Day 11. Sat., July 23

Which features a pair of long portages and a drink.

9:45 PM          57°09’17” N, 75°40’05” W

Sipping a scotch to calm my nerves. I’m not yet quite despairing over keeping to schedule, but there hasn’t been a day yet that I’ve felt completely good about my progress.

Today I felt exhausted upon waking up … another poor night of sleep. I can’t understand it considering the wringer I’m putting my body through. I should be comatose. OK, admittedly a leaky mattress and a day of mostly idleness must have contributed, but still. Tonight I held off on both my decaf tea and my usual two little squares of chocolate, and I poured a full whiskey shot for the first time this trip to relax.

I’d planned to do three long portages today. I managed two. For the first, the straight kilometer eastward I mentioned last entry, the route led past a trickling waterway with wide, brushy banks above. I took the boat up one side but realized as I was dragging that the other side was looking easier. Possibly suffering from brush-is-greener syndrome, I carried my gear up the other bank and crossed by hopping boulders to get to the boat. In retrospect, I don’t know which side would have been the better move.

The second long portage led northeastward for about a mile along a string of pools. I was able to paddle and line some of it, though the transitions from one method to another took time, as always. Luckily the day had grown sunny, and the warmth helped compensate my mood for the marshy sections.

Both long portages took longer than I’d expected, again. By the time I spotted my route up yet another brief portage I said, Enough, I camp here.

I count three portages to go till l reach Minto: one long and two short. Hope to do them early tomorrow and still have time to get up the lake aways, as the wind is supposed to kick again Monday. I really can’t afford to lose any more days to weather, but I’m just starting to feel like my swollen left hand is normal again after fighting the wind all day Thursday. It’s been losing feeling fairly often. I need to stay healthy.