When I awoke at 5:15 AM, the first rays of light were upon me and the moon was still up to the south. A fine mist was rising from the lake. Sublime.

I walked down to the lake, pot in hand to get water for my morning coffee, and spotted the most massive snapping turtle I have ever seen. And I've seen a lot! This behemoth was floating just four feet off the rocks at the front of my site, nose above the surface and watching me. I froze. Neither one of us moved for 30 seconds or so. 

I didn't have my camera in hand and very much wanted a photo of this ancient and massive creature. I took one tentative step backwards in an effort to retrieve it and with that slow and deliberate movement on my part, the turtle dived into the darkness of the lake with remarkable speed for such a seemingly lumbering beast. Wow! Snappers can live up to 70 years. I am willing to bet that fellow was at least 50. Maybe he was even older than I was! I very much regretted getting greedy for the photo. As grateful as I was for his visit, I would have liked to spend more time with him. I should have just watched him longer without moving. I retrieved my camera anyway in the hope that he would come back for another visit. I sat by the lake for a good ten minutes or so, but he never resurfaced. 

I was on the water and loaded for bear by 7:30 AM after some oatmeal and coffee. I took the following shot of Wetasi Island from the north side of it as I sliced through the calm morning water.  

I was paddling around the south of Emerald Island in no time and soon heading northeast across Pickerel Lake. The conditions were perfect in the early morning calm. 

What a difference it was crossing the north end of Pickerel Lake in calmer conditions! I covered the same distance in half the time compared to what I had done 10 days earlier. By 8:45, I Pickerel Lake was all but behind me and I was heading into the Nym River toward Stanton Bay. 

At 9:10 AM, I was approaching my final take-out. In ten days, I had covered 193 kilometres through beautiful Quetico wilderness. 11 of those kilometres was carrying my canoe and gear from water to water, each location seemingly more beautiful than the last. It's an incredibly rewarding feeling to have propelled oneself on such a journey.  

On the final 470-meter portage to the parking lot, I chatted with an American couple in their late 70s who were heading into the park for a week of exploring Pickerel Lake. They mentioned that they had been coming to Quetico for decades. They said they were now past the point of doing long portage trips into the interior, but it made me smile and very happy to know and see that this couple was still able to enjoy this stunning wilderness location well into their senior years. I can only hope that my health will allow me to do the same when I reach their age. It was a fantastic sentiment on which to end the trip. 

I was on the road shortly following that and stopped for a pizza pie in Thunder Bay for lunch. I overnighted in the Sault and was home the following day by mid-afternoon.