With only a few short portages to go, a broken portage yoke, and another day of cloudy skies, we decided our sixth day in the interior would be our last. We were only minutes from Cedar Lake and the crossing to Brent, so we decided to do a little exploring and try some more trout fishing.

In our haste to make it to the interior six days earlier, we hadn't taken the time to appreciate the opportunities for exploring and climbing along the Petawawa rapids cascading down to Cedar Lake. On this day, we had no agenda and were in no particular hurry, so we dallied about the rapids for some time.

As for the fishing, there were several ospreys circling above Cedar that were having no more apparent success than us! We paddled and hiked back up the Nippissing in hopes that the trout would be in the river by now, but all we saw were black ducks, about a dozen roughed grouse, and a chipmunk, which was happy to share an afternoon snack with us.

We soon headed back to Brent, and complained mildly to Jake about the rental gear. He cursed the canoe manufacturer for such a poor design on the yoke, but offered little further condolence.

As we drove down the narrow logging road back to the highway, we spotted our second bald eagle. We were able to photo it from a distance, but it was extremely nervous, and we were not able to get any closer due to its movement and the poor lighting. We were excited nonetheless. When we informed the park ranger of our sighting earlier on Catfish, she was pleased to hear it. Apparently, the eagles hadn't been known to live in the park for several decades, so our sightings were an indication that there may be nesting pairs in Algonquin once again!

While the trip had been challenging because of the weather and equipment problems, it had been more productive for wildlife photography than any of the previous four trips I've made. We couldn't help feeling that Algonquin had given us the bald eagle to beckon us back for years to come.