reyn,
Brought up a good point, I think ALL paddlers should have a map/copy of the route. Besides having another set of eye(s) looking for portages/picto/campsites isn't a bad idea. It also gets Newbies involved.
I don't like riding in a car in a area I don't know when I have no reference in my head of where I'm at.
I've mentioned it before, but I always have my permits before I hit Beaverhouse. I leave my route with Park HQ in Atikokan, and if I can, I check in at BH ranger station.
You can usually work your way up the north shoreline to Q, and IF you get wind bound, there are some nice sites close to portage on west end of BH. You can also spend time fishing the spill out from the Q river while waiting for the wind to die down.
Last trip BH ranger told me when checking back in before take-out, that she had too rescue 4 people who dumped trying to make it across.
BH from the north end of Turtle Island to the ranger station, is much shallower than you may think. The wind out of west or east puts a big chop on this shallow section, more than a few paddlers have found out the hard way