I woke early again while it was still a little dark, so I spent some time boiling water for some peppermint tea, as well as filled all our sawyers. The combination of the fresh fish and alcohol (but mostly the alcohol) had my stomach turning. We decided to break camp later in the morning again, as we were all losing steam and our hardest day was ahead of us.    We broke camp at 1030 and made our way to the easiest, and the only marked portage of the day into Thumb. Once we got to Thumb lake we made our way to the old Contentment Lake portage. If you hug the muggy beaver area to the right you can make it to a little overgrown landing pad on the left hand side. I got out of the canoe and walked the portage to Contentment. It was easier than I could have ever imagined and resembled the unmarked portage into Fat. Overgrown branches, few downed trees, and a collapsed rock cliff blocked the path. We single portaged to Contentment lake and only had to remove one dead tree to make it through.   Contentment wasn’t anything miraculous but it was amazing to be in a spot that not many people traveled to. I got out my satellite maps and began looking for the cove we would take to reach Brigand. The area we chose was very murky and thick with mud, but we managed to find a good spot to pull the canoes up. We stayed to the left of the old creek bed and began our trek through the woods. The plan was to walk to Brigand first and find the path of least resistance. Our initial idea was to go high to the left and follow the ridge down to Brigand, but after making our way over there with a lot of difficulty, we decided to find a better path on the way back. Luckily there was a decent moose trail to follow along the edge of the swamp, less than 20 feet from where we had pulled into shore. We saw a lot of fresh moose tracks and droppings which had me very hopeful we would see one in that area.    This is where our worst mistake of the trip, and most costly, would occur. Optimistic as we were for making great time, we were also a little arrogant and decided to single portage instead of double portage like we had intended to do all through the PMA. The plan was for Drew and Donnie to go through first and I would keep close to help them squeeze through any tight spots, just like how we did things at Contentment. We made it through almost the entire portage and were getting to the last swampy bit when Donnie got his foot stuck in some deep mud. I had my 50ish pound gear pack on my back and the extras bag on my front which weighed about 40-45 pounds at this point. In my rush to help free Donnie from the mud, I jumped off a boulder into the soft swamp grass and twisted the ever-loving shit out of my left ankle. Rolled it so bad I could see the bottom of my foot as it rolled. After I face planted and laid in searing agony for a few minutes, I got up and pushed through the pain for the last 50 yards of the portage. The boys went back for the gear I had dropped and we managed to get ourselves into the canoes and onto Brigand Lake.    Brigand Lake was just breath taking. The thought that I was at a place that few have been to in the past 50 years was awe-inspiring. The wind had picked up significantly, starting to reach a point where it would be dangerous to cross, and with my ankle throbbing, we just pushed hard to get across. Looking back I really wish we would have just slowed the heck down and thought to get a rod into either of those lakes. The water was clear and looked like it would have been great for bass and pike. As we made our way to the point I picked for us to enter, I saw something huge moving on the shore 30 yards ahead of us. We barely got a glimpse but Drew and I saw a moose! I saw the rear end, signaled to Drew that there was an animal ahead, and he caught a look at the front quarter. The speed and silence that moose moved off was a little frightening. I expected to hear it crashing through the woods but it slinked off very quietly. We hung by the shore for a good half hour making plenty of noise so that we could avoid a run-in with the moose.    We searched for a good path to Pageant for an hour the first time over. I carried my fishing bag and the extras bag, the boys carried their packs. After barely getting through the nightmare forest the first time, the boys told me to hang tight and wait for them to come back with the single canoe. I nursed my twisted ankle as best as I could while I waited, elevating it and then throwing 3 neoprene socks on it for extra support. Once the boys got back with my pack and the single canoe, the decision was to load me in the single and send me down to the campsite to start dinner while they went back for the last canoe. It was closing in on 5pm and we were all starving and scraped up from our adventure through the true backwoods.   I made my way to the campsite, collected firewood, got all the water bags filled, and started our chicken dinner. I made chicken with gravy, mashed potatoes, and stuffing (only requires water and some light fluffing!). The boys made record time their third go and joined me around 6, right as dinner was finishing up. I was alternating soaking my ankle in the freezing water and keeping it elevated. It was starting to get very purple and the swelling was getting scary. I wasn’t able to put a whole lot of weight on it, which would be problematic as we had a 2-3 mile trek down the Sioux-Hustler Trail the following day. We had to decide what we would do. We discussed trying to find someone to call the Beaver in. That was something I wanted to avoid at all costs as I wasn’t sure what insurance would cover. I knew we had to make our way down the trail and try to get out. That night I lay in agony. There was no wind, it was way too warm, and the site was super buggy and the constant hum of mosquitos was driving me crazy. We decided to sleep in a triangle and hang out food packs from our hammocks, as there really were no options for a good tree around the site. This attracted a very persistent ground squirrel that also impeded sleep. It was a sleepless, painful night that my tincture nor any alcohol consumption could numb.