"My trip report highlights that point as I was attempting to find the portage to Halliday out of Elizabeth."

that is a tricky one to find.  before you get to the very end of Elizabeth, look to your left shore for a really narrow dip - in high water, you could likley paddle in - the year we did that it was low water, and nothing much to point out the way except that everything else we looked at was wrong - it takes you to a smallish pond if I remember right, then you do the portage from that pond into Halliday (its not Eliz to Halliday).  The time we did it, we set a bunch of log rollers up and rolled the canoes into the little creek or bay for maybe 30 yards, it being too shallow and rocky to paddle.  And yes, the Halliday to Sturgeon portage was deep muckhole that year (2000) - I'd hope its been improved woth more corduroy since.