What's your favorite portage (if there is such a thing for you) and why? 

Yum Yum portage has to be one of my favorites.  Its got a little bit of everything.  Mud, rocks, challenging ledges to surmount, but best of all has to be the clifftop view about 2/3 of the way from Kash to Yum Yum.  Simply spectacular!  It's a great place to stop for lunch and just drink in the scenery.

As far as just a pleasant walk in the woods, the 2nd portage from Basswood to Kett is about as good as it gets.

The northern Cache Lake portage is also a very scenic walk and quite enjoyable if you don't mind the length.

Portaging is what you make of it, IMHO.  If you go into them with the mindset that they are going to suck, you're probably right.  If you go into them with a positive attitude and an eye for the beauty of the land, sometimes you'll find yourself a little disappointed to see the lake at the other end.

The stairway portage into Rose? or Duncan? (can't remember) is one of my favorites. 

prouboy

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Between the Rolands for the pretty falls and Bentpine/Clair 'cause it was "spooky" yet recently cleared and I didn't notice all the tape until my second and third carries. DOH!

I really don't mind most portages either. They're often a nice break from that pesky sun or wind. Favorite? OR most memorable?

Sturgeon to Russell the hard way has a "you gotta be freaken kidding me" factor I'll not soon forget. It is what it is and will get your heart beating rain or shine though.

Second the Yum Yum, also would include the Kahsh/McNeice and the portage between Earl and the first unnamed lake on the southern route to McIntyre- a long and beautiful walk. In the B-dub the middle portage between Mudro and Fourtown grants a nice vista high above the flow.

I rarely have found myself "a little disappointed to see the lake at the other end"  ;), but I did love the portage from Beaver to Adams.  So much that I went back and walked it again with the camera, and really didn't want to leave!  It remains, in my BWCA memory, high on my list of most beautiful places.

It was a long time ago, and it is a place to which I would like to return.  I wonder if I would still find it so enchanting.

db wrote on Mar 30^th, 2012 at 6:50am:

Sturgeon to Russell the hard way has a "you gotta be freaken kidding me" factor I'll not soon forget. It is what it is and will get your heart beating rain or shine though.

I have done Sturgeon/Russell stair way. I think the Kash to Joyce has got to taller. Maybe it was the end of the day, but I felt that at any moment, I was going to be reach  the pearly gates be able to shake Elvis's hand before I descended back down to Joyce.

For me my favorite portage is Badwater. Badwater was the first "real" portage I did as a skinny 13 year old. Every time I cross that portage since I use it as my measuring stick, to see what kind of shape I am in etc.

Haven't ever done the Sturgeon-to-Russell portage so I can't comment on that one.  I've always just gone up the river, doing a short portage around the swift if necessary.

Kash to Joyce is definitely a lung-and-thigh burner though.  Keats to Baird is another one like that.  It's worth it to get into the Cutty Creek area, though.

That Kests to Baird walk just keeps climbing and climbing. I rate it as one of the toughest portages I've done on the basis of volume of lactic acid generated in the thighs. But as Snowdog said the location worth the price of the trip. Baird to Camel (especially the first segment of Cutty. creek after Baird) is beautiful

At least I did it loaded from Baird to Keats.  It seems more downhill that way.  But traversing it either way when its been raining can be a bit of a challenge.

McDougal to Keats is another one I remember.  Its good for a laugh when you reach the Keats end and wonder where your packed your parachute.

But my favorite is a favorite for a difference ... Bayley Bay to Burke.  It was my first ever wilderness portage and it still says you are leaving "civilization" behind.

dd

Excellent topic S_D, get us back on track.

Argo to Darkwater comes to my mind. Nice landings on both ends, views of the lakes are both nice too.

I keep calling them hikes, but Martha says they're not hiking trails  ;D She may be remembering going to Badwater   ;)
Thinking of visiting Cache with her this spring  ::)

I've only taken one in Q, Nym to Batchewan.

My vote goes for the last portage.  It's the last one!

No need to limit this to the BW/Q.  Any portage anywhere can be thrown in as a favorite.

Cache to Lindsay, because I'll never do it again!

Best memories, 1 hour snooze on the flat rock overlooking Lower Basswood falls portage, Canadian side,  during a late Aug lunch.

There's a nice one in APP going from Shah to Misty.  Starts with a steep up, get that out of the way early.  Long gentle decline to Misty.  Nice transition from high-ground to a swamp edge to the lake proper.  Near halfway is a grove of cedars that blocks a view to an old tote road, long since decomissioned & overgrown.


