There is a slight wind ripple on the water so the furry head cutting along the surface might be an otter or a beaver. I can’t tell for sure until he dives and punctuates the descent with a loud smack of his tail.  That’s a beaver alright and he doesn’t seem real happy with our being this close.

We are out in the kayaks on the Little Pic River that runs right along the campground in route to Superior.  We cross under the rail and road bridges so traffic noise nags us a little but there are lovely quiet spells when bird song is all we can hear.  Current is slow and winds light so paddling is easy, until we get to the gravel bars about 2 miles up river.  After a little creative zigzagging we have to call it quits and head back down river.  Just beyond the camp launch we can stick our noses out onto Lake Superior but we don’t go far.  Even today’s light winds build considerable swells on this end of the lake.  We pull the kayaks and head out for some land based exploration.