Yes I can, yes I can.
In my younger days when I was in my 50's I always one portaged. I think much of it had to do with proving I could do it.
I look back now and even than I knew I missed much of the enjoyment of seeing things on portages with my head under the canoe with low visibility and stopping too long I would get to tired.
So much to see while portaging and we miss much-except when you have 1000's mosquitoes around you and they always build up from one end of the portage to the other side. Biting you and your hands, while they are all busy so they bit you at will.

Missed admiring those huge White pines or cedars. I did have to stop south of Hansen lake the to look at those like 500--1000 year old white cedars.

Yes 85 pound aluminum canoe and pack and paddles. Yes your shoulders may hurt from canoe yolk or back, but you kept a going.
Those days are gone.

Most of you one portage people because you can or are you being a little like a macho Voyageur in a hurry.
Did your load ever get the best of you and you just had to drop or lose the canoe on the portage. Did the portage whip your Butt?

Love the picture…packs a little small for a single portager :)

Why single portage?

It’s just what I’ve done… I think it is related to my first trip where we were fully outfitted and double portaged. Right away our group figured we had way too much of EVERYTHING. We discussed what we didn’t need and needed. We organized our packs so by the end of the trip we were single portaging.

For myself and my group single portaging was just simply easier. Less effort, less portaging, less pack weight, less chance for injury.

I think later in life there is also fun in challenging yourself to be efficient and lighter.

When my kids were little we did double or triple at times. I didn’t find the portaging more or less enjoyable…they just were what we needed to do…

Many portages kicked my but. Heart Attack hill on the way to Sarah…Grattan Death March…Wagosh 1 miler…if I get tired I stop and get out of the way, rest, take off again.

I don’t think it’s ever about being in a rush or Macho—-showing off. I don’t think people that run into me in The Wilderness care what I do or are impressed. As far as being in a rush…the average portager is walking less than 2 mph…the average walking speed of a healthy adult is 3.2 mph…so walking at a speed of almost half the average adult is hardly rushing.

As I said earlier I think people single portages becuase it is efficient and easier. When it isn’t easier you don’t do it…no big deal.

T

Straighthairedcurly single portages on solo trips. She doesn’t seem like the macho type to me. More like a badass. Her pack is probably a third of that size tho haha. Interesting post.

I would like to invite any and all of you to shc's Den of Lightweight Tripping Iniquity: Lightweight (& Efficient) Tripping Forum

timatkn: "Love the picture…packs a little small for a single portager :)


Why single portage?


It’s just what I’ve done… I think it is related to my first trip where we were fully outfitted and double portaged. Right away our group figured we had way too much of EVERYTHING. We discussed what we didn’t need and needed. We organized our packs so by the end of the trip we were single portaging.


For myself and my group single portaging was just simply easier. Less effort, less portaging, less pack weight, less chance for injury.


I think later in life there is also fun in challenging yourself to be efficient and lighter.


When my kids were little we did double or triple at times. I didn’t find the portaging more or less enjoyable…they just were what we needed to do…


Many portages kicked my but. Heart Attack hill on the way to SarahS…Grattan Death March…Wagosh 1 miler…if I get tired I stop and get out of the way, rest, take off again.


I don’t think it’s ever about being in a rush or Macho—-showing off. I don’t think people that run into me in The Wilderness care what I do or are impressed. As far as being in a rush…the average portager is walking less than 2 mph…the average walking speed of a healthy adult is 3.2 mph…so walking at a speed of almost half the average adult is hardly rushing.


As I said earlier I think people single portages becuase it is efficient and easier. When it isn’t easier you don’t do it…no big deal.


T"

Like you said, I do take pride in cutting pack weight so i can make it in one trip. The planning of pack weight is fun and lets you or makes you think you got to buy that lighter tent or cook ware. Sometimes though I sacrificed bringing maybe a better food choice for meals.

My heavy items I could cut are my fishing gear and a bag of wine :)

On my last trip, it was with our Scout troop, so the wine was a big no:) automatically made the load lighter LOL… I do regret in my effort to keep it light and save money I tried to get a second trip out of my 8 AA lithium batteries for my depth finder. Died after 10 minutes of use. Essentially carried 3-4 pounds all week for no reason. Not painful physically but was mentally painful as it killed me to think how inefficient I was just because I tried to be cheap with the batteries LOL

T

I like to pack light, which I consider “normal.” I think heavyweight packing should be the odd duck.