Temagami has an intersting one on the Lady Evelyn R., N Chanel.  Going upstream it's the 2nd one from Sucker Gut.  Not long, but follows a set of waterfalls.  About halfway is a 10-15' cliff.  A solo tripper might want to rope the canoe up.  There are solid foot-holds, but the cumbersome canoe + the wrong wind would be interesting.


Dickson/Bonfield in APP for bragging rights.  5.3km/1000 rods - mostly it's long with a couple tricky ankle twisting sections.  It's the portage that broke me, double carry, I got fed up ~500m from the end and camped on the trail at dusk.  Finishing the next morning I just laughed at myself for getting so close & yet being so far.

The trail skirting the Devils Cascade along the Little Indian Souix is nice.  The portage coming into Walter from the north stands out due to its old growth pines, etc.  Another cool spot is the boardwalk bridge constructed somewhere along the Marge and Joyce route.

Also would second the Bentpine/Clair and the Basswood/Kett portages.

-YB

The portage around the last falls leading out of the pot hole section of the Kopka River- you can hear the river going down, down but the portage stays up until.....

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Following the boat.

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That simply an amazing portage, Solus.  Can't imagine ever doing something like that.

For me, I still recall the feeling I had on that portage from Crooked into the SW arm of Argo.  Heading gently uphill through old forest was like going back in time.  The gound was so soft, the air so damp, and the pines so old.  And then after hitting the peak and heading down to the granite slab diving into that unique tint of Argo's water....I'll never forget it.
 

Yellowbird wrote on Mar 30^th, 2012 at 4:42pm:

Another cool spot is the boardwalk bridge constructed somewhere along the Marge and Joyce route. -YB

That boardwalk is a big improvement over the first time I took that portage.  Basically a single/double log bridge with the logs going end to end about 10' over the swamp. Can't recall how they held the logs up there and in place but it looked pretty iffy.  Somewhere I've got a pic or two of it.  I just recall looking at it, thinking "you CAN NOT be SERIOUS!!!"

Any portage where the blueberries are thick and ripe is my favorite.

Snowdog-

Thanks for the memory jog- last two times I went through Kahsh to Joyce I was trying to remember what was there the first time and I could not. Now I remember it was rickety and way too far above the swamp.

Pineknot-
I haven't done that portage from Crooked to Argo- from your description I'll have to adjust my routing to make it happen. Thanks.

I'm going to second dd on the Bailey Bay/Burke portage. It was the very first portage I ever did way back when, and I thought it was a damn long trek, carrying a couple of very heavy packs (single portaging back then). When we got through it and our experienced leader said it was the easiest portage we were going to have all week, I thought he was joking!  ;D  I learned much about portaging after that  :o  But it's still my favorite!

I think the most memorable portage for me is the swamp portage between Grey and that little unnamed lake on the way to Kash. You have the bog/swamp/marsh in the middle, and then the deceptive fork in the road that takes you back to Grey if you go the wrong way. Slipped off the logs my first time through there and sank up to my armpits in the muck  :P

Then again, there a lot that have special memories  ;)

Mulears....Basswood-Burke was our first too.  Fond memories.
Few years later, spent a warm Oct day swimming there and camping at the spot just yards to the east.  Also fond memories.  I remember thinking it was a tough portage, then getting to the Meadows, grunts....

Solus wrote on Mar 30^th, 2012 at 7:17pm:

Thanks for the memory jog- last two times I went through Kahsh to Joyce I was trying to remember what was there the first time and I could not. Now I remember it was rickety and way too far above the swamp.

This was the "boardwalk" in 2009.  Does the location match up? 
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-YB

YB- Yeah that's the location, until SD's note I had no notion of what had been there previously despite  at least three trips through the route.

Yeah, that boardwalk is nice but the downside is the portage has significantly less character now.  But it takes some character just to get to it, regardless of your approach.

There is a little unnamed lake/pond of sorts between kash and Joyce where I had a learning experience. My regular partner and I in our solos fell in with a group of 20 somethings coming from Joyce (as were we). One of the kids were portaging an old gigantic freighter of a boat that he said went close to 100 lbs but I digress.

The kids hit the lake/pond first and we met them coming out of a small bay where the map indicated the portage. "no portage" they said......"just a moose trail". They left the tiny bay and of course we went to check it out. Right where the map said the portage should be there was indeed a take out spot. We unloaded and walked a ways down the Moose trail which of course petered out like they always do.

