Trip out with 3 persons and 3 tents.
Set out Wed, August 8. Spit rain off and on all day. Made Malberg in about 4-5 hours. Based in one of camps on northern part of lake. Maybe 1 or 2 other camps on lake occupied. Pretty quiet during week. Maintained same base camp all nights in BWCA and made day trips elsewhere.
Journeyed back out on Saturday, August 12. Encountered many more people on this weekend day than we had during week. Made it back to Kawishiwi landing in about 4.5 hours.
Fishing was good on Malberg and Kawishiwi River. I've experienced great smallmouth fishing on Malberg in the past, so this is what we were targeting, yet we caught pike and walleye only. Solid fishing though. Didn't have any trouble catching what little we wanted to eat.
Portages were all in good repair for the most part. The south end of the portage just north of the long burned-area portage was a bit of a mud pit though.
For reference, we were making Kawishiwi Lake to Malberg Lake in about 4-5 hours doing portages in one trip and taking just a few short breaks. If you want a more leisurely trip in and to fish a little bit on the way in, I'd plan to spend 6-7 hours making your way back there.