KY paddler wrote "will eternally think fondly of men from Kentucky."

This is the most loaded quote I have read here. Surprised that all the usual tart tongues are not having a hey day with this. It reminded of a day 20 years ago when I was training a young guy to trim trees around power lines and after a winter of wearing gloves everyday we had to work with spruce trees on the first hot spring day. We got back in the truck for lunch break and he looked at his hands and said "wow, my hands have turned to pussies!" Then he looked at me and said " I really shouldn't have said that, I'm never going to hear the end of this". He was right about that.
Jon

Joe_Schmeaux wrote on Sep 30^th, 2013 at 9:50pm:

Oh sure throw it in my face!

I know, I know, but I much prefer to read other's impressions of places AFTER I've been there. Go figure.

The sad thing is I seriously skimmed all those since this was the first time I spent more than five minutes researching a route! I was looking for serious "no-go's" but I do kinda like a little mystery. I was saving east of Baird for an extension next year. As it turned out, Cutty, Nan, Eag, Cub didn't thrill me like I'd hoped so I decided to extend the planned route on this trip.

As far as this thread goes, at that one point I wished I tied my spare paddle in the canoe. I could have gone back to the campsite for the rod, picked up my stuff at the other put-in and used the high road. As it was, it just seemed easier to portage it all and just go back for the rod. There was only that one little (nasty in my book) problem area. The rest was peachy and there were no branches saying no, don't go there on either end like other non-portages sometimes have.

FWIW - My trip was the last half of August but with unusually high water so I didn't leave any warnings at either end. Stuff like timing matters a lot I find.

I'm enjoying this thread.  Its interesting to hear various do's and don'ts, different styles and approaches to portaging.

One thing I've noticed as I've become more experienced (everything's relative...) is how much more quickly my paddling partner and I develop some sort of a routine (same guy takes same item(s) each portage).  The one exception is the canoe.  We switch off taking the canoe each portage.

I've become indifferent to portages.  By far my favorite part is the empty-handed stroll through the woods on the return leg of a double portage. 

Anyway here's my 2 cents (some of which has already been said):

1. developing some sort of a routine is good thing.  More efficient and less likely to leave stuff.
2. Loose items are a bad thing.  Extra energy and/or more trips.
3. No reason to rush. Too many bad things can happen when you're in a hurry (forgotten item, injury, etc).
4. Before I depart on a canoe trip, I pick a luxury item or two (for me its a comfy camp chair), but otherwise I try to give serious thought to the items that are brought along.  Is it really worth the weight?  No doubt this makes portages more enjoyable.

db wrote on Sep 29^th, 2013 at 6:45am:

the whole series of events i described begins about 100 yards from shore for the bow paddler. securing his paddle, putting away his fishing rod/tackle, getting the packs unlashed. by the time he is ready to put his pack on, we are nearly to shore and the pack goes on just before stepping out into the water.

if we are both trolling a particular stretch of water, the rear guy hands his rod off to the front guy to reel it in so the canoe doesnt lose course or speed.

db wrote on Sep 30^th, 2013 at 6:51am:


Mad_Mat wrote on Nov 12^th, 2012 at 3:03pm:


HoHo wrote on Jan 12^th, 2009 at 12:19pm:
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Snow_Dog wrote on Jul 24^th, 2008 at 12:08am:


Jimbo and Northwoods have also posted info on the high route.

Lesson #6: Use QJ's search function when route planning to ensure portages are no more difficult than they need to be. 

Biggest lesson I'm learning is that there are some fairly universal "no-go's" and to be flexible your portaging routine.

You can't change the terrain but you can change how you approach it.

Phoenix wrote on Sep 29^th, 2013 at 4:52pm:

What you are advocating makes perfect sense to me too and I do/did that as well.

The solos I've been borrowing recently are a joy to carry plus my saw is BDBed to a thwart. It's also my easiest load to get on and off by far.  I just need to remember to lift the bow to see what's ahead every so often.

The reason I say that is I have a fun (for me) story to tell from Baird to the noname towards Metacryst portage last trip. Unbenounced to me their are two portage paths to get there. One is high and dry the other is, umm, low and full of juice. I took the canoe first trip on the low road. Half way through I came to a rather large muddy section with no footprints. Fine. It's getting deeper as I go and by the fourth step I'm in past my knees and basically stuck. That's like my worst nightmare even with help around but there wasn't any.

I flipped the canoe off into the mud, used it to get myself out w/o losing a boot and used the painter to drag it to solid footing.

Oddly enough I know both portages now and the upper one better since I carried the canoe over both. Turns out at some point I remembered I left my rod and reel at the campsite and had to go back for it. DOH!

db said he generally portages the canoe on the first leg. I generally (though not always) do the opposite - the canoe goes through on the second leg. That way I have an opportunity to scout out rock ledges, mud patches, downed trees or other features that might be more difficult to navigate if I came upon them cold with a canoe on my head.

If feasible I stand in the water alongside the canoe. Bungee-dealee in my paddles, slip the pfd through the bow thwart, attach the yoke, grab the pack from the boat and onto my back, flip up the boat and a way we go.

Reverse the order on the other side.

Jimmars self imposed portage guidelines:
1.Don’t block the landing.
2.Don’t run the canoe aground. Wet footing is fine by me.
3.Plan on a double.
4.Carry most of your $#!+ in a pack(s).
5.If someone is struggling and you are not, ask if you can carry some of their $#!+.
6.Get your $#!+ to the end of the portage, that’s where the fun is.
7.Don’t bring too much $#!+.
Keep it simple. Less time on land = more time on water.