Portaged thru #823 and camped at site #707. Campsite is up on a hill with a great view, but finding level ground to pop tents is a little challenging. We had three guys in solo tents and one in a hammock. While setting up camp, a large animal came into camp, froze and stared at me and my buddy, and then shot back into the woods. When I got home from the trip, I looked it up. It was a fisher - the largest one I've ever seen in my life. Another night we were awakened by something trying to drag away one our packs, but we never saw what it was and it scampered away. Fishing was good on Alder; we fished in the shallows near the creek that is next to the portage. Caught lots of bass, a few northerns. In the evenings, we fished the main part of the lake and caught a few walleye and had some nice fish dinners. The only downside to our trip was my partner, who was new to paddling trips and basically brought everything and the kitchen sink - way too much gear and odds and ends. It crippled the trip because originally we were going to go to Crystal Lake - two more portages in.
