On our fall trip, Vickie's camera inadvertently recorded her while she trudged through a flooded section of the Eskwagama Lake portage trail. (She LOATHES walking through muddy, mucky water)! Needless to say, these histronics have made this portage memorable for all eternity.
muddy water

Of course we've encountered several mud holes ...


Jitterbug Lake

Oyster river




.....and the Sea Gull ~ Paulson trail was just a great overall experience.


But, the portage I'll never forget was the Sea Gull ~ Alpine trail when a buddy & I came face to face (within 10 yards) with a bull moose. It was late September just after the Cavity Lake fire, so there was literally no where to run, nowhere to hide!

What things have made certain portages memorable for you?

The portage along the Darkwater river between Darkwater and Brent Lakes in the Quetico sticks in my memory. The high temperture that day made it a tough portage, but the thing that makes me laugh about it was that I fell backward, turtle-like, in the middle of the portage. I had stopped to try to move a downed sapling off the trail while wearing a 60 pound food pack. It didn't take much for me to lose my balance.

The other portage that sticks in my memory – for its beauty – is the trail around the falls at the north end of Lunch Lake in Woodland Caribou. We got there on the morning of the first day that we had good weather. The falls were gorgeous, and the woods surrounding the trail were a fresh, deep green.

Wow, lot's of portages have stories behind them for me. Of course the Fat Lake to Slim... First time was in the seventies... We had two of my alumacraft canoes. One guy was almost running and got stopped pretty fast when he got wedged between two trees. Kinda wore the alumacraft sticker a bit.
The Curtain Falls portage has memories. The one I wish I could forget is the dunking I got trying to approach it from Iron.
Bottle Portage and the mud...
Hyster to Oyster when it first got flooded.
That long one out of Rose.
Cross Bay to Rib meeting twins87 and her family.
The different times over the "goat" portage going towards Fourtown.
Woodland Caribou... The big portage out of "Salamander" in 2012 when it was blown down pretty badly. And then 2015 with magicpaddler with all the blueberries and the campsite on the end. And seeing a nice bill moose in the morning.
The other Woodland Caribou is going into "Splitrock" lake from the south. There was a Spot even my dog Bernie got fooled and we had to backtrack a little. The fun part was seeing the dog figure it out.
Going north out of Mexican Hat through the slop. And the infamous Knox portage with a big section of deep mud.
Man, I could go on and on... Like I already did.
Frost River out of Pencil Lake. Again watching Bernice making a correct turn at a T and then getting to the end to extremely low water.
I think of the portage from canoe lake to Pine by Johnson Falls... One book had that rated the worst in the bwca way back in the day. Stairway portage with the falls and remembering the old stairs years ago. It had railings even. But it was slicker than snot in wet weather... OK I'll stop...

On the way out of Fourtown portaging the Goat. My back had gone out, so my daughter had made me a cane to walk with. I would set a goal of about 10 yds. then get to the spot and then I would think I can make it to that rock to rest which was usually about 10 more yds. Then I would rest for a while, long enough to get enough courage to do it again. It took a while but I made it to the car.
Everyone else had to carry the gear.

My wife claims I have this disorder where I can retain useless info like portages and lakes. On the flip side I forget things 5 minutes after she explains them to me. Anyway, in my 15 or so trips I can recall nearly every portage I've been on. Some are hard, most are average, some have difficult landings, others have beaches. The one I remember the most is the Lujenda to Zenith portage. I've crossed that one about 18 times and actually enjoyed it. Once you cross that one you get to enter an area that seems completely different to the Sawbill area left behind.

I was trying to reach a lake with a 14-year old boy. From outer space (Google Earth), it looked like a creek connecting the two lakes was the easiest way. At first, it was easy with just enough water to paddle, but that led to a canyon, which was hard carrying due to the rocks everywhere, from basketball-sized to Volkswagen-sized, and then a swamp with weeds too thick and stiff to easily paddle. I didn't enjoy it, but the kid loved the challenge.

One time out of Crain I went up through Sandpoint to the Redhorse River and up to Thompson Lake. We do that in a boat in 6 hours now. Then probably one of the toughest portages I've done from Thompson to Lac La Croix. It shows 1 mile on the map.



These guys were plotting to kill me I think, and even my dog Ruby was in on it.


Found out later our portage was a winter trail.

quote TuscaroraBorealis: "
....but, the portage I'll never forget was the Sea Gull ~ Alpine trail when a buddy & I came face to face (within 10 yards) with a bull moose. It was late September just after the Cavity Lake fire, so there was literally no where to run, nowhere to hide!
What things have made certain portages memorable for you?"

