We left Hudson, Wisconsin around 10:30am and made our way to Ely. Checked into Adventure Inn and brought our sleeping/next day gear up to our room. We left the Inn and did some shopping in Ely. One of the women bought a new pair of mukluks. We had dinner at the Chocolate Moose and then went back to the Inn to review our maps. We hit the hay early so that we could get up early to head to Mudro.

We awoke to a pretty good rain storm. This would turn out to be a recurring theme for our trip. Nobody was prepared for this rain. It was a clear and calm night when we went to bed. We had our socks, shoes, and all kinds of camping equipment sitting out exposed.

As soon as we woke up, we put everything under the tarp (thankfully I hung a tarp as soon as we got to camp, even though there was not a cloud in the sky) and tried to stay out of the rain ourselves.

It stopped raining a couple hours after we woke up. We got around to making breakfast, hung everything got wet and talked about what we were going to do that day. Turns out that we didn't do much of anything. Mostly sat around camp and did some exploring. Some of our group got out and did some fishing. Some of us hiked the trails around camp. Canoed out to the rock islands. The younger kids put on the life jackets and swam out to the islands while I canoed with them. Good times. Relaxing. It was fairly windy so the fishing was tough.

Jordan started to get a little bored the 2nd day at camp so I lightened up on him and told him he could play with the lego set that he brought. He was in the tent for a while playing legos. I wanted to find a balance of making him camp and come up with things to do on his own along with letting him do what he wanted. I didn't want him to come away hating his experience because he was bored the whole time.

We went to bed a little more prepared the 2nd night. Good thing too because it stormed again.  

This was the day of our daytrip to Basswood Falls. Woke up and it was very calm so we figured this was the time to go. Ate a quick breakfast and got ready to go. We weren't sure how long it would take us so we wanted to get going.

Went north on Fourtown and due to a navigational error, we went too far north. It took us about an hour longer than it should've to find our first portage. Almost decided to just go back to camp, but didn't. Found the first portage, then paddled a little, took the 2nd portage and found our way to Horse Lake. Crossed Horse Lake and made our way to Horse River. Water was running pretty slowly. Had to pull over in a couple areas where the river narrowed and there were too many rocks.

Portages were all very easy. The first portage was lined with boards and was kind of neat to walk through. Kept going down the river and made it to Basswood Falls in about 3 hours including our little detour. Ahead of schedule so that was nice, especially considering the four people that went. It was myself, Mike (26 years old), my son (6 yo) and his cousin Nick (13 yo).

The Falls weren't as great as I thought they would be, but it was still worth the trip. We spent about an hour at the Falls. Ate lunch, did a little swimming. Jordan thought it was pretty cool that we were in Canada. Took some great pictures by the Falls.

Started the paddle back and as soon as we got to the river we realized it was going to be a lot harder paddle back against the wind. The wind really got funneled by the river and it seemed like we were barely moving. It really sucked. Eventually got out of the river and onto Horse Lake.

I was kind of worried about the waves once we got out on Horse. From the little bay when we got out of the river, we could see white caps. Considering the inexperience of all of us in big waves I was concerned. I didn't want to show it and get Jordan scared so we just kept pushing. I just told myself that even if we tipped, we have no gear, the water is warm, the sun is shining and nobody will get hurt. It will just be a big inconvenience. Had it been May or October I would have been worried.

Waves were probably two to three foot rollers. Not bad as long as we kept ourselves aligned right into the waves. The canoe was about 17 feet long with a lot of weight in it so it wasn't as bad as I thought it would be. Last year we had a twelve foot canoe that did not handle well in waves. This was much different. Turned out to be a lot of fun in the waves and wind. Only downside was that it was tiring. Probably a mile or so across the middle of Horse.

The rest of the trip was uneventful. Made it back to camp around dinnertime.

As soon as we got back to camp, the others told us that the weather radio said there was a great chance of big storms and lots of rain Saturday night. We made the decision to leave Saturday morning instead of Sunday morning to make sure we didn't get windbound or have to leave in a downpour and thunderstorm. It was mostly a unanimous decision. A couple people wouldn't have minded staying, but with the kids and grandpa, they knew it was probably best to play it safe. For me, after that long trip, I was ready to leave the next day as well. One thing I learned is that for a basecamping trip, three nights is enough for me.

Jordan did great again. I was worried that he wouldn't like the long daytrip with all of the portaging. He whined a little, but for the most part did great. He almost fell asleep on the long paddle back. I had to keep reminding him to drink water because it was a warm day and I didn't want him to get dehydrated. When we got back to camp we ate dinner and then I told him he could play in the tent if he wanted. I figured he had a long day and did great, so he could do what he wanted.  

Woke up to another beautiful day. A little windy again, but the longest portion of the paddle out was the short trip across Fourtown. Not much to say about the trip out except that when we got to the portage with the steep rock face, someone in our group decided that we should just pull the canoes (gear included) up the small rapids so we didn't have to carry everything up the steep face.

I didn't want to cause an issue with the older guys by disagreeing since it wasn't that big of a deal, but it turned out to be a really bad idea. The water was about four feet deep in spots with lots of rocks and boulders. Someone could have easily gotten an ankle caught and either twisted or broken something. The older guys walked the portage while us younger folk pulled the canoes up the river. Not something I would ever do again. Got a pretty good gash in my shin from one of the rocks. At least it will be a scar to remember the trip by!

We were pretty tired and happy when we got to the EP. Got everything loaded and made our way to Ely. Talked to a bearded fellow that was in for 14 days. They were waiting for their outfitter to come pick them up. Said they were from Colorado if I remember right. If you are a member of this site say hey!

Ate a BIG lunch at DQ, felt like crap and we all made the drive home. Most everybody slept the whole drive back to Mankato so I cranked up the radio and relaxed. All in all, it was a great trip, great memories, and a lot of fun. Not sure if we will ever take a big family trip like that again though. Hard to organize and plan, and with that many different personalities, it was tough sometimes, but I'm still glad we did it.