8 miles, 6 portages, 205 rods

We woke up not quite ready to start paddling, so we read Sparky before breakfast. It rained lightly off and on as we were packing up, foreshadowing the weather for the rest of the day. We managed to get in the boat without Jason’s feet getting wet, saving them for a few hours. Unfortunately we met with on and off rain all day long—predominantly rain with a few sunny patches (“sucker holes”) here and there. The wind was pretty fierce again and we ended up taking a three-mile detour around a point rather than taking a couple of extra portages.

The highlight of my day came as we were crossing a portage that a group of men were crossing at the same time. They saw me single-flip the canoe and then come back to double pack two of our large packs. They asked me if I had done this before and were impressed that I was an instructor. They said they were going to have an arm-wrestling contest that evening, and that I was welcome to come, or they could just give me $5 right now. It is rare that people see me and immediately think of me as tough, so I was quite pleased.

The rain and the extra mileage made for a grumpy Jason, so we found one of the first spots on the Kawishiwi and set up camp there. Unfortunately it was infested with an enormous population of no-see-ums, tiny gnat sized bugs that fiercely bite any exposed skin. We had to pace during dinner to avoid them, and headed into the tent as soon as well could.