Reminds me of the time on the Rog to Seagull portage and my buddies jumped a big bull that came barreling at me and turned away at the last minute while I tried to hide behind a skinny tree.

Then there was another trip, same area; the Tern to Jasper portage. The September Gunflint tornado in the '80's or early '90's. We hid under a canoe listening to the roar and crashing of trees.

Then the Stairway Portage. Those vistas, the waterfalls. And the time I did it 3 times uphill. I carried my buddies 18' Grumman after carrying our canoe first. The bargain was for a free Uff-dah-Zuhh at Sven-n-Ole's and all the beer I could drink and old Bill was true to his word.

The first trip and the first time I took Monument Portage from Swamp to Ottertrack. Although we'd already been travelling the border, the big Washington monument-like marker delineating the border just made it seem wild and exotic for my first trip.

Another of my favorites from that trip was the portage from, I believe, Eddy to knife? The huge, old cedars and the falls.

Clearwater to West Pike. It had been several years that I'd been too sick to paddle the BWCAW and after 5 years away I was back. And it was my only trip with a dear friend whom passed away a year or so later.

The time my wife stepped into the muskeg on Lizz after I had warned her about where it was. I gave her crap about being a better listener, and then proceeded to do the same on the second trip over (LOL)!

So many portages the smell of balsam and pine with my little white throat sparrows cheering me along. Heheheheh, I guess portages really aren't so bad if I have so many fond memories of them, huh?

quote ozarkpaddler: "So many portages the smell of balsam and pine with my little white throat sparrows cheering me along. Heheheheh, I guess portages really aren't so bad if I have so many fond memories of them, huh?"

Yep, thanks Terry... Now even if I have to wear my neck brace I'll be portaging in 5 months. Now which one should I go relive!

ozarkpaddler: "

Heheheheh, I guess portages really aren't so bad if I have so many fond memories of them, huh? "

Yup! That was kind of the idea behind this thread.

Some great memories from Monument Portage and Ester Portage. Ottertrack-Ester was the second portage I ever completed in my life, was carrying a big heavy aluminum canoe and singing The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald at the top of my lungs, put the canoe down on the other side and yelled "YES" at the top of my lungs, it echoed across the lake.

The many faces of the Stairway Portage:

















Monument Portage:






Alpine to Jasper (Before the fire) Another old favorite:

The Thomas to Alice Lake portage, probably in the late 1990's before they made a boardwalk. I don't recall if it was high water that year, but the trail was completely underwater, and where the portage was, somebody had laid down logs to walk on which made the portage even more difficult as we were walking through knee to waist deep water, trying to balance on these round logs under the water that we couldn't see.

I went back there a few years ago for the first time, and was amazed at the difference.

I'll second some of Ben's portages that I've done recently. Knox (WCPP) was a beast due to the amount of mud/swamp and lack of a viable alternative paths around the first section. The first time that I hit the 240 or so rod portage out of Ross into Cullen (QP), I had to leapfrog sections to get the packs and the canoe over. I think it took me 2 hours or so to do that portage. Conversely, the long portage into Tuscarora was a piece of cake but that was due to some better "carrying-planning" that made the double trip a lot easier. Before it was recently relocated, the Kahshapiwi portage's corduroy logs had sunk into the muck which made that first 1/3rd of the portage a "muck sunking slog" that I sunk into nearly up to the pants' pockets. It's now thankfully been relocated to solid ground below a granite cliff and it a bit shorter than the 180 rods or so. Portages are however, a means to get from one place to another and provide a good paddling break.

quote flopnfolds: "The Thomas to Alice Lake portage, probably in the late 1990's before they made a boardwalk. I don't recall if it was high water that year, but the trail was completely underwater, and where the portage was, somebody had laid down logs to walk on which made the portage even more difficult as we were walking through knee to waist deep water, trying to balance on these round logs under the water that we couldn't see.


I went back there a few yerars ago for the first time, and was amazed at the difference. "

Good example of a nice portage. Fun to relive some of these through other people's eyes. I remember this one being one of those with somewhat decent landings and kind of a little more remote feel. I like that narrow strip going down to Alice and the campsite on that strip looked to me like a nice one or two small tent site with the secluded feel to it. Going out into Thomas if I recall it was a little protected from a West wind and a great place to launch.

