Thanks for all the comments.i of course will be careful. i know where i'm going and the problems involved but i never take a real chance,i'll sit in camp and read if the winds are up and i limit myself to one pack on the carrys unlike some guys who carry the canoe and a pack over the portage.my wife has my trip plan and has been around some of these places and knows where i might be camping if anyone needs to find me--"check Mug Lake by Lady Boot Bay,he might be there"..Blast and Doug have the right idea,it's just a canoe trip and will be fun to be out in the backcountry.i have picked up alot of good info here and made some changes in my Ditch Vest from reading over all the posts.
my Doc gave me a clean bill of health a few weeks ago so i'm good to go.the PLB/SPOT issue is something i have mulled over all winter and read and re-read everything here about them,so maybe if i go farther north into Canada i'll take one....and from what i read here about what some of you guys pack just to walk around town i'm sure i'll be safer alone in the woods!!!
i'll post again by the 28th-29th--