After breakfast, all of the crews are eager to get onto the water. There is a lot of activity around the Bay Post and under the guidance of the "Interpreters", the chaos is well managed. Our Interpreter, Kelsey, had been with us since we checked in. She escorted us over to the canoe staging area where we picked out 3 canoes. Then we picked out our paddles and PFDs. Inside the Bay Post we picked up our "kettle" which was really a big plastic box that held our kitchen pots, pans, stoves, and other cooking supplies. The staff member that checked us out also gave us the instructions on how to use the emergency radio. We were told to give our crew number, our location and nature of the emergency, in the event we should need to contact the base. There was a small shack next to the paddle house where the fuel was kept. Kelsey took 2 of the one gallon cans for us to put into the kettle. For some of us who went to Philmont in 2004, this seemed like an excessive amount of fuel; but, that was nothing compared to the food rations we would be traveling with. Kelsey took the boys over to the commissary to pick up the food boxes we had packed yesterday. She also had fresh food for us in the freezer and refrigerator with her name clearly marked on everything. We were resigned to the fact that she had prepared all of the gear and food prior to our arrival. All we could do was gather it all together and haul it. Again, the food was not going to be like Philmont which was lightweight and pre-packaged for 2 individuals. We had items like whole jars of peanut butter, plastic bottles of jelly, containers of cheese, lots of nuts, grains, cereal bars, coffee, drink mixes, dry milk, sugar, honey and spices.

The two food boxes, which must have weighed 80 pounds each, and the kettle box were each in their own canvas carrying bag which had shoulder straps and a waistbelt like a backpack. We retrieved our "gray whales" from our cabin and met outside the front of the Bay Post to secure our gear for the start of the trip. The gray whales contained all of our personal gear, each in a compression sack to conserve space. Also inside were the three 2-man tents that we had practiced setting up the day before. And lastly, we kept our sleeping pads and bags in the gray whales as well. Those bags were lined with a thick, clear plastic bag designed to keep the water out of the personal gear as best possible should the canoe swamp.

We made our way down the path leading to Moose Lake, the assigned entry point for all the crews leaving the Boy Scout base. The bags were loaded into the canoes first and secured by fastening the waistbelts around the thwarts of the canoe, again as a safety measure should the canoe swamp. The canoes would float with our gear attached. Basically, the entry point was like a dock area on land. The three canoes could be lined up one behind the other against the wooden wall. The water was about two feet deep, but there was no reason to step in it. Using some caution, each member of the crew could step into the center section of the canoe, stay low, and get seated. Glen and his Dad were in one canoe, Mr. McCarthy and Adam in the second, and Mr. Bailey, Kelsey and John in the last. John was to be the "duffer" in this part of the journey, in that he would be sitting on a cushion pad on the bottom of the canoe in the middle. He would not be using a paddle. Had we been a full crew of 8 scouters and one interpreter, we would have had a duffer in each canoe. Everyone would get their opportunity to be a duffer.

We headed Northeast on Moose Lake which led into Newfound Lake, and Sucker Lake. Motor boats are allowed on these lakes and we did see some; but, as soon as we went through the narrow opening into Birch Lake, we left the motor boats behind. Birch Lake is a boundary water lake, with Ontario, Canada on the north side and Minnesota on the south side. Our BWCAW permits allowed to be in international waters and traverse Canadian trails. We were not permitted to camp on the Canadian side. We were lucky enough to see some bald Eagles flying around these lakes. One actually swooped down and snagged a fish right out of the water!

We stopped for lunch which consisted of two turkey & cheese sandwiches, fresh fruit, peanut bar and powdered drink mix. Then came our first experience with a portage. The postage trails are measured in "rods". 1 rod is equal to 16 1/2 feet, the length of a canoe; so the 40 rod portage separating Birch Lake from Carp Lake was 660 feet. We then did three short 15 rod portages followed by a 75 rod into Knife Lake. 75 rods is about 1/4 mile. We found a campsite opposite Robbins Island. We had gone 13 1/2 miles since leaving the base.

Kelsey made the dinner on the first night. She knew what she had brought to eat and she knew where all the gear was that she wanted to use. The boys brought lake water in from about 20 feet offshore. They used a collaspable bucket, two red buckets and two pots. Drinking water was purified by adding Polar Pure to the Nalgene bottles and waiting 20 minutes. Cooking water was simply boiled. Kelsey had brought beef chunks that were added to the pasta. Cleanup was done by washing in one pot with a few drops of soap then rinsing in a pot that had a few drops of bleach added. A food "sump" would be dug past the grumper to dispose of food particles and dishwater water. We tried hanging a bearbag that night, but, because we had no pulley to go with the ropes, we couldn't get the boxes off the ground! We decided to make "bear alarms" for the rest of the trek. This involved turning a canoe over onto all of the "smellables" and then placing the pots and pans on the canoe's bottom. The theory was that a bear would scare himself off if he tried to get under the canoe and disturbed the pots and pans!