By this time the other party had returned not finding anything. Their plan was to camp and then try and follow the small creek out. Of course the creek was absolutely choked with brush. I thought that a poor idea with a 100 lb boat and told them as much.

They left to try and find a campsite and I decided to take a spin around the little bay. Smooth rock pervaded the opposing shoreline so my focus went upwards toward the top of the bank. An old chainsaw cut was the clue I needed. Dan went to give a holler and we all proceeded to Kash which we hit right at dark just as some sprinkles started.

My favorite portage? It is secret. Do I have to tell?  ;)

The portage out of Mcniece toward Shan Walsh. The last time through was in a foggy drizzle. Big cedar and pine, the place is magical!
Basswood to Kett is a nice walk.

Snow_Dog wrote on Mar 30^th, 2012 at 3:29pm:

No need to limit this to the BW/Q.  Any portage anywhere can be thrown in as a favorite.

Good.  Then I'll go with what Martin Kehoe has called “The Slot Portage.”  This unique portage runs down the middle of a burbling stream which flows 50 meters or so through a major cleft in a high vertical rock face at the north end of Irvine Lake in WCPP.  When rays of sunshine filter through early morning mists and illuminate that chasm with a soft glow, you begin to think you are portaging through some remarkably beautiful wilderness cathedral.  Anyway, I'll not soon forget it. 

Kingfisher & I had "bushwhacked" into remote Irvine Lake the hard way (from the east).  Exiting via this unique portage somehow made that extreme effort feel worthwhile.

Jimbo   8-)

Jimbo wrote on Apr 1^st, 2012 at 12:39pm:

Snow_Dog wrote on Mar 30th, 2012 at 3:29pm: No need to limit this to the BW/Q.  Any portage anywhere can be thrown in as a favorite. Good.  Then I'll go with what Martin Kehoe has called “The Slot Portage.”  This unique portage runs down the middle of a burbling stream which flows 50 meters or so through a major cleft in a high vertical rock face at the north end of Irvine Lake in WCPP.  When rays of sunshine filter through early morning mists and illuminate that chasm with a soft glow, you begin to think you are portaging through some remarkably beautiful wilderness cathedral.  Anyway, I'll not soon forget it.  Kingfisher & I had "bushwhacked" into remote Irvine Lake the hard way (from the east).  Exiting via this unique portage somehow made that extreme effort feel worthwhile. Jimbo   8-)

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[/quote]


Good.  Then I'll go with what Martin Kehoe has called “The Slot Portage.”  

Kingfisher & I had "bushwhacked" into remote Irvine Lake the hard way (from the east).  Exiting via this unique portage somehow made that extreme effort feel worthwhile.

Jimbo   8-) [/quote]
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Just your mention of the "Slot" gets my blood pumping. Imagine what it felt like to pull some brush aside and see that awesome place. Standing there with images racing through my mind of all the people  it had seen for thousands of years as they passed through or sought shelter inside its walls.

When Claire from WCPP checked it out she deemed it too dangerous of footing for a park portage. I found an alternative on river right and the park cut it open. The RED124 fire of  2011 burned the north and some of the east end of Irvine Lake. It appears to me, from studying the fire map, that the fire did not cross the stream and burn the "Slot portage" on river left. Not so for the trek you made into Irvine from the east.

Basswood to Kett ? If you add in the leg to Tuck Lake I'd have to say it is my favorite, NOT  !! Did that in '05 to try and save time to Robinson. Basswood to Kett was partially flooded by beavers. What a misstake ! It was hot and by the time we stopped at Tuck Lake I was all in.

Sturgeon to Russell the hard way is something that sticks in your mind forever.
I did in in a light rain 2x trips up and still can't believe I didn't take a tumble back down into Sturgeon. View on top before descending to Russell is nice too.

Old Log "bridge" on portage between Joyce and Kash was a laugh for sure. It was so shaky when I went thru there, I dropped canoe in swamp, loaded gear, and walked across logs pulling the canoe with the bow line.
Descent to Kash after a long day was equally daunting. I don't know what's harder on the knees, a steep climb or descent. I remember thinking at one point that I should just load the canoe and lower in down the trail  ;D
Q-Dave might not of appreciated that ;)

Best thing about all the portages is that they remind of us of why we love the wilderness experience. If it was to easy, then everyone would be doing it and abusing it.
A little sweat equity makes the journey all the more rewarding.

