Mad_Mat,

I WAS in the right spot but I'll be damned if I could see any sign of that stream which should of been obvious with the high water?

Now I'm really curious.

Yes, there was that little roller log stream on the far eastern end of Elizabeth close to north shore.
I didn't see it because it was hidden by marsh grass, so I went north around that little point and found were someone had cut a portage.

I guess that would be a no-name lake, but I'm wondering if at some time in the past, those two bodies of water were one?
Water level was a little higher you could float right thru that whole section.

"was it on the right side of Elizabeth on the eastern end?"

ST, that spot was on the North bank of Elizabeth, before you get to the very east end.  I don't remember the portage from that pond to Halliday, but that usually means that it was not too hard to find - but my memory is somehat dim.

of course, by now, they may have cut a new route thru there

ok, I looked at a map (can't copy it it seems) - what I'm thinking of is maybe an eighth of a mile before the very eastern end of Elizabeth, there is a little stream that connects Eliz to an unnamed lake that you travel to get to Halliday - that little stream was where we did the roller log thing.  So its not a portage from Eliz to Halliday, rather its Eliz to unnamed to Halliday.

use the link below (couldn't get it to save to the detail) - in the search box for Find Locations, type in Halliday Lake and poke the arrow on right;  that gets you to a drop down list of lakes with that name - click on the one that says Rainy Lake and that will take you to the topo.  you can see that little stream at the north shore that takes yoo to the unnamed lake - maybe its considered a part of ELiz? I don't know, but it took us a long time to figure out that we had to take that little channel - it was almost dry that year - you may have paddled right thru ?

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Mad Mat,

I'm almost certain I was in the right spot. That little creek you rolled your canoe into that "pond" as you call it, was it on the right side of Elizabeth on the eastern end? If so, someone cut a small portage on the north side which is what I took before I discoverd that little creek which was passable with the high water.

That same high water made that pond more like a small lake, but regardless of what you call it, as soon as I was in it, I went to south shore ans worked myself along till I found that what both my McKenzie/Chrismar maps showed as a small bay leading to portage to Halliday?
Maybe I didn't go far enough and there was another little bay, but from my viewpoint, I don't think so?

I had planned to spend night on Elizabeth but when I fell behind on my travel plans, I decied to press for Halliday.

Next time IF I come in from Elizabeth, I stay the night and go down with day-pack and bushwack until I find it and mark it with flagging tape/ cairn. I know I was close and I hate to leave a a job undone.

"My trip report highlights that point as I was attempting to find the portage to Halliday out of Elizabeth."

that is a tricky one to find.  before you get to the very end of Elizabeth, look to your left shore for a really narrow dip - in high water, you could likley paddle in - the year we did that it was low water, and nothing much to point out the way except that everything else we looked at was wrong - it takes you to a smallish pond if I remember right, then you do the portage from that pond into Halliday (its not Eliz to Halliday).  The time we did it, we set a bunch of log rollers up and rolled the canoes into the little creek or bay for maybe 30 yards, it being too shallow and rocky to paddle.  And yes, the Halliday to Sturgeon portage was deep muckhole that year (2000) - I'd hope its been improved woth more corduroy since.

JJS,

I'll find it someday, even if I do a reverse route and come in from the Halliday side.

I understand there is only one decent site on Halliday, but that maybe from a tandem/group standpoint.

It wasn't so much not finding it that bothered me, it was the effort going down Elizabeth and back to plan B, Walter lk that was the pain.

ST, You might be lucky you didn't find that portage. I used it on my 1st trip years ago and remember it being kind of tough. We found it, but we were going in from Sturgeon. I was always curious how quiet Halliday might be for a layover, if there was a campsite.

I agree, the Chrismar map is a great reference/back-up map, IF the maps your using don't jibe (portage wise) with what your looking at.

My trip report highlights that point as I was attempting to find the portage to Halliday out of Elizabeth.

Thanks MM. Part of the adventure is exploring. I will let you know what I find after our trip we Leave June 14th.

Thanks again for all the info.

I have no connection to Q100 - only  just looking at the website to see current conditions notes - it seems to be "semi-official" as well ?  if you want to pay to play, they say they have current portage conditions.  Just thought I'd toss out that tidbit of info. below is copied from there.

"Portage Route Maintenance

Members of the Q100 Stewardship Program can download and reference portage routes and maintenance.

The map is available in 4 quadrants for easy viewing and printing.  A full size version (22x17) is also available. The latest update are conditions as of Aug. 24, 2013.

NOTE: These maps are password protected and are for Q100 Members only. If you are a Q100 Member, please contact us directly for a Username and Password.

(Adobe® Acrobat® Required. Get it here)

Quadrant 01 (PDF)

Quadrant 02 (PDF)

Quadrant 03 (PDF)

Quadrant 04 (PDF)

Full Size (22 x 17) (PDF) Updated Aug. 24, 2013."

its worth picking up a copy of the Chrismar map, to use as a backup map and to cross check for portages  - of course, if you want to be really up to date, you would have to buy one every few years I guess.

"official" as far as the one the park recommends - not sure if they have any actual connection to the production of the map or not, but it is supposedly the most up to date. its a bigger scale than the Fisher maps, so less detail, but you could navigate the park with just that map - folds up about like a standard sized road map.  I do use it for cross checking portages against my old fisher maps (some of which are near 30 years old and portages are out of date in some cases) - but I have a lighter map I bring as backup that is also quasi official