Thanks QP I have got all of that down.

My estimations have been known too not be to far off.  On a trip recently I estimated arriving on McKenzie late in the afternoon of the first day in the park. We actually got there early afternoon ….. the next day. Oh well.

Yes I enjoy a good bushwhack and have fond memories of them.
MagicPaddler

MP
I have always been a frame pack guy.  My old Camp Trails has made many trips into the Q.  I also have an internal frame pack and I to like the comfort of how it fits on my back while portaging.  Only issue I've had with the external pack is it will scratch the canoe and it is harder to get in and out of the canoe.  What I really like about frame packs are the compartments, saves digging for those little things when you need them.  Food is an issue in these packs it is harder to pack in smaller areas.  But, I usually pack freeze dried and smaller type foods from the grocery.  
I did find this year on a river trip I took, that if you take a freeze dried pouch and poke a hole in it, then put it in a ziplock freezer vac bag it saves a ton of space.  We would put everything in one bag for that meal then vac it down.  
Take a look at this site (You need to Login or Register to view media files and links) they have monthly deals and the hamburger is fantastic with those hamburger helper meals.

qp

All of the packs do have hip belts.  The most expensive, newest and with the most adjustments is the most uncomfortable.  The weight does sag down more in the 2 non frame packs than the frame pack.

Mad Mat raises the most critical weakness, for me, of the frame pack. If big enough to hold much gear, the external frame packs don't fit in the canoe very well. And I have several external frame packs and use them often -- for other purposes.

Tim

Long before I added north country canoeing to my slate of outdoor activities, I'd given away all of my external frame packs and gone to internal frame models.  For me, they offered the advantage of being closer to your body and less likely to tip you if your center of balance is not exactly right.

It was a lucky choice for me in that the internal frame packs seem to form to the shape of a canoe more easily than an external frame.  Furthermore, since I mostly paddle solo, they more easily fit into a solo canoe hull.  Generally, my objective is to have minimal (to no) pack profile above the gunwale line.  An external frame fits in very nicely in this context.

My most recent set of pack purchases have been along the lines of an internal frame pack, but with "waterproof" exteriors. 

Yes, admittedly, I have to dig to the bottom of the pack for certain things, but then I don't have exterior pockets to snag on things while loading/unloading or portaging.

dd