope I can paddle with all of you again sometime!