14 August 2017, Monday

Eugene to Steep L to South L to Section Pond up the stream, over the beaver dam to Slim Lake

We are once again on the water by 9 am after breakfast and a brief morning rain shower. Our first carry is into beautiful Steep Lake with its rocky shore and impressive rock overhang.

We take a detour from the take out to explore the area. The next portage is into South Lake. At the take out from South (at least within earshot) is a red-eyed vireo calling, “Take it out! Put it in!” Before doing so, we stop at the beautiful campsite next to the portage trail for a lunch time snack.

After lunch we carry from South to Section Pond. The map is very confusing as to the location of the take out for our next carry. Luckily, I have notes from my research on the trip. The notes say to paddle upstream, over a beaver dam and then find the portage. This we do. We lift over the dam and soon after we are on the portage trail. Slim Lake, as one would expect, is long and narrow. The first campsite is perched on a high, glacier-smoothed granite dome. From the summit we have a splendid view of the lake. Of course, we also have a long climb up and down to get our gear and water to the campsite.

O and I realize, as we are eating our dinner, that we have had each of the lakes we camped on entirely to ourselves for the past 5 nights. We are finding it very easy to become accustomed to the sounds only of nature. Tonight, as we are tidying up camp, a beaver swims below, around our granite promontory. We have been checking O’s weather radio and have learned that Wednesday, our last full day in the Boundary Waters, is forecast to be quite wet. Our plans have been adjusted accordingly. Tomorrow we will paddle to one of the lakes close to our entry/exit point. We hope to find a campsite where we can hang our tarp and watch the storm blow through as we eat fresh baked brownies and sip hot chocolate. We may be exiting wet, but we will be content.