I remember even back in the late seventies and early eighties August was a terrible month to find decent campsites all the way to LLC. As I was coming out the Friday of Memorial weekend on Little Indian Souix it was the same way... Group after group of people coming in expecting to camp on the lakes closest in. I always plan to make it in quite a ways during those busiest times. You'd be surprized the people that don't go in any farther than those initial lakes... The BWCA is not a place to go in most cases to find the solitude you might expect in most places. But the early and late times of the year can be good. Seeing people doesn't bother me as much as what the impact we have on the land. I think the forest service does a pretty good job controlling that. I suppose they could reduce the number of permits they issue, but I think the outfitter business might suffer a bit from that... So I would hope they wouldn't come down to hard on people that "had to" bushwack a campsite like in your case. People like me probably screw up their permit numbers by staying out there a long time, and traveling distances where I'm still legal, but in areas where they don't plan on me being... if that makes any sence.