Wednesday, August 31, 2022. Quetico, Cirrus, no-name, Beaverhouse, Quetico Lakes. 4 portages (360, 200, 710, and 200 meters) plus a 1200 meter walk to/from Beaverhouse parking for resupply. 12.5 miles total.

We were out of the tent and under a clear blue sky at 6:30. Saw a couple otters as we ate breakfast. It was a lazy morning, and was 9:00 before we got on the water. Portaged into Cirrus expecting to be back in strong winds, but it wasn't bad paddling. The portage out of the no-name into Beaverhouse appears to have been logging-related, and some maps show it continuing to the ranger station. It was flat, wide, smooth, and almost level—easy walking. The portage joins Beaverhouse in a narrow inlet where a bridge once stood; only the skeleton of pylons remains.

A short paddle up Beaverhouse took us to the parking lot trail. We beached our canoe near another couple boats , grabbed five days' trash and our empty food bags, and walked to the Outback for a resupply, our concession to aging that allows us to continue single-walking portages. At the parking lot we met an Ontario family of five doing their exit portages after a five-day trip. One asked if we had all our gear in the two packs in the canoe, and we explained that we had split our food and fuel into two five-day bags, but otherwise had everything in those two packs. He said they were on their third trip across the portage and couldn't believe that we could pack so light. Of course, they were eating fresh food and we dry our own meals, which can make major weight differences in food weight. After lunch at the parking lot we returned to the canoe with our food/fuel resupply and paddled down Beaverhouse to portage back into Quetico Lake.

In Monday's wind I swore I'd never paddle Quetico Lake again, but today's Quetico Lake is quite different, and I'm in love with the beautiful sky and smooth water. The light breeze we do have is at our backs as we paddle to the same island site where we huddled for two hours during Monday's winds. It's a lovely south-facing campsite with long smooth rock at water's edge. The five-person crew we met Sunday paddled by; we commiserated about Monday's paddling experiences. With camp set up, we have baths, rinse out clothes, fix afternoon drinks, and Tia catches her journal up while I set up the bear bag hang. There are more logging-era remnants in the campsite.