All this talk about "wet footing" has me wondering where this is an option along our Moose to Knife route? Some quick digging resulted in talks of one small waterfall and a couple ares where chest high water was a real possibility, but no real discussion in specificity.

Sucker / Birch
Birch / Carp
Carp / Melon
Melon / Seed
Seed / Knife

Understand the portages are relatively short and well traveled, but every minute counts on day one of this route, so would love to get some feedback on this.

Thanks!

Paul

Short answer: yes, wet-footing is possible on that route and I've done it each of the three times in/out I've traveled it, and am glad I did.

Not sure if I'm reading or interpreting correctly, but it isn't as though you are actually walking your boat and gear up the waterfalls. Walking the portages will be quicker. Wet-footing does help speed due reduced concern over finding an adequate canoe landing spot. The knife side of 2 of the portages, including the entry to knife, also makes it greatly beneficial to wet-foot. The water is so shallow that loading all gear and people in the boat makes it get hung up on rocks. From my experience, someone needs to walk the boat out into the area of greater depth to get moving from the end of the portage.

Just did this route last week took us five hours to get to knife double portaging we just wore knee high rubber boots. If it’s warm out I wouldn’t bother with rubber boots nothing will be deeper than knee deep. Pretty easy portages and we had never portages or even canoed much before . Lots of black flies last week

I have been through there many times and will travel from Moose to Knife this Saturday. These portages are all really easy and I have always wet footed through them. It is possible that recent rains could make for muddy spots on some but can usually skirt around the mud.

You can wet foot any portage. I guess it's quicker than dry footing because you can hop out and go further out and if several canoes you don't have to wait for that one spot you can stay dry at.
I always paddle Sucker to Birch. The slightly longer paddle seems faster than unloading and loading, and loading/unloading is the one thing we are fast at.

gopher2307: "Short answer: yes, wet-footing is possible on that route and I've done it each of the three times in/out I've traveled it, and am glad I did.


Not sure if I'm reading or interpreting correctly, but it isn't as though you are actually walking your boat and gear up the waterfalls. Walking the portages will be quicker. Wet-footing does help speed due reduced concern over finding an adequate canoe landing spot. The knife side of 2 of the portages, including the entry to knife, also makes it greatly beneficial to wet-foot. The water is so shallow that loading all gear and people in the boat makes it get hung up on rocks. From my experience, someone needs to walk the boat out into the area of greater depth to get moving from the end of the portage."

Thanks for the feedback and it appears I left out an important piece from my original post. Ever since we switched to kevlar/composite canoes, my feet have been getting wet at practically every portage in search of a proper landing spot and/or avoid a crowded landing. By the looks of it, this is the preferred approach for this route and required at some of the landings due to shallow water. We've also taken a liking to walking the streams, rapids, etc., instead of unloading and loading the gear where accessible. I guess we don't mind getting a bit wet. If we find a way to get our gear reduced to a degree where we can single portage, the recommendation is to load and unload?

46plymouth: "Just did this route last week took us five hours to get to knife double portaging we just wore knee high rubber boots. If it’s warm out I wouldn’t bother with rubber boots nothing will be deeper than knee deep. Pretty easy portages and we had never portages or even canoed much before . Lots of black flies last week "

We will be getting a tow to Indian Portage with the plan of getting to Knife before 12pm. Goal is to be able to set camp, gather wood for fire, and get out for the evening fish on day 1. Crossing fingers the winds aren't too bad. I've been reading a lot of reports on black flies. I'm sure the mosquitoes are going to start hatching as well...great!