My very first ever portage--New Found to Splash. We thought we were going to be able to line/walk the canoes up stream rather than do the carry. Bad idea!!

Ashigan to Gibson-- We were going to Gibson to check out the falls and do some fishing. I was following my buddy, who had the canoe with fishing rods tucked in them, while I carried a pack, paddles and other loose stuff. I remember seeing the tree branches moving thinking it odd that the breeze could move them through the thick under-growth. What I did not see was the fishing line from my reel that had snagged a branch and was being unwound with each step my friend made on the portage. THAT is what was moving the branches. Did not discover this until we reached Gibson

Trease to Angleworm--probably my toughest ever.

Burntside to Cummings--was guiding a youth group and this mile-long portage was the first ever that any of them had done. They really did well and I was particularly impressed by this 15 year-old girl who weighed maybe 100 pounds and performed like a real trooper. No hesitation and no complaints. She just shouldered a big pack and went to work!

Good to Indiana--again guiding a youth group but this bunch was not very competent and we were moving quite slow. This was several portages in for them and they still did not "get" it. We were so disorganized that between rounding up kids and gear and motivating people to actually carry something, I made multiple trips across the portage and we probably spent close to two hours on this 100-rod path.

Hanson to Knife--perhaps the most scenic portage I can remember. Between the lush green foliage and the charming water cascades, you feel like you are in some kind of enchanted forest.

Muskeg Creek to Muskeg Lake-- The portage itself was quite short and not so bad but it had a very difficult landing with water not deep enough to float the canoe over some stinky, thigh-deep muck. We had to get everything to more solid ground by balancing on a few protruding rocks and picking our way along them while holding the gear in our hands above water. By doing this I was really worried that I would either slip and do a particularly unpleasant face plant or that my back would give out and I'd then be screwed for the rest of the trip. I did slip once and sink a foot in up past my knee but otherwise it went OK.

Kiskadinna to Omega--What stands out on this one for me is how badly, and how unexpectedly it really kicked my butt. It does have a little up and down but is not really that long at all (less than 40 rods). I really didn't think it would be much of a challenge especially after we had just successfully tackled "The Wall" between Muskeg and Kiskadinna. Maybe that's why this little portage seemed so tough: I had spent all of my energy on the previously completed portage and was now out of gas.

While no single Portage stands out, our Baker Lake trip is memorable in that that was the first trip we did where we let Aurora loose to go it on her own. I believe this photo was along the Burnt - Kelly portage.

Our first trip to the BW was five years ago on a Stuart River permit. I carried a four person canoe that we somehow got through low water all the way to Stuart Lake for a great trip. Two young boys in the middle, my dad in the bow, and me in the stern. Those boys can now carry their own dang canoes!

Two years ago, we did the chain of portages from Cherokee, through Town, to Brule. Short, hilly, super rocky, and brutal.

But the most memorable portages (in a bad way) that I've been on are all in Algonquin. We did a 2-miler, followed by a 1.5-miler in 85 degree heat. Earlier that day, I had crested a hill into a puddle with a cow moose staring at me. First moose I ever saw and it was 30 feet away.

Morgan Lake Trail - Back in the mid 70's a group of four guys went in at Ram lake heading north towards Vista on what was supposed to be an out and back trip. After the day from Hell and finally getting to Vista we decided that we would find another way...any other way to get back to our car at the end of the trip. After scouring maps and checking out the South Brule River we determined that the only other way out was over the long portage from Morgan lake.
The fact that we had a 5-6 mile hike to the car from the end of that portage back to the Ram lake entry didn't deter us - anything was better than retracing those portages back to the entry. So my buddy and I took that long walk/jog back.

Since then i have taken the Morgan Lake trail at least a dozen times, a great entry to that area. it's a long one but not that difficult for the most part. Always loved what used to be a large open wetland area about 2/3 through the portage which looked like Moose paradise, and was always a good place to take a breather. There were several canoe rests along the way back then, we would usually use one or two of them. Last time i took it, many years ago, the canoe rests were gone and the wetland had dried up and begun to fill in. Still a nice trail and a good way to enter. Good memories.

Maybe it's my mind- but I did the Seagull/Jap (now Paulson) port at least 4-5 times in the early to mid 90's (pre fires). I don't remember it being anything remotely difficult- just long. It was heavily foilaged over- maybe with the fires the portaged changed?

Mountain to Moose or Moose to North Fowl (somewhere in there) has a portage that is not that not difficult- just very slippery after a rain with large saucer like rocks.