Anyway, for those heavy tripping as a group, I suggest the 1.5 portage.
One group/person goes the whole length with a load, drops it, returns to the mid point to pick up a load. The other group/person goes half way with a load, drops it, and returns to the start for what remains and brings it the entire length.

Each person covers the total distance of the portage X 2 instead of X 3. Assuming 2 people, the load is broken in 1/2 on a single portage, into 1/3’s on a 1.5 portage and into 1/4’s on a double portage.

timatkn: "Love the picture…packs a little small for a single portager :)


Why single portage?

I think later in life there is also fun in challenging yourself to be efficient and lighter.

Many portages kicked my but. Heart Attack hill on the way to Sarah…Grattan Death March…Wagosh 1 miler…if I get tired I stop and get out of the way, rest, take off again.

I don’t think it’s ever about being in a rush or Macho—-showing off. I don’t think people that run into me in The Wilderness care what I do or are impressed. As far as being in a rush…the average portager is walking less than 2 mph…the average walking speed of a healthy adult is 3.2 mph…so walking at a speed of almost half the average adult is hardly rushing.

As I said earlier I think people single portages because it is efficient and easier. When it isn’t easier you don’t do it…no big deal.

T"

My first trip (1978) was with a crew from Charles L Sommers BSA Canoe Base, and we single-walked portages. With my backpacker background, I thought that was "the way" it was done, so when I returned with my wife in '79, we single-walked. Aluminum canoe, heavy packs, but that was "the way".

Through the years we've greatly reduced portage weight via Kevlar canoes, lighter tents, dehydrating our own meals, titanium cooking gear, etc. For the past two years our total portage weight for our 10-day trip has been just under 125 pounds. TOTAL weight! When we make this year's Quetico trip in late August we'll each be 75, and are planning to single-walk. It's "the way"!

TZ

I'm 64 and have been canoe tripping, far and wide, since 1979. I still almost always single portage on Quetico/BWCA trips. Keep going, no stops. That's the nice thing about having a kevlar canoe and packing light. Up to two weeks on the trail, single portaging is no problem. Longer than that and the extra food might make the first few days double-portages.

It's not really a "he-man" or "macho thing", but more about efficiency and travel style. Physical fitness (including muscle memory), terrain conditions, and size/weight of load are all determining factors. And your group is as strong as its weakest link.

While you can get away with single-portaging pretty much anywhere in Quetico or the BWCA because of regular trail maintenance at least every few years, even in the recent burn areas, it's less practical in the canoe country across much of the North where mixed river and lake routes preclude kevlar boats. Up there, canoes made of Royalex or cross-linked plastics rule due to their toughness---and they are all heavy.

My Old Town Tripper, which I've used on several trips to Hudson Bay, as well as long sub-arctic and Arctic trips, weighs 80 pounds. Even in my 20s and 30s we wouldn't be single-portaging because it would be physically nearly-impossible and downright dangerous to do so.

Single-portaging is a wonderful luxury when and where you can do it.

I still single portage because its much easier when entering and exiting portage landings. It simplifies the whole portage process for me, which then increases my enjoyment.

Maybe I am odd, but I kind of enjoy portaging. Do I enjoy knee deep boot sucking mud, swarming black flies, or impersonating a mountain goat by going up a steep rock face with a canoe on my shoulders? No! But on average, I thoroughly enjoy the walk through the woods and stretching my legs. Maybe that comes from backpacking for decades prior to getting into canoe tripping.

When solo, I always double portage even though with only slight modifications to my gear I could certainly single carry. It protects my quite troublesome lower back and the walk back to the start of the portage without having to carry anything is generally a joy for me.

I try to focus on never being in a rush during my backcountry trips (unless the weather requires it). It's more important to me to slow down and really take in everything around me than it is to cover huge distances each day. Maybe I would be more likely to single if I were crossing busy BW portages with traffic, but on last fall's Quetico trip I only crossed paths with one couple while portaging. Over six days, I had the rest of the portages all to myself.

I'm 62 and I'm definitely in the lightweight camp. For me, it's not about being fast, it's more about enjoying the trip and freeing it up to go fast or slow, whatever I choose.

Last trip, when I had a big load of consumables that necessitated double portages, I had fun offering to carry other folks gear on the otherwise "empty" trip back. Pretty easy to carry a small cooler or a daypack for somebody, and I had a lot of appreciation. Anyone else do this?

