Joel & Blake arrive early enough that we can all make it to Mass together later this evening at Holy Spirit parish in Virginia. Father Brandon also has a BWCA trip planned (and will enter a day after us) so, his homiletic remarks about taking the time to appreciate the natural beauty in the smallest details is a most appropriate spiritual send off.

I hadn’t purchased any beer for this trip but, Joel insists we grab some so, I grab my growlers and we head over to the Boathouse in Ely to have them filled with some blueberry blonde while we sit down and have supper.

Back at the hacienda, we get the canoes loaded on our vehicles and finalize getting the packs properly situated for ‘hopefully’ only having to double portage. We want to get an early start tomorrow morning so it’s early to bed.