10 Lesson #5 portaging (Read 9951 times)
bigfin
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Re: Lesson #5 portaging
Reply #20 - Oct 1st, 2013 at 3:44am
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I'm enjoying this thread.  Its interesting to hear various do's and don'ts, different styles and approaches to portaging.

One thing I've noticed as I've become more experienced (everything's relative...) is how much more quickly my paddling partner and I develop some sort of a routine (same guy takes same item(s) each portage).  The one exception is the canoe.  We switch off taking the canoe each portage.

I've become indifferent to portages.  By far my favorite part is the empty-handed stroll through the woods on the return leg of a double portage. 

Anyway here's my 2 cents (some of which has already been said):

1. developing some sort of a routine is good thing.  More efficient and less likely to leave stuff.
2. Loose items are a bad thing.  Extra energy and/or more trips.
3. No reason to rush. Too many bad things can happen when you're in a hurry (forgotten item, injury, etc).
4. Before I depart on a canoe trip, I pick a luxury item or two (for me its a comfy camp chair), but otherwise I try to give serious thought to the items that are brought along.  Is it really worth the weight?  No doubt this makes portages more enjoyable.

  
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db
Web-lackey
Inukshuk
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Re: Lesson #5 portaging
Reply #21 - Oct 1st, 2013 at 6:33am
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Joe_Schmeaux wrote on Sep 30th, 2013 at 9:50pm:
Jimbo and Northwoods have also posted info on the high route.

Lesson #6: Use QJ's search function when route planning to ensure portages are no more difficult than they need to be.  Smiley

Grin Grin Oh sure throw it in my face!

I know, I know, but I much prefer to read other's impressions of places AFTER I've been there. Go figure.

The sad thing is I seriously skimmed all those since this was the first time I spent more than five minutes researching a route! I was looking for serious "no-go's" but I do kinda like a little mystery. I was saving east of Baird for an extension next year. As it turned out, Cutty, Nan, Eag, Cub didn't thrill me like I'd hoped so I decided to extend the planned route on this trip.

As far as this thread goes, at that one point I wished I tied my spare paddle in the canoe. I could have gone back to the campsite for the rod, picked up my stuff at the other put-in and used the high road. As it was, it just seemed easier to portage it all and just go back for the rod. There was only that one little (nasty in my book) problem area. The rest was peachy and there were no branches saying no, don't go there on either end like other non-portages sometimes have.

FWIW - My trip was the last half of August but with unusually high water so I didn't leave any warnings at either end. Stuff like timing matters a lot I find.
  
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Jon
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Re: Lesson #5 portaging
Reply #22 - Oct 2nd, 2013 at 2:41am
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KY paddler wrote "will eternally think fondly of men from Kentucky."

This is the most loaded quote I have read here. Surprised that all the usual tart tongues are not having a hey day with this. It reminded of a day 20 years ago when I was training a young guy to trim trees around power lines and after a winter of wearing gloves everyday we had to work with spruce trees on the first hot spring day. We got back in the truck for lunch break and he looked at his hands and said "wow, my hands have turned to pussies!" Then he looked at me and said " I really shouldn't have said that, I'm never going to hear the end of this". He was right about that.
Jon
  
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