We were all coming from work on Friday, so paddling out that night really wasn't feasible. Good thing, too, since we got the tail end of hurricane Lili that night. We had set up at Algonquin Outfitters in Oxtongue Lake, and - this part is impressive - had rigged a tarp that held up the entire night. By 10 p.m. the rain was coming down sideways (fortunately, the trees we were camped in stayed up).

I had borrowed a blue barrel with a harness for this little adventure (I am far too lazy to hang food). When I took it out of my car on Saturday morning, Lee demonstrated why he's so good at what he does: he focused on that barrel, and I don't think there was a single thought that wasn't somehow connected to blue barrels in his head until he was the owner of a blue barrel as well. Some people have more follow through on their gear lust than I do...

We put in at Canoe Lake, and had the wind in our faces the entire way across the lake. No big deal, though, especially since we turned east after our first portage. I was the proud keeper of the map, but after I thought that Lost Joe Lake was Baby Joe Lake (it's difficult to get confused in a park with labeled portages, I know, but I managed it), I made sure Rebecca had a map as well. If there is screwing up to be done, I'd rather have help.

Our declared goal was Burnt Island Lake. Burnt Island is a big lake, according to the map. We wouldn't know, though, since we really liked the very first site we looked at - and this site is about 300 m from the portage into the lake... But it had everything (except maybe firewood, but between them, Lee and James made full use of saw and hatchet on all the deadwood within a 10 minute paddle of the site...)

The storm the night before had ripped quite a few of the reds and burgundies off the trees, but there were still plenty of eye-popping colours out. There were also a lot of newly downed trees, like the one on the right, which was just behind our site.

Our site was on an island, but since the lake level of Burnt Island has already been dropped for the winter we managed to find our way off the island to explore the shore north of where we were. The bush that is not as easily accessed from a site has a dense understory and lots of downed wood - unlike our bare of anything burnable island... The bush also holds enough mysteries to creep Johanna out...

See... pretty... I love fall. The wind kept blowing all day, the skies cleared, and the temperatures dropped. But we had warm layers, and a fire, and Rebecca made the best dinner ever (pad thai on a camping trip!)

There was no moon, but we went for a sunset paddle all the same. The winds had completely died down by this point, the stars started coming out, and a loon watched us drift. It was fully quiet save for the bee-beep of my camera and the voices of another party - the crisp fall air carries sound far more effectively than summer's muggy atmosphere.

James had to get back to work, so he and Rebecca left first thing in the morning. I wasn't ready to end the weekend yet, so explored Littledoe Lake and tried to navigate to Tom Thompson, but my navigational skills just weren't up to it. Good thing, too - while we had lunch on Tepee Lake, the winds really picked up out of the south, and it was a tough slog across Canoe Lake to the access point.

A good little trip, I think. Nice colours, nice people, great dinner. In hindsight, maybe I'd rent a boat with a little less rocker - the Kipawa had a tough time when the wind was driving at us. But all in all, I was as satisfied with my gear as I was with my companions (Lee, I suspect, would rank his new barrel far above everything else, including the fall colours...). Now back to work...

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