A few weeks ago I hiked the Chequamegon section of the NCT. The bugs were out - picked probably 20 ticks off per day. But beautiful, and lots of solitude. Didn't see a soul for 2 1/2 days. Beautiful campsites on Anderson Lake and Porcupine Lake. I highly recommend this hike - might even return in the fall if the timings right. If you're interested, below is a link to the pictures from the hike.
https://plus.google.com/photos/10326...72151158626273