Ok, along the lines of the worst portage thread, what’s the best portage you’ve been on? Why was it the best, scenery, animals, vegetation, something else?
A couple come to mind for me.
There’s a 200 rod portage between Beartrack and Thumb lakes. I’ve only been on it once, but it sticks out in my mind. It is possible that it’s just a run of the mill portage and I was just in one of those "at one with nature’ moods, but I think it was pretty nice. It went through 3 distinct stands of trees - something deciduous (probably Aspen), red and white pine, and cedar. There were wild flowers and mushrooms all over the place.
The other one is either between Green and Rocky, or Rocky and Oyster lakes (south of Lac La Croix). It’s only about 60 rods or so, and it’s really steep, but it follows a cascade the whole way and runs through a beautiful stand of cedars. After we got everything to the top of the hill, we hiked back down and climbed on the fallen trees over the little waterfalls (not much more than a small stream) and among the rocks. There’s no way I can do that place justice, it’s like something out of a fairy tale.
Your turn.
Best portage
That’s easy - the last one of the day. Yippee! We camp on this lake!
Hmmm
They’re both rocky and steep in places, but I always liked Alpine-Jasper because of the waterfall, and the one arround Little Rock Falls on the Granite River. WW
there are several
I know the steep portage you mentioned- it’s going north from Ge-be-on-e-quet to Ge-be creek heading toward Pocket Lake.
Here’s a best and worst portage in the same story. On that same route as above, in Pocket Lake, we ran into two guys who were going the reverse of our route and told us how bad the portage was from Slim to Section 3 Pond . They were up to their waist in muck and leeches, crossing dead fall,couldn’t get through and found a game trail from Slim to Fat lake. )They probably should post on the “worst portage” thread.) My wife was freaked out by their description and was ready to go back. Luckily, we had already figured out an alternate route and remembered what our outfitter had told us, so we were proceeding on with our route. The next morning we ran into another couple who had no problem, said the portage was a little long and a little muddy. Our outfitter had told us to go up the creek from Section 3 and look for a portage on the east side (the portage on the map is on the west and around 80 rods). Sure enough, there was a short little portage that maybe you could have gotten the soles of your shoes muddy. Needless to say, after the build up from that other party, this was great. In retrospect, we think those two guys tried to go to Norway lake, Ne of Slim instead of due north to Section 3. No portage shown on the maps for Slim to Norway, from their description I know why.
One other portage, (or none portage) was in Quetico from No Man Lake to That Man Lake. It had been cloudy and rainy for 24 hours, going through muck. In fact, two portages before was my nomination for “worst portage”. The sun just came out on No Man Lake. The map showed a 120 rod portage but we had been told that we might be able to get through the creek. It turned out to be a pretty, sandy, little creek that wound through the cuts the crews had sawed through all the downed trees across the creek, allowing you to manuever through. The combination of the sun coming out, the sandy creek versus muck, winding through the trees, and not portaging made it almost magical. The smallmouth that we caught on the far side didn’t hurt.
Fantasia
900 m level esker walking through beautiful open black spruce forest with wonderfull mosses. Takes about four hours:blueberries the size of marbles. Bring pail.
Its in Wabakimi Prov. Park
my thougts
The easiest might be the one between Beth and Alton from Beth. Last time I did it I just seemed to float across it. Of course, that was with a 40 pound canoe. One I like (at least in hindsight - ha) is the Tuscarora to Missing Link. Long and has its hard and muddy moments, but it is long which really makes me slow down and enjoy the journey. Oh, there are some good ones with great views when you come over the hill to see the new lake layed out in front of you or one with a nice creek along side. Then there is that one by Ada (I think) with a serious cascade and a wooden bridge for the Kek. Like that one because I sat on the bridge for awhile. Ah, they are all ok (some of the landings and the unloading/loading in rocky areas can be not so fun). Some are ankle twisters and some take some serious breathing. Not too found of beaver dam portages though. Never know how deep or if your boots will come up when you bring your foot up for the next step. But, they are in the woods and I don’t put myself in a hurry so I take em easy. I’m on a trip and that makes it all ok.