There wasn't a cloud in the sky, and whatever haze we were experiencing the previous day had blown away over the night. 

It wasn't long before J.P. and Scott were also up and joining us for coffee. I rehydrated some eggs and heated up some pre-cooked bacon for breakfast, which we enjoyed in a wrap. I always like to throw a little ketchup in there, as well, to give the wrap a little je ne sais quoi. C'est magnifique!  

We weren't aiming to go far that day and only had one portage to contend with, so we took our time breaking camp. We got on the water shortly after 9:30, and I took my customary photo of the campsite upon departure. 

We paddled out through the southwestern corner of Iceland Lake toward the portage through the tree-studded,  rocky narrows of its many islands. It was lovely. 

The 280-meter trail leading out of Iceland was easy and went up at a slight incline. It was a wide and well-worn trail that appeared to get heavy use. 

We understood why when we emerged at the put-in; an armada of fishing boats dotted the landscape. 

There was even a dock. I guessed that there were some fishing lodges in the area that used the trail frequently by accessing the area from the road into Iceland Lake. 

As we started paddling the narrows that would lead us into Driftwood Lake, the wind began to pick up, and there would be periodic gusts that would slow us down somewhat. This did not bode well, as it was still early in the day; in my experience, typically, if the wind was picking up by mid-morning, it would often be howling by mid-afternoon. 

As we entered Driftwood Lake, I wanted to check out the site on the point where the narrows meet the bay. We discovered that the pair of ladies who passed our island site the day before had made it their home for the evening. They were just breaking camp and were getting ready to start paddling themselves. We said hi again and chatted for a moment as we passed by in our canoes. The site looked to be a nice one. 

It was a bit of a gusty crossing on Driftwood as we made our way to the outlet at the western side of the bay. The lush forest and many back bays sprouting from the lake's central bay made Driftwood Lake quite scenic.

The long narrows between Driftwood and Wasaksina made for an interesting paddle. The passage was shallow, weedy, and log-choked in many places. Scott and I wet our line for a bit along the way in the hope of reeling in a pike, but we were taking weeds off our lures on nearly every cast. We did manage to tap into a couple of bass at a wider and deeper spot on the river as we rounded a point, but the wind kept blowing us from our spot, so we didn't stay long. 

As we got closer to Wasaksina, the river widened considerably, and the wind became quite formidable. Two large islands were protecting the mouth of the river from the large central bay of the lake. We were experiencing strong winds, even on the leeward side of those islands, so we knew that the main part of the lake would be trouble, indeed.

The problem was that there weren't any campsites marked on our map behind those islands and in that back bay. The closest one on the map was on the windward side of the largest of the two islands, facing the bay. We would try to head for that one.

Unfortunately, I misread where we were on the map, and Scott and I went around the wrong island to look for the site. Out on the windward side, we were in sizeable whitecaps, some of which were coming up over the gunwales of the canoe. We reversed our position and made for the opposite island. It was a tough slog making our way around the headland of that island; we had to paddle further out into the bay, and then tack directly back toward the site with the wind directly at our backs to prevent the whitecaps from slamming into us sideways. 

In the end, once we beached our canoes safely on shore, we discovered that we were rewarded for our efforts because the site was a gem. It was the best of the four nice sites that we would have on the trip. It was a large site on a point that sloped down to the water under a canopy of pine and spruce. The front of the site had a lovely rocky front porch overlooking the expanse of the lake and offered incredible swimming. The firepit was high on a cliff with views to the north, west, and south. Even though it was early in the day, we were pretty much windbound, and it took only a microsecond to decide to stay.

Despite the wind, it was incredibly hot and muggy. We made some lunch and had a swim in the crashing waves. The boys set up their tents, but I decided to hold off setting up the hammock for a bit. I found two nice trees down by the water that I wanted to use, but I was waiting until later when the wind subsided; the location was exposed to the wind coming off the lake, and I didn't want my hammock to be bouncing around all afternoon. It was just as well, since the wind only got stronger by mid-afternoon. 

It was a great day to putter about and just enjoy being on a northern lake with no one else in sight. We did spot the pair of ladies come in behind us when we first arrived and inch their way forward between our island and the western shore in the wind, but they continued west through the narrows and beyond. We swam a number of times, gathered a bunch of firewood, and hung out on the site. 

By late afternoon, the wind slowed down somewhat, and I put up my hammock close to the front of the site. 

A weather check on my ZOLEO device showed that we had a strong chance of rain coming in around 9PM, so we decided to put up the tarp just in case.

We were happy that it was unnecessary, however; the rain never materialized. 

As the sun got lower in the sky, the wind tapered off, and we happily enjoyed an adult beverage or two gazing out at our beautiful surroundings. 

We made dinner and discovered Scott's love for pre-packaged, freeze-dried meals; so much so that he earned the moniker, The Rehydrator! 

After dinner, we took our chairs down to the rocks to watch the sun go down. We were treated to a gorgeous sunset over the western shore of Wasaksina Lake. 

We were hoping the wind would continue enough to keep the bugs at bay, but it died off and the little b@$T^#ds emerged shortly after sunset. 

We called it a night and retreated to our shelters, but not before we heard the unmistakable distant mating call of the Deficient Temagami Moose (Gloo, gloo...).