9.25 miles, 5 portages, 223 rods

We arose at 4 AM, leaving camp before 6. I enjoyed the early morning canoeing. It’s so calm, and there’s something hopeful and optimistic about the dawn.

The finest hour I have seen, is the one that comes between

The edge of night and the break of day, it’s when the darkness rolls away.

- Nancy Griffith

Lots of long portages to start with this morning. By 10:30 we were tired and stopped for lunch along a portage with a beautiful waterfall. We finally reached Little Sag and headed out into strong currents and wind. Fortunately there were islands to provide cover and we got to a good but windblown campsite by 1 PM. We carefully tucked the canoe back in the woods, set up camp and tried to sleep. The tent was HOT and only I could nap.

Jason sat out to read, and while he was there a big beaver with a big tail (~40 pounds) came out of the woods, looked around and went back. Continuing to read, ½ an hour later Jason saw movement out of the corner of his eye and a little beaver (~10 lbs) came from around the fire pit and trotted directly toward him, passing 1 ½ feet from his leg and went behind the rock he was leaning against. Finally, and I was rinsing my hands and Jason was brushing his teeth before bed a medium sized beaver (~25 lbs.) scampered up from the shoreline behind me and into the woods—a whole family! Jason has become one with the beavers as he has on past trips with the marmots of the NW, continuing his affinity for large rodents. Sparky says the voyageurs had beaver as the main staple of the diet but were Catholic and only allowed to eat fish on Fridays. The pope heard of this and had one of his papal agents check out the beaver in Canada and determined because of the scales on its tail and its swimming that it counted as a fish by papal decree.

We made very runny pudding after dinner, with the only redeeming quality being that it still tasted like chocolate. I started to feel a cold coming on and fell asleep at 8:30 PM.