The first trip I made to the BWCA, I saw an aluminum canoe ripped completely in half, someone had tried to run a waterfall. That same trip, another party had skipped the portage and gone over a waterfall, the power of the water trapped the boat in the downward force of the water, and a dozen people and a couple of emergency crews in motorboats were unsuccessfully trying to pull it out.

So I knew well not to run rapids.

When I'm not paddling about lakes, I have done a lot of whitewater on rivers. I have a magic sweet-spot Royalex solo boat - just as light as a kevlar canoe (No lie!It's true!) but so durable you could clobber it with a sledgehammer and just pop out the dent. I've run plenty of whitewater on rivers.

I'm paddling solo, in my magic solo Royalex whitewater boat, trying to find the portage between Hudson and Lake Three. It's plainly there on the map, yet I paddle back and forth where I think it is and find nothing. The shore is a solid wall of willow thickets. I finally rest on a rock, eat my lunch and think about my options. There is a tiny riffle of a rapids in front of me - that water route around the portage. It looks easy. I could run it, check it out, and easily portage back to where I am over this rock I'm sitting on. I think "Well it wouldn't hurt to look" and "I'm a bit lost, maybe I'll find my bearings" ...

So I hop in my boat and slip over the rapids.

Easy. Soon there is another rapids. I pause in an eddy, and examine it carefully. An easy run for a whitewater guy. But this time there's no portaging back. Shore is choked with dense stands of willow or tall rocks. Maybe I could wade back, probably not. But it's runnable. I slip into the current.

Easy. Soon, though, I come to another rapids. I have enough experience to know this is a flipper. I'm loaded down with gear - my boat is not as maneuverable as it would be empty. I've got no floatation bags. I can see exactly where I'll get in trouble. There's no going forward and no going back.

Well, I decide to line it. I put together all the rope I have - bear hang ropes, bow line, etc. I've added special eye hooks low down on the boat - just for this day. Lining a boat from an attachment high on the gunnel is an invitation to flip it. I attach my rope to the low eye bolt, and start working down the shore while letting the canoe down the rapids with the ropes. If I die out here, they'll find my boat in a few weeks and me floating face down with a smile on my lips. I clip my Garmin emergency communicator to my life jacket and start wading.

At one point the boat is a good 50 feet away from me, and gets in there sideways, would have flipped with a high attachment but my low eye bolts saved it. I have to pick my way through willows and plunging shorelines, sometimes above my waist in water sometime climbing trees, hanging onto my rope.

Finally I'm past the whitewater, pull the boat back and climb in. I've run the rapids, and lined the worst of them.

I whoop and holler and swear I will never do that again. I round the bend and find the other end of the portage.


Never run rapids in the BWCA.

Came across this in the '90s near the Lake 2 dam.

I just wanna know what royalex boat is as light as a kevlar.

NEIowapaddler: "I just wanna know what royalex boat is as light as a kevlar."

Ditto!

What a great read Lile. the low attachment point saved the day. A reminder how all the little tweaks and things work we do ahead of trips can really make all the difference.

I'm solo more often than not, and I'll very occasionally shoot some easy clear rapids after giving them a good scout. I've come across three canoes over the years, the first being an aluminum on the way into LLC from Nina Moose that was literally ripped in half. Prior to that point, I didn't understand the power of water so that one has stuck with me and made me very cautious out there.

Came across these on the Moose River a couple summers back a few weeks after the significant rain/flooding event. Can't say if they just got away from someone at a portage or if they tried to run the rapids but either way, don't run the rapids, especially in Kevlar.

portagerunner: "


Came across these on the Moose River a couple summers back a few weeks after the significant rain/flooding event. Can't say if they just got away from someone at a portage or if they tried to run the rapids but either way, don't run the rapids, especially in Kevlar."

At one of the sites just below Chatterton Falls was the bow (or stern) of an amputated aluminum canoe back in 2020. I'm hoping it was just improperly secured by some campers at the top of the falls. Never heard any stories related to it.

Love running rapids. There has to be a list of canoe doable BWCA rapids somewhere.

"As long as there are young men with the light of adventure in their souls, rapids will be run"

I grew up in Arkansas canoeing, which means all the canoeing I did was on rivers.

They are a lot of fun, and I enjoy rapids, but you learn very quickly which ones will dump you, which ones will could hurt you, and which ones will for sure kill you.