We like having the option to single portage so we pack light.

If we single portage, I take the canoe and a day pack (bookbag size) and my buddy takes both duluths, both PFDs, and the paddles.

But honestly we usually do a 1.5x portage...I'll take the canoe and day pack, he grabs one duluth and the paddles. Then I'll go back for the second duluth and the PFDs while he gets the canoe loaded. By the time I'm back we're ready to push off.

Next portage we swap canoe vs. packs.

And of course, there's always the option to do a full double portage if we are especially tired or the path is especially scenic.

I always like wedging the paddles under the canoe and have cinch straps to hold them in.

arctic: "Single-portaging is a wonderful luxury when and where you can do it."

I think that is a great way to look at it!

For the efficiency! Also why I carry all the grocery bags in one trip. That being said, I am still on the younger side. I'm sure the day will come where my physical limitations prevent me from singling.

I don't think my chronically troublesome back will ever allow me to safely single portage unless I find a way to dramatically cut the weight of my gear. Until then I'm okay with doubling when solo.

I tend to work up to it on my solo trips. For me, it takes a day or two for me to get my "legs"; where I feel confident I'm not rushing or stumbling under a load, plus the pack gets lighter as I go. If I am trying to cover more ground or if I'm encountering another group and want to create some seperation, I'll one trip it. But the vast majority of the time, I'm enjoying that walk back, cooling off and looking into the woods.

I first went to the BWCA in 68.

I have done extensive back packing. I know how to cut weight.

Canoe camping is nice one can bring real food.

I been double portaging for a while I am going to turn 70.
Some stents and a major heart attack have slowed me down.

One sees a lot more on the portages on the trips across when not carrying stuff.

My first trip to the BWCA was in 1976. I took all my stuff in an army duffel bag. I did not line it with anything. I've learned a lot since then.

What I haven't learned is to bring less stuff. We just bring a lot of stuff. Just a difference in style. We used to carry everything in two big Battle Lake packs. Now we actually carry all our stuff in three Battle Lake packs, each one lighter in its own way. I carry the canoe and the heaviest pack, one trip each. My wife takes the lightest pack. We usually take turns on the last pack.

I BDB the paddles into the canoe and use a carabiner to secure the PFDs to the outside of the packs. No loose stuff at all.

We are older and just can't carry heavier loads. I'm having some balance issues, also, so lighter is better so I don't trip.

Solo, I carry the canoe across, then the pack, or vice versa. Again, two portages.

I admire those that can single portage. We've just gotten into this rhythm over the last 20 plus years we've been traveling together, and the numerous other trips I've taken solo or with others. I look at those that can single portage with some measure of envy, knowing I could likely do the same, but with much less of the creature comforts we have become accustomed to.

Mike

scat: "Straighthairedcurly single portages on solo trips. She doesn’t seem like the macho type to me. More like a badass. Her pack is probably a third of that size tho haha. Interesting post."

LOL, I used to be a bit of a macho, macho woman in my younger days when I would haul 90 lb. packs and loved knowing I could one-up a wood and canvas canoe.

But now it is just about carrying less so I don't have to work hard! No macho left in it. If it isn't comfortable to carry, it's not for me any more. I should be able to walk a portage once AND see the sights at the same time.

Maybe when I started, there was a little bit of that machoness. I just tell people I’m lazy. I don’t like walking the same ground multiple times. Even when I’m running, I would prefer to do a loop any day over a straight line back-and-forth.

On my last trip with a couple guys, they made fun of all my ultra light gear said I wasn’t stopping to smell the roses. I concede that I don’t always enjoy the trees, mushrooms, other sights with my head in a canoe as much as when I don’t, but I sure enjoyed the log I sat on and the trees, flowers, and lake shore as I waited on them to cross the 210 rod portage two more times. They didn’t make fun of my gear and single portaging after that one.

Hindsight I perhaps I could’ve been a better trip partner and helped them…

CanoeViking: "
On my last trip with a couple guys, they made fun of all my ultra light gear said I wasn’t stopping to smell the roses.
but I sure enjoyed the log I sat on and the trees, flowers, and lake shore as I waited on them to cross the 210 rod portage two more times. They didn’t make fun of my gear and single portaging after that one.
"

I bet they didn’t stop and “smell the roses either”…they just walked by them more times…

T