Last weekend, I had the pleasure of checking an item off my bucket list when I did the Grand Portage with a friend. Prior to the trip, we were concerned because the Pigeon River was reported to be quite low. The Grand Portage National monument webpage says:

"After examining the current hydrogaph (be sure to select the right year) you should note that very difficult paddling conditions can be expected at 100 cfs (cubic feet per second) and below."

The Hydrograph said we were lined up to paddle it below 100 CFS, but I couldn't find a lot of information on what to expect. Were we foolish to even attempt it? After emailing BeaV for advice (thanks BeaV!), he said we should be fine, but expect to walk the canoe for a while around the English Rapids.

So felt like I should just add a quick note to the forum with our experience. At 83.6 CFS, the river was mostly an easy paddle, but we did experience a 2 mile stretch through the English Rapids where we were in and out of the canoe, mostly walking it down the stream. Anything less, and we probably couldn't have even floated the canoe while walking. That said, I don't regret going at this level. It took us about 6 hours to go from South Fowl to Fort Charlotte.



I hope this information helps someone in the future, feel free to contact me with questions and I'll be happy to give my two cents.

PS The McKenzie Map 98 does not show the portage around Partridge Falls, which would likely mean death if you skipped it. Watch for the portage on the US side at the end of the long straight-away prior to the falls.

thanks for the info! you could contact mckenzie map company and let them know about that portage issue, urge them to correct it!

That is probably a good idea. I'll do that sometime soon!

How was the portage out of S. Fowl? Still lots of downed trees? I'll be doing the Pigeon in 3 weeks, if I make it that far. I see today it's running at about 75 cubic feet. We waded quite a bit last Sept. in a tandem. I can't imagine carrying pack and canoe through that stretch. The extended forecast doesn't look that wet.

voyager: "How was the portage out of S. Fowl? Still lots of downed trees? I'll be doing the Pigeon in 3 weeks, if I make it that far. I see today it's running at about 75 cubic feet. We waded quite a bit last Sept. in a tandem. I can't imagine carrying pack and canoe through that stretch. The extended forecast doesn't look that wet."

Hey, sorry for the delayed reply. The portage out of South Fowl was actually pretty good. The first third was still uphill :) but mostly free of fallen trees. The second third had a number of fallen trees, but I was able to step over almost all of them (I'm 6' tall). The last third seemed to have less fallen trees, but had a lot of mud potential. The upside to the lack of rain is that all that mud was pretty dry. All in all, more fallen trees than the avg BWCA portage, but we still zipped through the portage pretty quickly.

As for water levels, yeah, the English Rapids section is pretty slow going right now. I can't imagine getting through there with the water much lower than when we were in, but I don't know the ratio of how the CFS impacts the depth. You will be almost 8 CFS less, but how many inches of water will that cost you? I don't know. If you do the trip, please come back and update this post for others in the future!

Mocha: "thanks for the info! you could contact mckenzie map company and let them know about that portage issue, urge them to correct it! "

I emailed McKenzie Maps yesterday and received this response from Rob McKenzie:

"Thanks for making me aware of this. For all the years this map has been out, no one has ever brought this to my attention including park officials. I'll get this corrected asap.
Thanks!"

Thanks for suggesting I contact them. Sometimes we just need to speak up!

I liked the voice mail trip report you gave!

eagle98mn: "

Mocha: "thanks for the info! you could contact mckenzie map company and let them know about that portage issue, urge them to correct it! "

I emailed McKenzie Maps yesterday and received this response from Rob McKenzie:


"Thanks for making me aware of this. For all the years this map has been out, no one has ever brought this to my attention including park officials. I'll get this corrected asap.
Thanks!"


Thanks for suggesting I contact them. Sometimes we just need to speak up!
"

that is awesome! Rod is so easy to work with. i wonder when the new print will be run.

