We were back on the water and continuing our way north on Smoothrock Lake by 10 AM. I turned back to get a departing shot of our lovely island home. 

There was a stiff wind from the southwest which was a helpful tailwind when the lake narrowed. However, when we had to make the crossings across the larger bays, the wind came at us sideways and the waves hit us broadside. This forced us to tack into the wind at these locations and prolong our progress north. We didn't mind all that much; the forest on either side of the lake was thick and the polished rocky outcrops made for a scenic paddle. 

We passed a couple of fellow canoe trippers heading south. They were on Day 6 of their trip and were working their way back to Armstrong from western areas of the park. They, too, were American. It seemed the park was more popular with Americans than Canadians, understandable given the proximity to Minnesota. 

The temperature was high, and by the time we approached the large northwestern bay where we had to veer to the northeast to get to Outlet Bay, we needed a break to swim and eat. There was a fairly recent burn on the large island and western shore at the southern part of that bay. 

Surprisingly, the wind wasn't too nasty out in the big bay, and we finally found a great little spot on an island in the middle of the bay to eat a couple of wraps and cool ourselves off with a swim.