Men of the trip:  (Front left to right) Larry, Jim, John; (Back) Mark and James

     Jim, James and Mark joined Larry on the road and later John in Thunder Bay before heading to the Dawson Trail Campground in the Quetico Park.   After sorting out our gear, we moved the following morning to the Nym Lake Entry station, from which we paddled southwest to the 840 yard Batchewaung Lake portage.  From Batchewaung Lake we headed southwest through Batchewaung Bay and then east into Pickerel Lake, where we set up a base camp for two days.   While we traveled some everyday, the pace of the trip was easy going, designed to provide time for each to enjoy the park in his way. 

     Prevailing winds out of the west in the park make westerly travel difficult most afternoons.   Mother Nature reminded us of that fact when wind and unexpected rain foiled a day trip to see pictographs on Dore Lake.  While we made it to the the lake, a rain squal forced us to turn around, and the trip back to base camp became a  challenge as the wind did its best to keep us from returning.  That evening, like most evenings in the Quetico, the waters were smooth and unruffled, excellent for fishing or nature study.  

     Our fishing successes were modest...Mark caught two large northerns the first night but after that only small bass and northerns took the bait when Larry, John and James made the effort.   We caught no walleye, which are supposed to lurk down deep in the cooler water this time of year.  Jim's status as a fisherman remains unchanged. 

      The weather was spotty... sometimes beautiful sun shine and other times gray overcast or spitting rain.  We never set up camp in the rain or on soaked ground, but we did endure precipitation just about every day.   Mosquitos and bugs were minimal when compared to previous trips in the area. 
  
Highlights of the trip: giving a "Gift to Nepal" and realizing that everything takes "only 20 minutes." 

      We also enjoyed an interesting two hours visiting Old Fort William, a reconstruction of a North West Trading Company fort that was active in the fur trade in the early nineteenth century.