Please, don't mention politics even if your just kidding around! All that many had prognosticated (including myself) is coming true in whirlwind fashion. It has become beyond disconcerting.

I suppose the only question left unanswered is "what is meant by doubling in that context".........Good question as it was not expanded upon.

Several of my earliest portages were short and rather than "load" my pack (I strap a duffel on top of my pack) I had decided to triple. When I hit the 1k portage it was about 5 P.M. and I wanted to save some time. I had put some pressure on myself with time constraints by shortening the days to accomplish the entire route and now I was curious to see what sort of mileage could be made the 1st day. Naturally an additional trip down a 1k portage would eat into my afternoon rather significantly.

Alas......crash and burn when I went to put my pack on. But wait, there's more .....I had shouldered the whole load earlier in the day with no problem but now, later in the day, I struggled and redoubled my efforts to get the pack on and down I went. A bit depleted later in the day? Um, the answer would be yes.....

Perhaps for some that would seem unusual or unwise but for me that was fairly common........that is to sometimes have difficulty shouldering a load and have to muscle it in place. But now there is a chink in the armor.

As a kid it was common for me to place 2 big flattails pushing 60lbs a piece into a wicker packbasket and and walk out of a swamp and up steep country indeed. Those days are long gone but they are tough to let go of.

My new reality is one of considering pressure on discs in my back and unsteady knee joints. It is what it is. Had I triple portaged that 1k I might have been able to continue but for how long? It is likely that sooner or later my weakness would of revealed itself and there was a good chance it wouldn't of been in such a "rescue friendly" spot. (That spit of sand was the only spot like it I had seen all day)

In the future I will give greater consideration to triple portaging although I loathe  the idea. The initial feelings will probably change though as I breeze down the trails all light and lively. Plus I will only have to employ the tactic early on when supplies are full. So what if it adds an extra hour to my portages for the day and perhaps I don't get as far. The only appointment I need to keep is with Mr. Big right at dark.

I did actually give serious consideration to your advice ST. I flipped my boat and stacked 2 duffels on top and then placed my main bag on top to access my pack. It wasn't bad but I still didn't like it.

It still felt like an accident waiting to happen from my perspective.

I am wising up. A quiet determination to achieve the best shape of my life has been foisted upon me by this event. Nothing is off the table and that includes plenty of visits to doctors to get a better understanding of just what the problems are.

Then a dose of humility will be applied. Even if I am in shape my intention is to either lighten my load (probably not happening to any great extent) or step a bit lighter which will mean accepting a triple portage mentality at least in the initial stages of a trip. I think it would be a smart move to limit packs to around 60lbs instead of 80.

I take a lot of stuff too and triple all the time. Don't think of it as an extra arduous trip. Think three easy trips. And instead of trudging along, you can be nimble and quick about it. Plus you don't have to sit and rest before you paddle away.

Your wish is my command sir.

No seriously, now I'm confused MT. Weren't you doing a 3+week trip? I tweaked an ankle one year. I had met up a friend for part of that trip and he was along on the out of the way daytrip where it happened. I laid there writhing in pain thinking I would be screwed and being damn glad we just took the one canoe that day. A day or two later he was heading out and didn't want to leave w/o me. I said it was getting better and I'd be fine. I'll just sit here for another day or two.... In the back of my mind though, I was thinking I cold easily con him into portaging my canoe on the three portages we'd travel together and then make some excuse to continue my trip.

I use to just go, leaving my girlfriend with a date I'd return and the phone# for the park. She had been there many times and knew the place and my habits well. I'd always called as soon as I could after I get out. Essentially to say that I was starting the second dangerous leg of my trip. Now days I plan a route and leave a map with lines and circles and arrows, contact #s. It's a pain in the butt. I was thinking a SPOT might be useful since I wouldn't be locked into a predefined route.

After reading your sister thread on solotripping tonight I can't help but wonder.  My evil mind is saying Dude! Get a spot and get in the boat and go until you run out of food or get bored. Then just stick the paddle between two trees and break it. Hide the evidence and press the help, send float plane at your earliest convenience button.

My luck? I'd probably yank on that paddle cautiously with no success. Then rethink my methods and give it one big push, snap, go flying only to hear a bone snap as I hit the ground badly. Hard to escape that Karma thing.

Plus, and to me, this is akin to the PFD thing, don't do the crime if you can't do the time. Part of the allure for me is working w/o a net. Being self sufficient in mind, body and spirit. Knowing my limits. If I need a little help along the way I'll take it but once you can count on it w/o consequences ... that becomes a slippery slope - eyes too big for the stomach type of thing IMHO.

Hey, MT.  I just got around to reading your thread after some folks on bwca.com referenced it.  Bad luck on your mishap, but glad you made it back home in one piece...more or less.  I wouldn't beat yourself up much.  Anyone who gets out of their comfort zone a bit and takes calculated risks get a plus over someone who stays in their comfort zone all the time. 

My knee crapped out on me this summer as well, but not as bad as yours.  Hope you get well soon and "back in the game."  Like you, I'm now 51 and I can see the writing on the wall as far as portage weight goes.  I used to carry 90 pounds without too much trouble.  But the knee is telling me no more.  I tripled several of the portages this year, including the last half of the Death March.  I just can't get myself to leave behind my "comfort" items yet.

Re SPOT, I've used the first version 2 years now.  Yeah, the annual $99 fee kind of sucks, but I do it more for my wife and kids.  She actually commented this year that it was nice to watch my progress with the knee acting up.  Like db, I leave a map with my planned route, but tell her to not be surprised if and when I deviate from the plan.  After reading your recent experience, she's likes the SPOT even more knowing that if I ever do hit 911, the evac actually happens.