South Fowl to Pigeon River is very fowl. Especially right at the end.

Stuart to Fox- trying to get to Iron in one day- this portage really messes with you mind.

Some of the portages in the Granite River going from SAG to Magnetic in the Fall with low water have some of the worst landings possible.

Grand Portage and the slippery planks that go on for literally miles....

Clearwater to Mountain, long before ’78 as you will see in a moment.

My dad, my uncle and me (a mere stripling at the time), on a Memorial Day weekend trip for lakers.

Uncle’s 13’ aluminum boat. No, not canoe, boat.

A set of oars ... just in case the 5.5 hp motor failed.

Did I mention the external fuel tank and the fuel?

None of the participants ever expressed any interest in repeating the experience.

Sitka to Cherokee, Pine to Canoe (uphill), Like mentioned the 3 portages from Mudro to Fourtown

The portage from ensign to vera in the fall was the most beautiful portage.

the portage from Canoe to Pine was the worst, my lower back was messed up it was a bear I think it's listed at 459 rods very steep, at the black flies were at full strength.

Agree on the Pine to Canoe portage. I triple portaged it and one of those carries included the food pack. Of course, we packed all either fresh or frozen foods, nothing dehydrated or freeze-dried. I spent the next day essentially not moving. I was about 45 years old then and it totally wiped me out! I now call it "The Portage from Hell".

Angleworm for sure. Beautiful, but a beast.

The other would be Brant to Gotter. It was swampy, muddy, leeches galore. But the most notable part of it was the family we passed going the other direction, speaking what sounded like an eastern european language. They had rolling coolers, a car battery, big red gas cans, and kept screaming at each other the whole way.

The portage along the LIS River North, on way to Pauness...it was the last trip I was ever able to take with my late brother, and I remember we had a food (drink) pack that weighed no less than 600 pounds I think. Well he was eager to be helpful, so he carried it on our first portage of the trip...I beat him to the end and turned around to complete the double portage and I'll never forget the look on his face as we passed each other as he was nearing the end of the portage...his eyes were bugging out of his head and he just said "i'm never touching this pack again..."

Portage from Poplar to Skipper....first off, it was maybe the toughest portage I've done, mainly due to the conditions of the trail that day. Lots of trees down over the mile long path that were difficult to navigate, and lots of big ol mud holes. But the even more memorable part was the moose we were greeted by as soon as we emerged to Skipper. Just standing there looking at us.



Lastly, we were on a day trip from Grace to Phoebe, possibly up to Knight and Hazel. on the Phoebe River there are a few little portages...we were 2-man carrying the boat along them. On one of them we stopped and looked at this cool spot of rapids on the river and thought...is it going to get any better than this on Phoebe or Knight or Hazel? It was just a cool, almost magical, spot where we pulled out our chairs and put them in the middle of the river and just spent a couple hours re-creating a beer commercial (without the beer).

Gratton Portage in the Quetico. A warm, buggy day on a goat path.
The Long Portage between Rose and Rove...easy portage just long...lunch and snack breaks along the way.

Badwater portage in a rainstorm.... enough said about that one. Cache Lake under the same circumstances.

Memorable good: Adams/Beaver. Beautiful!!

Memorable exhausting: Muskeg/Kisdadinna followed by Kiskadinna/Omega.

Memorable difficult: Horsetail Rapids/Sag Falls. Not long, just awkward. Hated it the most of any.

Memorable triumphant: Sawbill to Alton in 2009, the first portage after Spartan1's kidney transplant!

Memorable as final: Brule to Vernon to see the falls. I realized I didn't have the mobility to make it anymore. :-(

walllee: "Badwater portage in a rainstorm.... enough said about that one. "

Or in any weather. I'll never forget the time we did the portage and had to walk through the two swamps (that were normally mostly dry) while balancing on submerged logs and lining our canoes. A mile of pure enjoyment. LOL

More memorable than the rocky, steep, muddy carries are those with people encounters: Probably the same trip, at Lake One gently instructing newbie parties as to portage etiquette: "Hope you don't mind that I moved your boat off the trail" and "The drill here is to wait to put your canoe in the water until all your gear is over". But at Hudson to Insula, there were a couple of buff young guys out to impress the young ladies in our party; they carried our heaviest packs over, making it a single portage for us.

