Mountain_Paddler wrote on Feb 28^th, 2011 at 5:48am:

You guys are getting me nervous.  My sons and I have done a lot of backpacking in the Colorado mountains.  We travel fairly light and still the packs get pretty darn heavy very quickly.  Now we are taking a Quetico week in September, and it seems we have to carry all our normal stuff and add canoes, paddles, and all that also.  How do you guys do it?  And seems to us we'll have to be prepared for more rain than we get in Colorado.  I don't even know if we can carry our packs and a canoe too, because they stick up well above our heads.  If your GPS gets you close, can you find the portage easily?  Is the route marked?  One that bothers me is Maligne River to Poohbah Lake--I don't find a lot of details about it.  Am I going to spend all my time figuring out where the portage is and all the while carrying more than a 70-year-old can do?  Fortunately, my sons are in their 40s and strong.  What's the deal?

MP; Leave those backpacking packs at home, they don't fit well in a canoe; get or rent some Duluth Packs.  I've canoed the Maligne River.   I don't use a GPS, but I use map and compass;  a GPS will help you check your location. There is one streach of the Maligne River below Tanner Lake where you have to fight your way paddling up a current, but September it should be okay.  Follow the maps to find the portages and note which side of the river they are on the map, generally they are fairly logical and easy to find.  Portaging is generally along short portages.  I'd suggest double portaging so you don't kill yourselves carrying a canoe and a pack at the same time.  

starwatcher