Worst portages
Barry Lake Miler. In PQ. One mile of muskeg, rotten tree stumps,fallen trees, mosquitos, deer flies, and muskeg to your crotch at times. Was a toss up to either carry the canoe or drag it along. Got to the far side and there was no place to claen off!
Had a very difficult but dry one out of Richmond Gulf north of Greta Whale River, PQ. 2.5 miles little or no trail which required going up 600 feet and descending 300! 6 of us took over 1800 lbs of gear and three canoes. The bushes were so thick on the descent that we could put the canoe on their branches and slide it the last 100 yards to the water. This was the first of many portages but the trip was spectacular and the bad times fade away! Great Whale to Ft Chimo–quite a trip!
moose to wind
Moose to wind is a rough one. It was also the very first portage I ever did in the BWCA. Oh yeah, it was 97 and really humid.
Pine to Canoe
Yes this was mentioned before But going from Pine to Canoe lake is the up hill version. It didnt help that the women I was with for some reason pissed off a Spruce Grouse on the portage.Three separate times it actually attacked her, flying into her. Well to honest that women was, or is now my ex wife. Its that karma thing I guess. I`m not quit sure how to take this, but that Grouse gave me a wink and a nod when I passed it.
I must be confused
I read on the net Verlen went over the divide and down the Popo Agie River from Lonesome Lake in The Wind River Mountains. That would mean Jackass Pass to the Cirque of the Towers, not a road route.
affectionetly known as the…
Angleworm Death March. And they really are pissy little lakes.
to the south of Poobah
Don’t have my map handy but last spring I was on Poobah (in the Quetico, catching some nice lake trout too) and we decided to find a lake straight south of Poohbah. First part of the portage was as close to straight up as I can imagine. I couldn’t have done it with anything heavier than the Souris River Kevlars. The portage then followed a creek, and then became the creek we think, the paths sort of meandered. Four men, just fishing equipment, and two light weight canoes. It took us 45 minutes, one way, and I don’t think the portage totaled more than 300 yards. Didn’t catch any fish when we got to the little lake, and had to go back about an hour later to get back to our campsite on Poobah.
Poobah is one cool lake.
Cashe lake portage
in Quetico. 4 kms long through virtual bog and marsh. we did it in one carry (12 day trip and fresh food) on day 2 of our trip. foolish. extremely challenging and risky abuse of your legs and back. wouldn’t do it again.
jbv
was a road
The Popo can be accessed from where it leaves the Winds out of the Cirque etc. You can see it good on a Rand Mcnally atlas too.
I just read the article in Canoe and Kayak called “Verlens Worst Portage” about getting around Sockdolliger Rapids in the grand canyon.
Have you read it?
Guess another book is coming out regarind his 28,000 mile paddle trip along with his biography.
n
I’ve been there
My buddies and I have taken that portage a few times. you have to hold onto trees to get up. we refer to this portage as the Mt. Fuji passout portage.
no haven’t read it.
I did just finish the first book One Incredible Journey by Verlen and Klein. He was a bull of a man with a singular purpose. Will have to check my maps on the Popo. I wassure it flowed out of the Winds around Lander Wyoming.
Missinaibi River
Well, no one else has chimed in about this one, so it looks like I’ll have to do it. The Very Worst Portage I’ve ever done, and it has stiff competition, is the Devil’s Cascade portage on the Missinaibi. A bit over 2 miles, the bits are vertical climbs/descents that are tough to walk unburdened. The remaining 2 miles are flat, but more often than not knee deep, or deeper, in mud. (PBS has some great outtakes from this one in its video.) Honorable mentions: the Santoy-Diablo portage on the Steel River route and the Long Lake-Steel River portage at the other end of that loop.
I’d do 'em all again in a heartbeat! Just striding up to a killer like these is a rush! Finishing, of course, is even cooler.
Steve Baker
New Lenox IL
Hey Steve
I’ve done the Missinaibi from top to bottom. Don’t remember Devils Cascade, is that the same as Hells Gate? That’s the longest carry I remember at 2300 -2400 meters. I triple carried (gear pack straight over, then leapfrogged the canoe and foodpack)and it took me 6 hours. That includes a trip down to view the falls.
