Last day of the trip. Mesaba, Hug, Duck, Zenith, Lujenida, Kelso, Alton and back to Sawbill. The portage out of Mesabe to Hug was a little bit of a climb but not too bad. Duck Lake is shallow and full of lily pads to the point where is was a very slow paddle. The portage out of Duck was a little hard to find.  The map made it look like it was on the west side of the creek. There is also a false landing with a path visible from the water away that fooled us. The path ended about 20 yards in and we had to turn around that get back on the water.  We eventually found the real portage on the east side of the creek. The path crossed the creek right away and the rest of the portage is on the west side of the creek, just like the map says, it's just the landing that is mis-marked.  Other than that, it was another manageable climb up to Zenith, a short paddle acros Zenith and on to the long portage to Lujenida. This one looks alot like a state park hiking trail - wide, well maintained, stairs in some places, even a rest area on the side where you can set down the canoe and gear and not block the path. It seemed like this would be an easy, if not long portage. Then we hit the south 50 rods. A swampy section had flooded and the board walks were floating in several feet of water. We had to load gear in the canoe and walk it down to firm ground. Then we hit the landing a Lujenida. It looked like the lake had dropped a foot or two leaving a mud flat between the end of the trail and the water. No choice but to slog through knee deep mud.  That was the last challenge of the trip. The paddle through Lujenida, the Kelso river and Kelso lake was pretty easy. We went through Alton and spent some time fishing for smallmouth but no luck. Back at Sawbill by 3 for a shower and a cold one.  Overall, it was a great trip with plenty of challenge, great scenery, decent fishing and spectacular stargazing. My nephew is hooked and we will be back again soon.