Had great company, dd!  Very fine fellows including Matunik, whom you know.

I had a 70 year-old park newbie paddling in the bow of my canoe.  He did great on those portages and mostly fine on the water with only a couple of exceptions.  He dozed off taking impromptu unannounced naps.  One such time when I wasn't watching closely enough, he dropped his paddle while we were trolling on Russell Lake.  We had to paddle a quarter mile back to retrieve it.  The second issue was more my fault.  I attempted to paddle up the small set of rapids that you encounter just before you reach the long portage connecting Oliphaunt to Fern Lake.  While Matunik & his 60+ year old paddling partner (wisely) lined it upstream, I talked my partner into "going for the gusto".  BAD MOVE.  Despite the fact that my partner teaches canoe safety & rescue back in New Jersey, for the first time EVER, I managed to flip a fully loaded canoe.  We just didn't have the horsepower.

Oh well.  The water was warm & we didn't lose a thing... except our pride, maybe.  Matunik was laughing so hard & so much more interested in taking photos of us that it was ten minutes or more before they got around to our "rescue"!

The guys had a great attitude & we had a wonderful trip.  I hope your venture into WCP next week goes equally well!

Later,

Jimbo   8-)