Devil’s Cascade is…
… I think, another name for Hell’s Gate. At least it was before I got my coffee the other morning. I think we’re talking about the same place. Kinda like boot camp - a real character-building experience.
Hell’s Gate
I really should be fully conscious before being allowed control of a keyboard. I went through my maps from the Missanaibi trip last night and yes, indeed, the Hell’s Gate portage was 2-plus kilometers (not miles). As I recall, even in thw worst mud holes I was thinking miles for some reason. Just cultural bias, I guess. That doesn’t distract a bit from the fact that this is one helluva carry!
hah…memory
Seems like if I throw something out on the forum based on memory, someone else either has a better memory or some actual facts in front of them. Tough place for a fisherman to hang out…I can’t even exagerate without getting called out. 2miles or 2 km doesn’t really matter: the portage sounds like a beast either way.
mud holes
On our trip thru 2 years ago we found the biggest mud holes have been covered by bridges or corduroy trails. There is a group of paddling Cree who go down the river each June. We were lucky to meet with them at Big Beaver Rapids during our first year on the upper Missinaibi.
They spend time clearing portages, maintaining campsites and improving the trails. They are led by a middle aged fellow, an elder and usually have several teenagers. The teens are instructed in the Cree way of life while on the trip. The elder was 87 years and said he had paddled the Missinaibi (top to bottom) 5 times in the last 3 years. Quite a guy!
Memories…
…funny, I can remember details from canoe trips from 15-20 years ago and can’t remember where I put my car keys 10-20 MINUTES ago! Getting old is hell aint it? WW
Portage from HELL
I paddled the Clearwater River from Lloyd Lake in Northwestern Saskatchewan to Ft. McMurry, AB. We went last July and the water was high and fast. One area down from Llyod Lake, the river narrows as it goes though a canyon, over a small fall and down through a gourge of class 3-4 rapids.
We portaged around the falls, got back in and stopped 1/4 mile down just before a dogleg with several rock gardens below. Due to the high volume of the water, we had to portage around this.
The only way around was straight up a steep hill covered with scrub willow and poplar. We had to crawl on all 4s to negotiate the goat trail that led to the top. We were engulfed in clouds of hungry mosquitoes that got into your nostrils, ears and eyes. It took 2 hours of back breaking work to claw our way up with our paks and boats. The climb only covers 100 meters, but it was the steepest slope I’ve ever had to pack over!
Once on top, we were rewarded with clear walking though a beautiful stand of Jack Pine without the clouds of mosquitoes and soft mossy ground under our feet.
Portage From Hell and the Methy Portage
2 portages come to mind for me. One was the first portage of my Cross Canada solo canoe trip last year. From sea level on the BC coast, up and over the Coast Mountains, peaking out at over 3300 feet before beginning a descent to a series of lakes at around 2700 feet.
The other is the 19 km Methy Portage in saskatchewan going from the Clearwater River to the headwaters of the Churchill River.
Both were killers in their own way. You can read about them if you wish by going to my website and clicking on “Cross Canada Canoe Expedition” then going to my trip journal. Sections 2 and 9 cover these 2 portages. There were many other portages on this trip but these were the toughest.
www.geocities.com/outrageous_outdoors
Cheers…Joe O’
Hells Gate?
I dont remember this as a big deal except that it was the end of the day and we had started the day with the carry around Thunderhouse.
And it was August and the mud was no big deal
Just to show you how the same route at different times can be extroardinarily different.
My worst was in Wabakimi because the portage had not been used in many years. We did not have GPS and had to lie on the ground to sense depressions and make guesses based on topography and using compass bearings. As we had one and a half carries finding left behind stuff was a big deal. Surveyors tape to the rescue. In the middle there was no lake as the map(53 years old) indicated, rather a peat bog. Took six hours to go 2500 meters (approx).
Then there are other “portages” there that are a tangle of blowdowns.