In a Kevlar canoe, I almost never run rapids. The risk of ending a trip early, which I look forward to all year, is not worth the risk. Also, I almost always have others with me, and if they see me do run the rapids, they want to do it even though they don’t have any experience.

keth0601: ""As long as there are young men with the light of adventure in their souls, rapids will be run""

"We are all between swims."

More than the shot to the ego -

The price of the fine for leaving what amounts to trash (after the river is done with your canoe) in the BWCAW.

And then the price to pay either the FS or an outfitter to salvage the boat. It can't be left there.

$$$$$$$

Way less expensive to take the portage.

scat: "Love running rapids. There has to be a list of canoe doable BWCA rapids somewhere."

I don't think there's many. In my experience the rapids that have portages around are usually tree and boulder choked , or too shallow.

Many years ago we were paddling rentals and came to a portage. I am very cautious so we unpacked.

My brother in law and his son said "We're going to run this thing."

As we hauled our packs along, we suddenly heard them yell "Ahhhh!" and "Watch out!!!" "No!" Etc All the way down the rapids.

We got to the end of the portage and they floated out in one piece, but very flustered.

Good laugh and memory.

We don't run much of anything up there.

This last year one of the guys ran the rapids from Alpine into Seagull. When he got through he had a crack in the bottom of the kevlar canoe that he duct taped.

Another guy pulled his kevlar canoe up on the rocks at the palisades. In doing so he put a small hole in his canoe.

Both guys had a conversation with the outfitter when they returned. Both learned an expensive lesson.

Bottom line: Your equipment. . . go for it if you think you can. The outfitters gear. . . show some respect for the outfitter and his/her investment.

scat: "Love running rapids. There has to be a list of canoe doable BWCA rapids somewhere."

or just walk the portage first to see if it's actually doable. New down trees happen every year , what was doable last year may not be this year.

My trip partner and I ran some on the Falls Chain in a Grumman in a previous millennium. At one point the plan was to head to the left shore above one we deemed not runnable. As we approached, it seemed to me from my seat in the bow that we were not going to stick the landing, so I went into the water with the bow line. It happened that my partner in the stern was looking away, and he was mildly surprised to see me absent when he turned back around.

We rigged for lining with all the gear in the boat. I had the bow and he had the stern. The current yanked the stern line from his hands, the boat swung 180 degrees and went ass-backward over the drop - upright.

Water levels, experience, properly scouting, common sense etc make a small percentage rather enjoyable.

I agree. The placement of the BWCA/Quetico region at the top of the Hudson Bay or Great Lakes watershed, means most of the rivers are small, shallow or filled with fallen trees. There are some exceptions along the rivers along the international border like the Basswood, or some of the larger rivers like the Maligne, Granite and Kawishiwi. But even those aren’t prime whitewater canoeing destinations, and can have some of the same problems as the smaller rivers.

Ok, I won’t try the rapids from Alpine to Seagull on my spring trip, 2nd bad report on that. I did the chute from Bald Eagle to Gabbro with my son 4-5 times, oh boy.

Argo: "

keth0601: ""As long as there are young men with the light of adventure in their souls, rapids will be run""

"We are all between swims.""

I am no longer a young man, so no rapids will be run.

I am still a little klutzy, so an inadvertent swim is always possible...

ockycamper: "This last year one of the guys ran the rapids from Alpine into Seagull."

At first I thought you meant the rapids / waterfall / boulder-packed cascade from Jasper into Alpine, and I thought there's no way anyone's taking a canoe through that on purpose, and sincerely hope no one's tried.

I have run a few rapids in my time. Out side the BWCA

There is any only one or two inside the NBWCA that I think could be doable.

Most a to shallow and tree choked to even try.

Portages are there for a reason.

Just easiser to hump the canoe and packs over them

No fun and no adventure on portages. Now running rapids that’s fun. I’ve ran quite a few, probably about 10 up there.

I keep thinking that someone at some time has run the mighty and deadly Curtain Falls stretch, in a kayak for sure. Wondering if that has been done.

From memory - On the isabella the rapids just upstream from Quadga we skipped the portages and paddle both up and down them.

On the Horse River in Higher water, there's portages that can be skipped for sure. In low water, you'll be looking for portages that don't exist and end up wading some of the rapids.

I think it was the rapids between Fall and Newton that one of the individuals in our party paddled through with relative ease as well. The next one Newton to Basswood...don't do that one, there's a legit falls just out of sight from the upstream portion.

I've run one ever--from Ensign into Splash.

