Well...back from Trout Lake, which is another story.  I'll finish this one first  ;)

After dinner I paddled over to see what the other guys had managed for campsites.  I found everyone at Kingfisher's site having an evening drink and joined them.  Kingfisher explained that first they found a site for their tent, then opened up a little area near shore for a fire.  I asked Paddlemaker if he had been having "fun".  Earlier in the day he had on a full pair of pants but now he was sporting one leg at shorts length and the other at capri length; they had been ripped off him in the portage over the ridge as they crashed through the woods  ;D
I asked Stumpy if he knew this lake was "such a lovely spot"  :-?  He inthought about it a moment and asked "do you really think it is lovely".  I answered that I did not.  He was disapointed too and very apologetic for it not being as nice a lake as it looked like it could be on the PCD photos.
Day five everyone was paddling around exploring the lake and/or fishing.  Dan and Mike happened on a bull moose about to cross the channel and had a "near moose experience" as it crossed in front of them instead of turning back into the woods.  KF and PM fished hard and found a couple deep spots in the lake, but had no luck in catching anything.  Both KF and PM as well as Stumpy and Jim made long forays into the woods behind our island, in the direction of Louisa to see how the going would be to leave in that direction; also hoping to intercept Magic Paddler and make his trail a bit easier should he be coming in.
Late in the afternoon Hexnymph and his band of merry men showed up; if I have it correctly they came in from a creek NE of the lake.  After doing the requisite paddle around the lake looking for a site they settled on an open but steep ridge across from our island site.  We had looked at that too but decided there wasn't enough level area...somehow they managed to make do.
We made a plan to meet at our island site for a get together that evening and after dinner everyone showed up to visit and exchange notes on our routes.  Hex and his group dressed up in button down shirts and TIES  ;D for the big event.  We passed the bottle and reviewed maps until after dark.  Stumpy told us the origin of his nickname and when he left sang O Danny Boy (almost good enough for American Idol) as they disappeared in the darkness.  We watched one set of headlamps wander about the lake in the dark and decided it was KF and PM fishing again.  They confessed later that they were a bit lost in finding their way back to camp  ;)
Day six we all packed up and headed out, going our respective ways.  Hex and his group headed NW to Louisa.  KF and PM got going early, heading back the way we had come in.  Uncle Moose, Stumpy, Jim, Dan, Mike and I all headed out the way we had come in and were out onto Sheridan by mid-day.  We were kind of spread out over the route but all came together on Sheridan and stopped for lunch before moving on.
UM decided to stay on Sheridan.  My group portaged into Carp and went NE to a nice site near the Emerald Lake portage.  We were going to see Emerald the next day but after all that portaging the day before, we were lazy and never did leave the campsite the following day.
Day eight we headed back toward Birch Lake with a nice tail wind.  At the Carp portage there was a ton of people coming and going so finishing the portage took a while.  We arrived at the Birch Lake island early in the day and enjoyed a nice sunny leisure afternoon.  About dinner time it clouded up and by dark we were in a driving rainstorm...the rest of the story is at the beginning of my narration on this thread.
As always it is great to meet fellow avid campers out in the bush and make new friends in person.  If I am still able I will be along for the 2015 BWR  :D