I really love to bushwhack into a series of lakes that have seen little use in decades. My favorite haunt is Woodland Caribou PP and there tends to me little understory brush in most areas so it is much more easier to do. Over the winter months I am studying Google and Bing satellite images of my intended route. My goal is to find the best and driest route through the area so I use  GPS coordinates to keep track of what looks to be the best terrain to check out once I get to the area. Satellite images are also printed so I can adjust if I run into problems. Having the printed images allows me to learn what some of the color shades mean. I usually work out the complete portage before taking any of my gear across. Even after doing this I will use the return to do further scouting. I set the GPS to record a track as I scout across to the next lake. Problems or prime segments are marked as a waypoint and named appropriately. When I have found a good landing spot on each end I connect them using all the information I have recorded. I seldom have to clear a trail to do this. To mark the path I want to use I pluck small pieces of Spahgnum Moss and use them as trail tape. They can be seen for a few years.  I just walk around any obstacles in the way. I do the extra footwork so that I can make out a report on what I found and turn it into the park staff. Over the years I have seen a few of these routes cleared by park staff and opened to the public. I detest bog walking portages and have been able to present the park with numerous reroutes. The next time the portage crew goes through they will evaluate and most times cut the new portage.

I find the satellite images more useful than topo maps. I study the topo maps too but many times there will be excellent terrain for a portage that a topo map can't show me. Unfortunately nature has a way of changing the landscape. In Woodland Caribou the "Snowdown" of 2012 dropped a lot of tree tops to the forest floor. This will severely hamper bushwhacking efforts for the next few years.