If you can call it a rapids, then also when going north, on the north side of the island below the "Hilton" (campsite 1131) on the Kawishiwi River. Otherwise, I always take the portage.

I remember a canoe trip I did with a two of my college friends down the Flambeau River. The rapids were probably class 3 but maybe 4. In between the rapids was an island that we were to camp on for the night. We pulled up to the island and emptied out gear. One of my friends, who was familiar with the river, suggested we run the rapids for fun. “Hey, why not?” We paddled back up the river and ran the rapids. “Hey, that was fun, let’s do it again!” We portaged back up the island and above the rapids. Down we went. This time we took on too much water. The canoe turned and we slammed into a boulder-over we went. We all were able to hold onto the canoe until we reached shallow water-we were all safe. We started to turn the canoe over to empty the water when we noticed a huge gash in the side of the aluminum canoe. Thankfully the gash was just above the water line and we were able to safely paddler to our exit point the next day. Fun times, but I’d never do that again.

Me and some buds shot some huge rapids in Tennessee on TVA's network of waterways. I was 16 and the most experienced and I had little. We immediately swamped our canoe and luckily none of us died. I would bet class 4 but I'm no expert.

Well, that didn't seem to smarten me up at all, so years later I ran the Mantorville MN Dam, I was in the stern with a 300# bow paddler. We got half way over the 12' dam during spring runoff, stuck to the cement with our Aluminum canoe. We scooched it forward when gravity took over, with my heavy bow paddler/cousin catapulting us downward, then the current flung the canoe sideways with myself in the stern paddling air, on our downward spiral toward the bottom of the dam.
Spring runoff was strong that year and I still wear the gash on my left shoulder after I got spit from the rocks.

That one thankfully smartened me up a little.



Mantorville Reservoir

Pic Mantorville Dam

Since it was mentioned I went on a canoe trip in high school on the south fork of the Flambeau River and we ran all sorts of amazing rapids. One waterfall had a 6’ drop and then Little Falls was a 10’ drop. I did it twice cuz one guy in our group chickened out so I took his place for a second run with his partner. That is a great canoe trip.
I’ve told the story of how I left a canoe wrapped around a rock in a rapids on the 11 Point River in the Ozarks before so I’ll save that. Yes water is very powerful.

'86 on the Granite River, out fishing one evening in the OT Discovery, our other campmate stayed back at camp with his cedar solo. Came across one of the sets of rapids we're like.......lets run them.
So we get out and scout them, doable with a chute at the end. Uneventful but fun, as we portage and paddle back to camp we decide to not tell our friend about it because we wanted to play a little gag on him.
A couple days later on the paddle out we encounter the same stretch and announce that we are going to run them. "You guys aren't even gonna scout them?!" The cedar stripper says in bewilderment. (He of course would portage)
"Nah, we got this!"
As we smirk and paddle away. We're fully loaded but didn't think it would be an issue compared to only having fishing gear from a couple days before. All is going well until I notice something is totally different with the chute, no stopping at this point........but now there is a shiny aluminum ramp at the top of the chute that launches us airborne......well, as much as a fully loaded canoe can actually get air.
The bow comes down and submerges pretty good but pops back up and the run was over, no harm no foul......some water to bail.

In the 2 days in between runs, an aluminum canoe got wrapped around a rock at the top of the chute, it was completely submerged and blocked the chute with a large wave passing over it.
We still laugh about it, the day we jumped a canoe with another canoe.

These are fun stories. I don't run rapids but love reading the Sig Olson stories of the "white horses."

I have only blindly run rapids in my kayak. It's much more nimble and able to maneuver quickly. I'm no whitewater guy, but I do pretty well. If I'm in a canoe, or if I'm just unsure, I will park it at the portage and check it out before I do it.

Most are not worth the risk - there is a reason for the portage!

Last year in my kayak I ran a rapid. It was fine at first, and then it got so shallow at one point that I was dragging even in my kayak. Then I dropped my camera in the water. Then my metal stringer broke - that was a tough one!

scat: "I keep thinking that someone at some time has run the mighty and deadly Curtain Falls stretch, in a kayak for sure. Wondering if that has been done."

I know a couple that have run a portion of Curtain. Everything but the first drop. It was a long time ago in a Grumman.

