Has anyone been on the racers portages (Bonhomme and Savage) in the past couple of years?
We have been on those in past years… wet, dry, flooded.. any idea what they look like now?

Why yes I did them last year.

They are both burned out from a fire in 2021 or so. Definitely not as bad as I thought they would be.

The middle lake between them is burned out. It’s all a real pretty area though. I will make one serious note though. The portage out of the small lake to Fern is not marked correctly on the Fisher map. It is several hundred yards east of where it’s marked on the map.

Due to the fire, the portage trail is at times a little tricky to stay on. More moose use the trail than people. Watch for flags on the trail put there by Quetico rangers.

Have fun!

PS. Alice is all burned out too and no campsites.
Tom

"

Here’s what the lake between the portages looks like

The "racers" portages are different. They go from Nym to Pickerel via Gillnet lake outside the park boundary

cowdoc: "The "racers" portages are different. They go from Nym to Pickerel via Gillnet lake outside the park boundary "

I always thought they were the two portages connecting Fern and Alice?

But I've been wrong before. Just ask my wife.

Just ran across it recently doing some research as our group may use them this spring.

Huh, I too thought the racers portages were between Alice and Fern.
Don Meany up in Atikokan would know. His brother made them.
Tom

Yeah, little suprise to me too. Maybe both sets known by that name?...maybe old and new...
Maybe racers and racer's?

Well, this is interesting history! Might indeed be "both", sort of...

Can't see anything about why the Nym>Pickerel shortcut is called the racers...though it would seem that that may have been the route for the races in '62, '63 and '64.

Regardless, the two guys who won the 1964 Atikokan > Ely race got the Alice - Fern portages that they cut through the wilderness named after them...assuming this article is correct (which it may not be):

Atikokan > Ely Race

So I at least had that second part right in my head...

Well SNS, I think that answers a lot of questions.

It appears that at least Fisher maps thinks the portages out of Pickeral and Gilnet are the racer portages. And maybe they are. But the portages between Fern and Alice are ‘also’ the racer portages. Probably more so since they were put in specifically by and for the racers.

Canada was opened up by the paddle, not the wheel like in the US. So much canoe history in Ontario.

Tom

To clarify....pic was from Chrismar, not Fisher. Checked my Fisher, no label there.

Thanks! This is great info

Ha! Yeah… my mistake. Although the name still fits with the Bonhomme and Savage…. And the story is still a good one!