Our group is accustomed to an early to mid-June trip, but this year family commitments intervened, so we used the opportunity to give September a shot. I’ve heard so many good things about September tripping (no crowds or bugs), but they were tempered a bit by thoughts of cooler temps, shorter days (i.e. less time spent on the water), and uncertain fishing (would we hit the dreaded lake turnover?). Either way, it was new to us, and that’s part of the adventure, right? We wanted to get back into Quetico Park after our foray into Woodland Caribou last year, with the shorter drive and some unexplored areas of Quetico being the most compelling things in our decision. I had always wanted to check out northwestern Quetico, specifically the Beaverhouse entry, to get into Jean, Quetico and Burntside Lakes. Knowing this is a much-traveled thoroughfare, I thought fall might be the time to go there, with the smaller crowds of September. Group size was limited to 6 for us once we selected a boat shuttle across the border and a car-ride from LLC to Beaverhouse. The shuttle was not able to take more than 6, and once Pete committed to come (even less than a month after his wedding!) from El Paso, TX, the team was set.