Day 8, Tuesday, August 13 I awoke at 5:15 to a bazillion mosquitos hovering around the tent. Feeling uninspired to invite myself outside into their party, I rolled over and dozed a bit. At 5:59 they suddenly all flew to where mosquitoes go during the day. Works for me. After a breakfast of pan-fried bagels with the mold removed (Mmmmm!) we looked at the maps, broke camp and launched at 9am. The teens took off for the portage down lake and Tony and I followed fishing occasionally for bass. Mark and Judy lagged behind trolling for the elusive August lake trout. At the outlet at far end of the lake Tony and I hit a honey hole of bass. Laughing we reeled them in, one after another, the daddy of them all the size of Tony’s paddle blade. Anxious to make ground through the day’s portages, the kids paddled back while we were fishing, and fussed politely (Ok, somewhat politely) about Mark and Judy being so far behind, so we sent them into McEwen Creek with direction to wait for us at Glacier Lake. We continued with our fishing extravaganza while we waited. The final bass count at 37 and all still swimming in the lake growing larger for the next fisherman. When Mark and Judy finally showed up we discovered that Mark had landed a fat 30 inch Lake Trout and even had the photos to prove it. We followed the kids into McEwen Creek and portaged into Glacier Lake where we had lunch at small campsite with a steep landing. Even the kids had to admit that Mark’s prize fish was a valid excuse for the delay. We finished the afternoon with portages and paddles through Turn, Edge, and into Rod where we settled on a cozy campsite at the far end near the portage back into McEwen Creek. It was a great day of paddling through pretty small lakes and winding along the creek. We had negotiated seven portages total today (two lined). Zach, Sammy and Ryan were portaging rock stars and the parents tagged along behind stalling and tossing in a line when we could. The tent spots were snug for three tents but the fire area on the end of a little peninsula had a great view and we enjoyed watching the soft light of sunset play on the lake and distant trees as we munched our dessert of pan-baked brownies. The solitude of this area added to the peacefulness we felt and we realized we hadn’t seen any other travelers since we left the crowds at the Falls Chain three days earlier. We apparently left the rain and bugs behind us as well and we are just living the Quetico dream of clear skies, tailwinds, few bugs, abundant fish, and good company.