At the Fourtown "goat trail", I was pondering how to land my solo on the near vertical rock when two guys came up behind me. Not only did they steady my boat while I stood up to step out, they carried my pack across. Musta been worried about the old guy making it. At that same landing (different trip), a guy tried to launch, but his canoe was hung up on a rock, he got back out and pushed with his foot, but it was still stuck; he pushed some more; still stuck. One more push and the boat floated free, but by then he was doing a major split, one foot on the bobbing canoe and one foot on land. He did about 10 seconds of arm flailing and hip rotations, but to no avail; in he went with a big splash. We stifled our guffaws until we got down the trail. Memories.

bottomtothetap: "Burntside to Cummings--was guiding a youth group and this mile-long portage was the first ever that any of them had done. They really did well and I was particularly impressed by this 15 year-old girl who weighed maybe 100 pounds and performed like a real trooper. No hesitation and no complaints. She just shouldered a big pack and went to work!"

I'd swear that one is uphill both ways. Of course it was complicated by the fact that we stupidly gave in to rookie planners in the scout troop who insisted that big blue bins they used car camping would work just fine instead of packs. They also gave us enough food to stay for two weeks. Never again would I let inexperienced people plan so they felt "included". Very poor judgment on our part.

Spartan2: "Memorable triumphant: Sawbill to Alton in 2009, the first portage after Spartan1's kidney transplant!"

Love that one. It's like a walk in a park. Of course the launch on the Alton side can be an issue on a windy day.

flopnfolds: "The Thomas to Alice Lake portage, probably in the late 1990's before they made a boardwalk. I don't recall if it was high water that year, but the trail was completely underwater, and where the portage was, somebody had laid down logs to walk on which made the portage even more difficult as we were walking through knee to waist deep water, trying to balance on these round logs under the water that we couldn't see.

I went back there a few years ago for the first time, and was amazed at the difference. "

Yes!
This is the nastiest portage trail I have ever been on.
We did it back in the late 80's.
By the time we were there it had already rained for 5-6 days.
No boardwalk but there was a terrible section of corduroy which was partially submerged in mud or water, wet from rain and slicker than snot. We were convinced that by trying to walk on the logs we were headed for an injury so we opted to walk beside it in the mud. Sunk in to our knees in some areas.
I'm thankful I haven't had too many like this in my experiences.

nctry: "And the infamous Knox portage with a big section of deep mud.
Man, I could go on and on... Like I already did. "

Knox portage....ugh! Did that one twice right after you guys...one I'll never forget :)...and the portage crew guys who I passed on the way out who figure that it just wasn't fixable!!

Kinda surprised no one mentioned the portage into Mack, i can remember having to lay on my stomach almost falling into a bog to pull my cousins shoe out from about 30 inches below in the muck, seemed to never end. Maybe late 80's early 90's, cant remember, but fishing made it all worth it then.

The most memorable isn't memorable because it was the longest or the hardest by any means. It was memorable because it was my first difficult one on my first ever trip and caused me serious pain.

We were doing a honeymoon trip from Fall Lake to Mudro and were carrying a ridiculous amount of gear in a 75 lb Alumacraft. The mile portage at upper Basswood nearly killed me. My pack that I carried with canoe weighed about 70lb and the other pack about 80 (obviously double portaging ) but that still was not a problem.

The problem was the portage pads were homemade by the outfitter and made of thin, soft foam on hard, sharp-edged plywood and it was just like carrying with no foam at all. The pain was ridiculous! Been cutting weight and using quality pads ever since.

Conquering a dried up Horse River a couple of summers ago still brings up a 'ton' of memories. :)

I think the toughest portages are the short ones that you think are going to be a piece of cake, until you get on it and find out it wasn't a piece of cake. It's a state of mind thing

Misquah to Little Trout for me. That was so sweet I went there and back on a day trip to Little Trout from Ram on a solo that I base camped on Ram. Just had to do it again.

The only one that I would not ever want to do again is "The Wall" between Muskeg and Kiskadinna. I wasn't sure what it was at the time but I was extremely sick before we even began the portage. We had just came from Long Island earlier that day and the previous portage was the 2nd worst portage I've ever experienced. There was still ice on some of the lakes, the water was too low to float the canoe, too deep and cold to wade through; a couple days earlier they had nearly a foot of snow, and we were the first paddlers of the season so it was nearly impossible to find the established trail so apparently I got extremely hydrated. When were doing "The Wall I could barely even carry the paddles. I would try to walk 10 - 20 steps then rest. My brother was a hero and carried the canoe and all of our gear across that portage in 4 trips before I even made it across once. I'm sure it would have been easier if I felt better but probably not that much easier, at least not going west to east.