I don't know if it's my fav or not, but it certainly was memorable.  It's the one between Mack and Munro Lakes.  It's a pretty good up/down, but that wasn't it.  It was the ticks.  I had the canoe, so I really couldn't stop, but I could see them all over me, and even on the bushes.  At the end of the portage I had to strip buck nekked and wound up picking something like 70 or 80 of them off me.  The zip offs on my pants worked well as tick traps.  The flaps stopped some of them and there were 15 or so trapped there on each leg.  Apparently I'm a tick magnet...

I'd have to go along with whoever said the the last one of the trip (your load is lightes, you're maybe in better condition, and your getting close to that first beer)

That Burke lake to Basswood I've always liked - its fun to holler out "on your right" and pass someone while your portaging the grumman at a 4 mph pace - that's one of the few portages you can do that.

Quote:

Sturgeon to Russell the hard way is something that sticks in your mind forever.

True be that! Holding the canoe on my shoulders with one hand, grabbing a tree root and pulling myself up a muddy hill in the rain with the other? Priceless.

But for me, nothing -- NOTHING -- compares to the Bon Homme and Sauvage portages south of Fern, which we did that same trip. 400 rods and 291 rods, back to back (and double portaged each one). First time we did those I had a 70-plus pound aluminum canoe with NO YOKE -- just some foam wrapped around the middle thwart.

A storm had recently come through, and trees were down across the trail all over the place. In one place, three trees fell on top of each other. And you couldn't go around. I spent a lot of time pushing, pulling and lifting that canoe through the mess.

In addition, there was "the bog". I was walking in two inches of water, a canoe for a hat, when suddenly I was waist deep. They said it was like a cartoon -- half my body suddenly disappeared. Then my foot got wedged under a root in that muck, and I had to be pulled out. Another guy had to "dive" down and get his sandal.

So, "favorite" portage? Hmmm. Certainly one of the most memorable.

(We took the long Fern River portage on the way out.)

-- kypaddler

Years later, we retraced our steps with a slightly different group. We tried to warn the "newcomers" in the one canoe what was ahead, but they laughed at us. After Bonhomme and Sauvage, they didn't talk to us for two days.

MichiganMan wrote on Apr 3^rd, 2012 at 2:38am:

I don't know if it's my fav or not, but it certainly was memorable.  It's the one between Mack and Munro Lakes.  It's a pretty good up/down, but that wasn't it.  It was the ticks.  I had the canoe, so I really couldn't stop, but I could see them all over me, and even on the bushes.  At the end of the portage I had to strip buck nekked and wound up picking something like 70 or 80 of them off me.  The zip offs on my pants worked well as tick traps.  The flaps stopped some of them and there were 15 or so trapped there on each leg.  Apparently I'm a tick magnet...

Treat your clothes with Permethrin and you'll be less a "tick" magnet ;)

Oh, I forgot to mention the guy we thereafter referred to as "The Soothsayer" or "The Prophet."

Driving on the way north on that trip (it's a 950-mile trip), we stopped to get gas. We were running late, so when this ancient-looking guy saw our canoes and tried to make conversation, we gave some short answers, thinking he was just being polite and not realizing he was genuinely interested. We weren't exactly rude, just less friendly than we typically are. In a hurry, you know.

He asked if we were going to Quetico, said he had been there in the spring, couldn't wait to get back, and then asked: "You doing that mile-long portage with the waist-deep mud?"

We had no idea what he was talking about, but just answered "um, sure ... yes" so we could get going. We felt kind of like someone finding out you're from Chicago or New York or somewhere like that and being asked, "Really, well do you know so-and-so?"

Quetico's a big place, you know. Lots of portages.

Lack of engaged responses sealed our fate, I guess.

Because a couple of days later, there we were in waist-deep mud on a mile-long portage.

He must of "sent" us there.

Because what were the odds that we'd be headed to Quetico, entering the park at the same point and taking the same route and ending up on the same portage and finding conditions the same in late fall as in early spring?

-- kypaddler

I really like Boulder to Adams.

In the BW, got mesmerized by the hike from Hanson to S. Arm last May.  Traveling solo and doing two trips, I wasted so much time taking pictures of waterfall, etc., I overcooked my exit and stumbled into camp on Carp at almost midnight.