Tony

My very first trip to the BW -- a high school group. We encountered a portage around some rapids. My pals said, "let's run this." At that station in life, I'd not yet done any whitewater canoeing, however, I grew up fishing and duck hunting out of a canoe. I said, 'let's walk the trail and scout it first,' Thankfully they complied. Midway down the stretch, an aluminum canoe was twisted, bent and broke, hung up midstream. Usually, l learn life's lessons the hard way. Thankful that this round, I learned from someone else's mistake. We portaged.
We have run some rapids, but we always scout the entire stretch first. Looking downriver never offers the perspective needed to make a good decision.

Im not sure how to start this.
Have I taken risks in the bwca?

Yeah i have. I have done cliff jumping. But we thoroughly checked out the water we jumped into, including bringing a scuba mask so we could see deeper. That said it was a long time ago and I was much dumber. Much dumber.

That said I have never questioned a portage. I have always figured if there is one there then there is a reason that its there. So no on the rapids. Take the portage and hope you life as long as us older people have.

I dont know if it's the spot/garmin things that have come out but remember you are a VERY long ways from any real health help.

About ten years ago my brother in law was in Quetico with a group, and he and his paddling partner overshot a portage landing and went through rapids in a rented Quetico17. Capsized, lost some stuff,… When the guy from Canoe Canada picked them up and saw the boat his words were something like “Oh, you’ll be buyin’ this one eh?!”

Argo: "

keth0601: ""As long as there are young men with the light of adventure in their souls, rapids will be run""

"We are all between swims.""

Both good ones!

ForestDuff: "'86 on the Granite River, out fishing one evening in the OT Discovery, our other campmate stayed back at camp with his cedar solo. Came across one of the sets of rapids we're like.......lets run them.
So we get out and scout them, doable with a chute at the end. Uneventful but fun, as we portage and paddle back to camp we decide to not tell our friend about it because we wanted to play a little gag on him.
A couple days later on the paddle out we encounter the same stretch and announce that we are going to run them. "You guys aren't even gonna scout them?!" The cedar stripper says in bewilderment. (He of course would portage)
"Nah, we got this!"
As we smirk and paddle away. We're fully loaded but didn't think it would be an issue compared to only having fishing gear from a couple days before. All is going well until I notice something is totally different with the chute, no stopping at this point........but now there is a shiny aluminum ramp at the top of the chute that launches us airborne......well, as much as a fully loaded canoe can actually get air.
The bow comes down and submerges pretty good but pops back up and the run was over, no harm no foul......some water to bail.

In the 2 days in between runs, an aluminum canoe got wrapped around a rock at the top of the chute, it was completely submerged and blocked the chute with a large wave passing over it.
We still laugh about it, the day we jumped a canoe with another canoe."

Now THAT is a new one... and a good reminder because I've also run rapids with a scout report that is a day or two old... got lucky I guess.

Thanks Lile001. You have a good story and it's a good topic for sharing.

scat: "Love running rapids. There has to be a list of canoe doable BWCA rapids somewhere."

Trouble is it depends on conditions, time of the year and volume of melt or rainfall.

Some years ago my cousin and I were working are way down the Basswood River. We encountered a group of guys that couldn't speak English (I don't remember where they were from). They were ill-prepared to take the long portage around the rapids; most of their gear was in duffle bags and they didn't look light. They kept pointing to the river as if to ask, "When can we get back on the water?" My cousin and I told them they had to take the full portage, as the water levels were up and it wasn't safe to run any rapids at this time (although we have in past).

We quickly passed these guys and found a decent campsite below the Lower Falls. The next morning when we were fishing, we discovered a waterlogged canoe full of gear. The canoe looked pretty beat up, but was still intact (it was made of Royalex). This canoe was one of the canoes from the 4 guys we saw the previous day!

We ran into another group that described what happened. These four guys didn't want to portage anymore so they decided they'd line their canoe down Wheelbarrow Falls. At some point they lost the ropes and one witness said the canoe was vertical at one point in the rapids!

Ckiff Wold used to have a mangled canoe by their sign in Ely. I believe it went over Curtain Falls. It was always a reminder of just how powerful water can be. At the camp where I worked we had an old Grumman that also had survived Curtain Falls and was repaired by Tembaths. Friends who went to Hudson Bay talk about meeting a church group carrying a cross to put by a set of rapids where they had lost two people. I also remember a trip I had up in Canada where there was a narrow landing by a portage around rapids. One kid accidentally hit a canoe while lifting his and sent it towards the torrent. Another kid dived in to grab it. Fortunately I could grab him by the collar before he was swept away. When he asked why I said, "You're worth way more than a canoe." The canoe also survived.