I love that this thread resurfaced.

My first real travel trip and the trip which really "set the hook" for me forever loving this place was a big quetico loop with my friend, his brothers, and dad. So many portages on that trip are burned into my memory. I remember the huge trees from the big red pines along silver falls, the giant white pine near munro, or the biggest white pine I have ever seen along dead mans portage. I remember the incredible challenge of the munro to mack portage with steep hills and deep muskeg; it was the first portage I ever remember being "the mean one." The portage from Bitchu to Ross from the creek was one where we bypassed the original portage landing and took the wide creek instead. By the time we hit the log jam, we had passed the secondary landing also. We fanned out into the woods in every direction in search of the thing before we bushwhack carried the gear to the next lake. I still have scars from that bushwhack. Of course, after the first trip across, we found the alternate portage and had an easier time helping others.

Misquah to Little Trout will always be in my mind. I took that portage with a guiding buddy on a day after 7" of new snowfall. I have never fallen that many times: 14 falls to the ground on one portage. One of those, I hyperextended a knee which didn't hurt for the rest of the trip but gave me issues for months afterwards. I still feel that one.

Daniels to Rove is one of my all-time favorites. I first took it as a kid and that's the portage where I was just enamored with the big trees. I couldn't stop asking questions because everything was just so big to me. My dad also saw a wolf on that portage and we found lady slippers near the end. It was all so special.

Cleaarwater to Rove remains the toughest I think. It's not truly a portage anymore, but the BRT still runs there and I had a group of high school boys who needed some "wilderness humility." I remember laughing half way up like "wow, should we really be trying this?" It ended up being super cool, though we followed it up with the long portage a short while later and ended with a nice campsite on Rose and a big thunderstorm.

The entire stretch of portages from Hanson to Cherry to Ottertrack via Gijikiki has so many memories because every group I bring there has some sort of monumental obstacle. All those portages are brutal. The first time I was set to visit, we ran into a guy on the monument portage who exclaimed "you're going to bring an alumacraft to Gijikiki?" I was a little indignant because I was in fact paddling a Grumman (haha) but his comment broke my group's courage who vetoed me. We paddled around instead. The second time, I was guiding a group who proved very capable day one paddling from Moose Landing past Thunder Point in a strong headwind. Day two, they had voted to take the challenging route, so I brought them to this chain. The mountain portage to Gijikiki really drove that point home. The portage into Rivalry is the one I'll remember. I was double packing pretty heavy to help out the group at this point. I had a canoe and a huge equipment pack. I reached the end and stepped just a little too far and went straight to chest deep in muskeg. My group was well behind me, so it was up to me to figure out extracting myself from the pit. After some good work, I found my way out. We continued on and, as a reward for all their hard work, we found both Cherry campsites full (of course) and stayed on the awful one on Topaz. A group of boyscouts, also without a campsite, bushcamped on the point directly across from us. We had a major storm roll in that night too. The next year, I visited the area with a friend from the outfitter. On the Hanson to Cherry portage, I hit a tree with the bow of the alumicraft I was carrying. I apparantly hit it hard enough that it unseated from my shoulders and dropped the full weight of the alumicraft on my head. Ouch! Rang my bell pretty well. The next trip to this chain was the following spring. One group member was new and the portages nearly broke her. We camped on Gijikiki.

Lots of other portages which come to mind for me. Paulsen didn't feel bad to me at the end of a long guide season, and it's so scenic, but I was well aware of how many "teeth" that portage can have. Pine to Long/Stump was a brute especially solo with a miserably heavy old town solo boat with a grumman yoke esentially clamped onto the gunnels. The portage into Gogebic has terrible landings and a pinch point mid portage that a canoe can't fit through without turning sideways. The Beaver to Adams portage remains my favorite in all of the BW; it's just so pretty from beginning to end. I have a residual disdain for the Battle to Hassel portage which I took on my very first solo trip. That whole route beat me up a lot. In mid summer, that portage had chest deep ferns where I couldn't even see my feet a lot of the time. When I could, I kept finding fresh moose scat, so I was ever on alert for that. Then the Hassel end has that little cliff to throw the canoe off of but not enough water to float one. It was a lot of learning through suffering those few days.

