I enjoy Quetico trips primarily for the fishing and I enjoy moving from lake to lake for change of scenery and fishery (ie I do not want to base camp).  I have done Quetico trips in the past and this year did my first fly-in outpost cabin - I enjoyed the fishing, wilderness, and camping more in Quetico.

HOWEVER, for those of us with precious little vacation time (me), those of with medical limitations that make portages even more difficult (other family members of mine), and we limited on our trip routes and how remote we can get into the park (even when we use ultra-light outfitted packages). 

We have in years past explored guide options.  What we really want is more of a "sherpa" - ideally our family members would be in the same canoes together, while another canoe of "sherpas" paddles ahead to set up camp, dinner, cleaning, and the heavy lifting on portages.  This would afford our group the opportunity to more effectively utilize the very limited time we have to spend together in a given year.

Money is not a problem for this group and we really Quetico wilderness over other high-quality fishing options (ie, fly-in/outpost/lodge). 

I have done some searching and heard of a few options - LLC First Nation is one - I'm not even sure if they are still licensed to operate, but I dont like the idea of the motors and live bait.  Has anyone heard of any other options? 

Please only constructive replies...I dont want to hear about "portages are part of the experiences" or "pack lighter" or "base camp".  I've done plenty of portages, we already pack light (we used ultralight outfitting packages), and we are not interested in basecamping.

I'll do it.  I have 2 boys that would help as well.  Seriously.  Lets keep in touch.

Azalea - not looking for glamping by any means. This is purely to facilitate going deeper into the park than we would otherwise go (by alleviating physical strain) and allowing for more fishing time.

Setting up a tent definitely takes longer than 5 minutes. Camp chores in general consume a large portion of time (I'd estimate at least a third of the trip is spent on chores).  Paying someone to help gives them a paid trip into quetico (hopefully you'd have someone who enjoys it anyway) and gives you more fishing time and deeper access into the park then you might otherwise get (if that's what you're looking for). Could be a win-win for the right people.

Some fly-ins can cost over $2k/person and you aren't even that remote (there might be 2 dozen other people with you, or by yourself on a smaller Lake that sees a different group every week). If you have 6 people that's a lot of money combined to spend relative to the cost of a typical self-guided quetico trip. I would assume you could find help and in total spend the same or even potentially less.

PhantomJug, I may be in touch in the future.

Does anyone know the legality of just hiring an individual? Do "guides" require licenses to operate in quetico (based on my reading I think the answer is yes). What is the definition of a guide and does the definition contemplate the hiring of help separate from what is typically understood as "guide" services?

Kids and grandkids make great Sherpas. Don't make it sound like work, because it's fun and everyone is big enough to help.

I don't know the guide regulations or if it is allowed to pay an individual to be your "sherpa," but I would be concerned about the tax situation. If you end up paying someone from the US to provide you services in Canada, your sherpa may end up in a tax situation they didn't anticipate - having to file a Canadian income tax return and making the US return much more complicated. Paying the accountants might end up costing more than you would pay them to help you out. I would expect that an outfitting business would already know the things they have to do, but an individual just doing it might not be aware of the implications. I'm not an expert in international taxes, so I can't offer any more insights than this (such as how much you can pay/earn before having to file and stuff like that), but it is something to keep in mind.