Allen and I took turns portaging the canoe.

Day 8
July 20, 2003
Today's miles: 12.8
Total miles: 84.3
Destination: Campsite on Mountain Lake

A mama grouse and her five children just walked by. I'm lying under the tarp, sheltered from the rain and wind, which began just as we reached the campsite. All day I watched impressive cloud formations, some pure white and others dark gray, against a vivid blue sky, as we made our way east. We saw only one other boat today; in the distance, someone was fishing on the Canadian side of Mountain Lake.

As Allen put it, this morning was surreal. We silently glided on the calm, misting water of Rose Lake at 6:30, watching for any sign of movement along the shores, in hopes of seeing a moose. Our sighting came during the first leg of Long Portage between Rose and Rove Lakes, as we carried our packs and paddles. I was wading through a washed-out section of the portage trail, which is one and the same with the Border Route Trail for those two miles, and heard a kerplunk in the swamp to my left. Then another, and I saw the large female moving slowly through the trees with her nose in the water. She didn't seem to notice me, so I stood in the muck for several minutes and watched, until Allen came along. The moose heard him approaching and moved off into the forest.

Allen a/k/a Stumped at the end of a portage.

We completed those six miles of portaging in three and a quarter hours, the last leg with the canoe being the longest at one hour and twenty minutes. We traded off the canoe, passed it over a deadfall, and for a while carried the boat together. It was tough to make some of the turns on that narrow trail without scraping the boat against trees.

Though it's only 6:30p.m., and it's been staying light out until after nine, the sky just darkened considerably as the next thunderstorm begins.

--Ramkitten