Lunch break, hot-humid
Days 2-4:
Temps were in the 90's with very high humidity and the wind against us on Lake Umsaskis. We dug our paddles in and arrived at the Ledges campsite, a favorite of Steve's from his days as an Eagle Scout. Lew, Steve, and I enjoyed steaks cooked over a campfire on cast iron pans that night and Christine, being a vegetarian, had cold gruel, baked potato and salad.
The bug situation was quite tolerable but climbing into our tents at day's end felt like getting into a closed plastic bag. Hot and mega-humid, the last thing we needed were puffy sleeping bags.
The next morning Steve made scrambled eggs and homemade bacon that he had cured, smoked and sliced himself. Orgasmic. It was bacon heaven on earth. Christine had cold gruel, apple slices and water. We loaded up our gear, which poked up about close to 2 ft above the gunnels. No worries.
We settled on Steve and Christine in one canoe with me and Lew in the other for the rest of the trip. Another day of flat water lake and river canoeing (i.e. no rapids). Now, we were seeing eagles, frequently and osprey plunging into the water to. One moose watched us from the shore of Long Lake but retreated into the woods when we got close. Mergansers and King Fishers were everywhere and we had no trouble catching inedible chub (aka Fall Fish) by the bucket load. As we gently paddled the miles, the wind was at our backs, an endless parade of white pine, birch, hemlock and cedar passed by.
The river seemed swollen from the first day's thunderstorm but it was not to the point of creating whitewater conditions. We all went for a swim at the end of the day. Steve caught a 9 inch sucker fish with his bare hands! It just hung out right in front of him and he was able to grab it. Most impressive. Of course, the first attempt he nearly got it but it jumped out of his hands smacking him right in the face.
Day 3: Lew had a runny nose and cough that seemed to be worsening and the weather was clearly taking a turn for the worse. We decided to quit a bit early to prep for the coming storm. Steve put a tarp over the picnic table, I gathered firewood and we encouraged Lew to take a nap in his tent. A few hours later, our tents pitched, tarps secured, distant rumbling of thunder grew louder and closer. Three separate waves of monsoon-like rain pounded down while we waited at the table. The winds ripped the stakes holding a tarp over the fireplace and created a large puddle in Christine's tent.
Lew to the rescue - he had brought a spare tent! We quickly set it up, got Christine into dry clothes and situated for the night. Chef Steve made mac & cheese which really hit the spot but Christine had cold gruel and water as all vegetarians do. 
My tent night 3
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