In the Q, most memorable was on our first trip. On the way back to PP from Sarah, we stumbled from an unnamed pond S of Side Lake to Nest Lake.  It was 25 yrs ago, and I still have the maps with the skull and cross-bones drawn over that one.  A true swamp with large hussocks of grass and tight trees, no trail, for a mercifully short distance.  We "surfed" the canoes gunwale side up as best we could.

Will never forget the look of horror on the face of one of my partners when he, walking backwards, lost his balance, let go of the bow of the canoe and landed up to his armpits in muck the color of a pig sty.  He had on what were, up until that moment, white painter's pants.  Guy hasn't signed up for a trip since...

I'd agree that the Argo/Darky portage is very picturesque, and a nice little walk thru the woods.  Of course the fact that we were almost struck by lightning on that portage keeps it from being my favorite.  A tall pine 75 feet from us took the brunt of the bolt, with bark shot 30 feet in each direction as the sap exploded from the current.

I remember the portages from Joyce to Kash being somewhat difficult, but not awful.  I guess that's because I was going east and generally downhill.  The swamp was pretty tough but looks like they've improved it a little.

My favorite has got to be Prairie Portage, since it's usually the first and last portage that I would use to judge my crews.  Always amazing how a week in the woods changed the teens I took out.

pine_knot wrote on Mar 30^th, 2012 at 5:18pm:

That simply an amazing portage, Solus.  Can't imagine ever doing something like that. For me, I still recall the feeling I had on that portage from Crooked into the SW arm of Argo.  Heading gently uphill through old forest was like going back in time.  The gound was so soft, the air so damp, and the pines so old.  And then after hitting the peak and heading down to the granite slab diving into that unique tint of Argo's water....I'll never forget it.

 

I also love that portage.  Did it the end of last June, and when I got to Argo, there were a pair of eagles that greeted me.  It is a bit of a hike uphill, and that granite slab can get a bit slick.  Thanks for reminding me of that  one. 

DentonDoc wrote on Mar 30^th, 2012 at 1:41pm:

But my favorite is a favorite for a difference ... Bayley Bay to Burke.  It was my first ever wilderness portage and it still says you are leaving "civilization" behind. dd

My computer screensaver for the past 5 years (since my first Quetico trip) is the north end of Burke, where it narrows down, and I love it for the exact reason that you said:   it is my passage into wilderness.  It may not be the most beautiful spot in Quetico, but when I look at it I can feel the stress melting away. 

wally wrote on Mar 30^th, 2012 at 3:58pm:

Cache to Lindsay, because I'll never do it again!

I tried to warn you. Didn't I? That was you right?

It's tough to pick a single portage that I'd call really memorable, not in comparison to many hiking trails. Usually portages are designed to get from Point A to Point B in the shortest distance , usually across a saddle to minimize elevation gain (and views).


DentonDoc wrote on Mar 30^th, 2012 at 1:41pm:

But my favorite  ... says you are leaving "civilization" behind.

If I can pick a "generic" portage good for all trips, my favourite is the first portage, for exactly this reason. My least favourite is the last portage, because that means my trip is almost over and I have to go home. :'(

My all time favorite portage is from  the NW corner of Poobah directly north to the Maligne river. It is not on some maps but is on old Fisher maps. I asked Shane Walshe about it when I happened to run into him and he told me it was marked with large blazes every 100 meters or so even though there was not really a trail anymore. A group of 6 of us did it in 1988 by repeatedly sending 2 or 3 scouts to the find the next blaze while the rest of us moved all the gear up to the most recently discovered blaze. The blazes were huge and unmistakable. There is a little lake in the middle with very difficult approaches but it is a charming lake. It dropped us out into wild rapids in the Maligne. It was as fine a day as I have ever had in the wilderness and I would love to do it again but I can't get anyone to agree to go there with me again.
Jon

Some days are just magical Jon and hard to re-create. I have tried to do just that a few times and found the experience illusive. When I return to old stomping grounds I like to take someone so I can enjoy it vicariously.........there can be much delight in sharing special places.

It is the Enchanted Portage in WCPP coming south off of Dunstan Lake and Headed to Royd.  It is a pleasant walk, trail through a beautiful forest.  Fairly flat and open in some spots and wooded in others.  I just REALLY think that is a special place.  Lots of wild flowers, mushrooms, open area's of grass, blueberries, etc etc.  It is about a 1/2 mile, but a nice half mile.
SunCatcher
Here is a picture of Molly on the Enchanted Portage
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