But, like many of you, there are so many portages which stick with me: the mechanic chain, muskeg to kiskadinna, the monument portage, stairway, the stairway off of Gotter, the beach portage on Long Island, Hanson to S Knife with the cedars, the Peter to Virgin portage before the last brush cut, Kek to Strup always gives a good challenge, Knife to Vera at 8:00 pm with a group who was skunked out of sites on knife, the "march" to Azion, Upper Basswood Falls portage and its lovely campsites, Crab to Burntside where my buddy and I switched off in the dark with a canoe with a snapped yoke (broke mid portage), the deep mud of the Bottle portage, and countless others. There are also a fair number of bushwhacks that I guess count as portages. I treasure a lot of those!

Wow, now I really miss canoe season again; I thought it was at least "controlled."

1992 - Lower George into Rib Lake. Trip with my wife and 3 kids. I'm nearing the end of my second trip across the portage into Rib with our second canoe on my shoulders. Looking down to see where I'm stepping, when my 10 year old daughter starts yelling "Dad there's a moose. Dad there's a moose. Dad there's a moose." I'm thinking okay, when I get to the end of the portage I'll put down the canoe and look at the moose, thinking it's somewhere along the lake shore. Then she yells "DAD STOP! THERE'S A MOOSE!" So okay, I stop, tilt up the front of the canoe a little so I can see ahead, and there standing sideways across the portage trail, directly in front of the canoe, is a moose. Three more steps and I would have hit that moose broadside with the canoe.

Awesome stories. I've done a lot of the memorable portages mentioned (though still plenty of places I need to get to), but I'm lucky to have even a vague memory of any of them. Apparently I need to slow down more, or up my journaling game.

Can’t imagine doing Misquah to Little Trout after a 7” snowfall. You are literally stepping from jagged, irregularly shaped rock to jagged rock for a good part of that trek. Up and down hills… you mentioned you fell 14 times TreeBear, I can see that happening. Ouch babe!

jasper falls & eddy falls are two enjoyable portages.
my favorite in the whole BW is the 5 rod into toe lake from the SAK ;)

Most memorable portage for me is the Stuart Lake to Dalhgren River. Not one thing that stands out, just the beauty and serenity along that entire portage.

Remembered with a smile: Singing Brook Portage between Quetico's Burke and Sunday lakes.

Remembered with a frown: Quetico's Trousers to Cache.

TZ

A memorable portage for me is when we portaged across a peninsula in Lerome Lake on our way into the Quetico. I was the "rookie" on a trip with all my Dad's buddies so they wouldn't listen when I told them that wasn't the real portage. Whenever I see them, I still give those guys crap about that one.

Cedar Lake to Fall Lake
The first portage I ever did.... Also known as Denny's revenge.
It was real tough. Mud holes, roots, tight turns, tough climb coming out of Fall Lake.
It no longer exists.

Nice thread, for me;
Poohbah lake (1970 or so) in the Quetico.
Entering from the south from Conmee lake
a set of 3 portages each about one mile. The portage
started out rocky then turned to muskeg (deep).
The portage was broken up by two duck ponds.
We started the portage first thing in the AM, did not
get into Poohbah until after dark (July trip).
In the morning we attempted to take the northern
portage into Sturgeon lake. That one was even worse,
we turned around and spent a second night in Poohbah.
The next day we exited from the west via Poohbah creek
into the Maligne river.
Many years later while talking with a Canadian ranger I
brought up the portage, whose response was "you did that
portage "? From the sound of her voice I think she thought
I was crazy (LOL).

Timeless thread.

Sturgeon Narrows to Antoine almost did my wife in. She got stuck in a boggy area halfway across. Maybe it was just the year, but it seemed like the toughest portage we had ever taken.
The short portage from I think Keats into McDougal has the steepest beginning I’ve seen. Literally straight up a cliff to start.

As several people have mentioned, Boulder to Adams is beautiful. It’s a great area anyway, so worth going there.