Forty five years ago I did a trip with someone else that had never been in a canoe. We were going for 25 days or so and as a result we were loaded to the hilt and carrying an aluminum canoe.
We started with the dip of the canoe in Lake Superior and then took off up the Grand Portage in about 80 degree heat. Things started to go downhill when we had to cross the road at about the 4 mile mark. The woman I was with did not know about the road and could not fathom why we just spent hours portaging when we could have started at the road. My explanation about the romantic past of the french voyageurs fell on deaf ears.
Fast forward a few more hours and we were still not to the end of the Grand Portage. And, oh yeah, we carried no water because I thought it was too heavy. Yup, we were toast and exhausted. I had the canoe and a heavy pack on my weakling body. By this time it was carry for two minutes and drop the load to rest.
Finally, I was about ready to simply quit and camp and hike to the river for water. We left our stuff and started hiking. Five minutes later we got to the Pigeon River. It was August and very dry. The water level was extremely low.
Back we went to get our gear. Finished the portage and waded into the stream and drank directly from it for ten minutes. Nope, no filter.
Too tired to even eat. Went to bed for ten hours.
The next day I swear to God we portaged the river more than we paddled it. It was soooo low. And by now the bugs were out in force. We ended up camping in a swamp on the river. With the bugs. The poor woman.
The next day things slowly got better. We ended up going to Sag, up Kawnipi, to the Quetico Park HQ, wandered down through Quetico, back into the BW and then across the Echo Trail and out of the BW into Lake Vermilion.
A very bad start led to an absolutely awesome trip that allowed me to check off a bucket list item.
Yes, you guessed it. I never tripped with the woman again.

Mirth - Thanks! I was on a work trip sitting in a hotel room, rehearsing what I wanted to say to get it to within 2 minutes. It was a lot harder than I imagined, but it was fun to hear it play back pretty much like I rehearsed it. I had to make sure to fit in the suggestion to drag a Clearwater rental across the English Rapids - figured Erik would enjoy that. :)

GraniteCliffs - what a story! One problem: "things started to go downhill when we had to cross the road at about the 4 mile mark" As far as I could tell, you were still going uphill for a long way after that! :)

GraniteCliffs: "Forty five years ago I did a trip with someone else that had never been in a canoe. We were going for 25 days or so and as a result we were loaded to the hilt and carrying an aluminum canoe.
We started with the dip of the canoe in Lake Superior and then took off up the Grand Portage in about 80 degree heat. Things started to go downhill when we had to cross the road at about the 4 mile mark. The woman I was with did not know about the road and could not fathom why we just spent hours portaging when we could have started at the road. My explanation about the romantic past of the french voyageurs fell on deaf ears.
Fast forward a few more hours and we were still not to the end of the Grand Portage. And, oh yeah, we carried no water because I thought it was too heavy. Yup, we were toast and exhausted. I had the canoe and a heavy pack on my weakling body. By this time it was carry for two minutes and drop the load to rest.
Finally, I was about ready to simply quit and camp and hike to the river for water. We left our stuff and started hiking. Five minutes later we got to the Pigeon River. It was August and very dry. The water level was extremely low.
Back we went to get our gear. Finished the portage and waded into the stream and drank directly from it for ten minutes. Nope, no filter.
Too tired to even eat. Went to bed for ten hours.
The next day I swear to God we portaged the river more than we paddled it. It was soooo low. And by now the bugs were out in force. We ended up camping in a swamp on the river. With the bugs. The poor woman.
The next day things slowly got better. We ended up going to Sag, up Kawnipi, to the Quetico Park HQ, wandered down through Quetico, back into the BW and then across the Echo Trail and out of the BW into Lake Vermilion.
A very bad start led to an absolutely awesome trip that allowed me to check off a bucket list item.
Yes, you guessed it. I never tripped with the woman again."

Great story. I had a similar experience with a girlfriend backpacking in the early 1970's. While she has never tripped with me again we celebrated our 44th anniversary this year.