I have a Clearwater permit coming up and I seem to have a logistics issue. How is a solo paddler supposed to double portage and not leave his food unattended?

I've read some tips in the past about not leaving the pack at the very end of the portage. But I'm wondering, isn't it really just up to chance whether or not a bear is trolling the portage at the time I'm there? It's a longer portage into Caribou too, so it'll be in the hot seat for a bit of time. My real plan is that knowing Caribou is maybe more likely to have a bear than Clearwater, I'll bring the food on my second trip. But that isn't much different.

Ideas? Tips?

You could shuttle portage, take one load part way, return for the other take it past the first load etc- same number of trips but your stuff is left unattended for shorter periods of time.

I have heard of people hanging their food pack at the portage. I didn't but then bears are not such a problem in the Q.

have you discovered there is a problem bear in the area?

if not, I wouldn't worry about it

quote ZaraSp00k: "have you discovered there is a problem bear in the area?


if not, I wouldn't worry about it"

There is and has been a problem with bear or bears in the area.

Basnksiana's idea may be a good solution...of course nothing is guaranteed bear proof.
What I have heard a week or so ago that all the campsites on Caribou, and Little Caribou are or were closed. I'm not sure if this closing is still in force.

You could always ask the bear to give you a hand with your gear, eh?

OK, but has there actually been a history of problems at the portages?

creatures of habit, if they've been a problem at campsites playing with hung bags, hanging at a portage is the last thing I'd do

"OneMatch", (Jerry), had a bear incident on Caribou Lake on August 12th of this year. (It's the Caribou Lake out of Clearwater Lake.) This was on his Birthday to add insult to injury. The Post is under the Listening Point-General Discussion Forum. As "mooseplums" mentioned, campsites are Caribou Lake were recently closed.

I bumped the post by "OneMatch" with a recent reply.

As far as bear's "working" the portages; Bob Beymer writes in his 1984 "A Paddler's Guide to Quetico Provincial Park", that Rangers were warning paddlers heading to Maria Lake that a bear and her cubs were "working the portages" around Maria Lake.

Likewise, when my wife and I were traveling through Duncan Lake with our daughter Amy, (who was four at the time), there was a mother bear and her three cubs "working" the stairway portage, pictured below. Although that was 1991, the point is bears can snatch your food on portages too.

Hans Solo

a few times i have pulled the bear canister(s) out of the big pack when i was going back for load 2...of course, that was after i got hit.

Keep the portage legs short. I worry more about two legged food thievery than four and dislike having things out of sight for too long.

Banksiana has a good solution, but I think I have an even better one. I assume you have two packs, a lighter one that you carry with the canoe, and a heavier one you carry alone. My suggestion is to split the food between packs. That way, even if a bear got one pack left at one end of the portage, you would still have the food in the pack you carried to (or left at) that other end. Even if there is a problem bear in the area, it's unlikely to get food in two packs at opposite ends of the portage.

We do this on two-man trips, where we have a canoe and three packs. In that situation, it's easier to divide the food up. One of the things I think about when packing is that the food that needs cooking (typically breakfast and dinner) should be in the pack with the cook kit and stove, and the food that does not need cooking (typically lunch and snacks) can be in another pack. Because it would suck if a bear stole one pack and it had both the food you could eat without cooking and the cookkits - so you only had food left that you need to cook and you lacked cooking gear.

Of course on a solo trip it's a little harder to distribute the food in this way, but if you know in advance that there is a problem bear in the area, you should try something like it.

I could distribute the food between the packs to avoid a total loss, but the warnings are about leaving ANY pack unattended. Figuring that a bear is probably just used to seeing a pack and thinking food might be inside. Almost all my food is dried/sealed and contained within a Garcia barrel. So the bear would likely not get my food. But the pack being destroyed/lost would be just as bad.

The ideas given have provided me something to think about...but I also think that I'm probably going to rely heavily on chance. Thanks

quote BdubBear:

The ideas given have provided me something to think about...but I also think that I'm probably going to rely heavily on chance. Thanks"

I think you are right on. You need to balance worry with having an enjoyable trip.

i've been triple portaging both in the Q and BW since the 80's with no problems.having said that i will say i stay away from the busy parts of the east side of the BW.
five walks is a lot but i don't want to carry heavy loads alone.

quote hobbydog: "

quote BdubBear:


The ideas given have provided me something to think about...but I also think that I'm probably going to rely heavily on chance. Thanks"

I think you are right on. You need to balance worry with having an enjoyable trip. "

Yeah, the chances are not that high. About the only other thing you could do would be to stash stuff off the trail away from the portage landings, which is probably where they are used to finding it; that along with just keeping an open eye for them.

I would agree with Banksiana. Leap-frog the the portages so you are never more than 15 minutes away from your food pack. Not fool proof, but it will greatly increase the odds in your favor.

Here's a thought, if your food is in a bear barrel already. Why not just portage your pack with the food and at the end of the portage, pull the your food barrel out and put it to the side of your pack. Stashing your pack away from the barrel. Bears feed off of smell more thansightand will be attracted to the smell of you food more than the sight of your pack.

Once fully portaged return food barrel to the packandyour on your way again. Seems like a fairly simple solution.

Just a thought.

i place my packs well short of the portage landings, out of sight.
the other pack left behind is not along the shoreline, or near the canoe, out of sight as well.

quote dprochef: "Here's a thought, if your food is in a bear barrel already. Why not just portage your pack with the food and at the end of the portage, pull the your food barrel out and put it to the side of your pack. Stashing your pack away from the barrel. Bears feed off of smell more thansightand will be attracted to the smell of you food more than the sight of your pack.


Once fully portaged return food barrel to the packandyour on your way again. Seems like a fairly simple solution.


Just a thought."

Was thinking kind of the same thing, portage the barrel first and then take it out of the pack and keep the pack with you. Hopefully you could store the empty pack inside another for the 2nd trip.

I've never worried about it before but if I had reason to suspect a bear was hanging out around a portage I'd pull the Bear Vaults out of the food pack and put both the pack and vaults out of sight, separately.