YES!!! Our first year there, portaging from Meeds Lake to the little creek that will take us over to Caribou Lake. We were leaving after 3 miserable, wet, cold days and one beautiful amazing incredible day spent on an island in Meeds Lake. It was our first trip so we were woefully unprepared. We had taken a 90 lb aluminum canoe and a 95 lb plastic tank of a canoe. 4 of us - two male/female couples. The males would take the canoes one at a time during the portage and the females would take the packs - 1 pack at a time. My friend and I had completed the portage and were waiting with the packs. We heard laughter for about 5 minutes before we could see the 2 men with the canoe. And it took another few minutes to get the story out. Apparently, as the canoe was lifted, the shorter of the two had all the dirty, muddy foot water poured down his arm, into his face and mouth. The portage began with him telling my boyfriend "Don't talk to me for the rest of this portage." We utilize that phrase a LOT even when we are not on the water. I am SO glad I had the GoPro running (clamped to the canoe) so I could hear the commentary first hand.

beanpole: "YES!!! Our first year there, portaging from Meeds Lake to the little creek that will take us over to Caribou Lake. We were leaving after 3 miserable, wet, cold days and one beautiful amazing incredible day spent on an island in Meeds Lake. It was our first trip so we were woefully unprepared. We had taken a 90 lb aluminum canoe and a 95 lb plastic tank of a canoe. 4 of us - two male/female couples. The males would take the canoes one at a time during the portage and the females would take the packs - 1 pack at a time. My friend and I had completed the portage and were waiting with the packs. We heard laughter for about 5 minutes before we could see the 2 men with the canoe. And it took another few minutes to get the story out. Apparently, as the canoe was lifted, the shorter of the two had all the dirty, muddy foot water poured down his arm, into his face and mouth. The portage began with him telling my boyfriend "Don't talk to me for the rest of this portage." We utilize that phrase a LOT even when we are not on the water. I am SO glad I had the GoPro running (clamped to the canoe) so I could hear the commentary first hand."

Great story! :)

How is it possible that I'm the first one to point out this?

In Praise of the Portage

gravelroad: "How is it possible that I'm the first one to point out this?


In Praise of the Portage
"

I mean, it's fairly new. I laughed so hard when I saw that come in the mailbox.

gravelroad: "How is it possible that I'm the first one to point out this?

In Praise of the Portage "

Nicely written--thanks for the link!

TZ

Glad to have found this thread - I'm looking forward to reading all entries. Back in 2014 a buddy and I traveled from LIS to Morgan over 10 days and of the 76 portages we traversed there were a few memorable ones. Here's a couple from a mini-novel I wrote about the trip:

Vee to Fee - The 80-rod portage from Vee to Fee is noteworthy. Our McKenzie maps showed the portage following the south edge of a pond between the lakes, however, several rods into the portage it literally ended in a bog full of dead trees. After scratching our heads a bit, Tom headed off to the left on the north side of the bog on what could have been a trail but seemed to disappear the farther he went. I convinced him that we should just put the canoe in and paddle the bog, weaving through the trees which ended up being a surreal experience. At the end it still wasn’t obvious where the trail was—we looked along the south edge but never found it as there seemed to be a rock wall all along that south side. Tom got out and found a potential trail that led to the north, meeting an obvious path, so we took that. It was rather narrow and sloped down toward the bog such that after a couple of strides my right foot slid down the slope, and I basically sat down with the canoe on top of me and couldn’t get up! Tom rescued me, and we ultimately made it to the landing at Fee Lake.


Fente to Afton - The 10-rod portage to Afton is the hardest 10 rods I have ever tread, going 5 rods nearly straight up and 5 rods nearly straight down, with trees or boulders as obstacles preventing you from turning the canoe in order to see where you next step will be. It was more like rock climbing than portaging, probably ascending 40 feet before dropping as far on the other side.

There were more, but I've rambled long enough.

Trease to Angleworm--long and nasty. We did it in and again out a few days later. And one point one of our group exclaims, "This portage is long, hot, buggy, has rocks, roots and a shoe sucking bog. This is great! It's like Canada!"

Also on that portage I remember seeing a very distinct, fresh and HUGE moose footprint.

This goes back a bit, but the portage around Basswood Falls was the most memorable, by far! 2013, my son (16 year old in amazing shape, and strong as an Ox) , and me (46 year old, in pretty good shape for my age, and also pretty strong), taking this portage with a group of Boy Scouts, decided we were going to do it in 1 trip, with all our gear! After tying everything we could in the canoe ( I carried the canoe, he carried double packs), we headed out. Being a military veteran, I know my pace count, and we both wanted to make it at least halfway before we took a break, and we made it over 2/3 of the way. Break for about 15 minutes, replenish our bodies with food and water, and finished it. We waited 5 hours for the rest of the group to finish, because they took at least two trips, and some took three. We took naps, fished, left our DNA in the woods, ate our lunch, and tended to blisters, while waiting for them to finish. Don't think I could do that anymore, but even though it DID kick our A$$ES, we were both happy we did it in one trip!