Up at 5:30am this morning, ate, packed camp, loaded canoes and started paddling at 8am. This was getting to be a routine. After paddling for an hour and having several discussions among ourselves about where we were on the map, we were fortunate to run into a group of fishermen in canoes coming up from Cache Bay. Well, they knew were they were and it turned out we camped almost 2 miles past Deadman's Portage. So, we backtracked to our campsite and then a good deal further against the wind. No fun, that! Still, we made it through three of the Falls Chain portages. We found that approaching a waterfall from upriver is a worrisome and serious business … thoughts of the river pulling the canoe into the cataract are very sobering. The portages were hard, but bearable, and we are all better conditioned by now (plus the food packs are getting lighter). As we entered the falls chain, the forests on the north and west are burned out, leaving straight, gray poles where trees once stood for mile after mile. We found a nice campsite on a small lake smack-dab in the middle of the Falls Chain in the early afternoon and set up camp with our tents on relatively soft soil for a change. Clouds are building in the southwest as the Scouts break out their fishing gear and, as we have some extra time to kill, everyone gets some R&R. Craig S. catches a few fish, but all are too small to keep. Jerry C. caught a smallmouth bass, a keeper of about two pounds. Just before we started dinner, those clouds caught up with us. A gust front preceding a strong thunderstorm marched across the lake right at us. Clothes and gear went flying everywhere as we gathered stuff up and stowed it. Across the lake (about ¼ mile), burned trees were cracking and falling, sounding like gunshots. Lots of trees went down, but fortunately none on our side. We all ended up in our tents during the short, 20-minute rainstorm, until the sun came out making it hot and sticky. The black flies appeared in force, making everyone load up on repellent (and they were still biting). After the storm, Jerry C. cleaned and boiled his fish and he shared it with everyone as an appetizer. It turned out great ... real meat for a change. The bear bags went up with much less than the usual struggle tonight, we're getting the hang of it. Just as we finish getting it up, the Canadian national bird (really, the mosquitoes are big enough!) swarmed us and we climbed into the tents for the night.