Hello All - I have done many trips on bigger water where I camped night after night without unpacking all my gear. The Boundary Waters is an area requiring repeated portaging and take outs. My questions relate to how do others portage this type of terrain? Do you unload everything into a larger bag and carry the kayak empty or throw the minimally loaded kayak on your yoke/shoulders and make the carry in one trip? I have problems seeing the justification in unloading and loading your kayak maybe ten times each day but maybe that is the only way it can be done. Help me out and others if you have had this type of experience. Thanks, Tom from Wisconsin *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List - Any opinions or suggestions expressed here are solely those of the writer(s). You must assume the entire responsibility for reliance upon them. All postings copyright the author. Submissions: PaddleWise_at_PaddleWise.net Subscriptions: PaddleWise-request_at_PaddleWise.net Website: http://www.paddlewise.net/ ***************************************************************************
Hi Tom: I have done quick portage type solo trips into the Canadian side of the Boundary Waters (the interior of Quetico) using a Cape Horn (Wilderness Systems) sea kayak. It worked out very well for me because I did go "ultra-light and ultra-compact" and could fit everything into two long dry bags that then were snug fit into a narrow backpack with compression strappings of my own simple design. The bag fits nicely on top of the aft deck and is held down and is stable with a quick release elastic cord arrangement. Stability on the water was not a problem. (I also had the option in passing "large" lakes like Saganaga lake on windy days to put the 2 bags quickly into the hatches for better stability). At the portage I quickly unsnapped the bag that has wide shoulder straps, got the paddle and walked comfortably across, followed by a portage of the completely empty kayak. Putting things in the hatches makes the portage of the kayak nearly impossible for a single person and would be quite uncomfortable even with just a little bit of gear in the hatches. Please note that if the aft deck is not low and flat as in the Cape Horn you may have a bit of a problem in fitting you gear in this way in a stable manner. I hope this will help you. Good luck with your trip. PS: The kayaking club (TCSKA) that I am a member of is doing a trip into Quetico this summer. You may like to have a look at out trip website: http://128.255.228.51/TCSKA_QUETICO_TRIP/ ) Peter -----Original Message----- From: owner-paddlewise_at_paddlewise.net [mailto:owner-paddlewise_at_paddlewise.net]On Behalf Of tomweber_at_northwesternmutual.com Sent: Monday, June 04, 2001 11:03 AM To: paddlewise_at_paddlewise.net Subject: [Paddlewise] Kayaking the Boundary Waters of Minnesota Hello All - I have done many trips on bigger water where I camped night after night without unpacking all my gear. The Boundary Waters is an area requiring repeated portaging and take outs. My questions relate to how do others portage this type of terrain? Do you unload everything into a larger bag and carry the kayak empty or throw the minimally loaded kayak on your yoke/shoulders and make the carry in one trip? I have problems seeing the justification in unloading and loading your kayak maybe ten times each day but maybe that is the only way it can be done. Help me out and others if you have had this type of experience. Thanks, Tom from Wisconsin *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List - Any opinions or suggestions expressed here are solely those of the writer(s). You must assume the entire responsibility for reliance upon them. All postings copyright the author. Submissions: PaddleWise_at_PaddleWise.net Subscriptions: PaddleWise-request_at_PaddleWise.net Website: http://www.paddlewise.net/ *************************************************************************** *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List - Any opinions or suggestions expressed here are solely those of the writer(s). You must assume the entire responsibility for reliance upon them. All postings copyright the author. Submissions: PaddleWise_at_PaddleWise.net Subscriptions: PaddleWise-request_at_PaddleWise.net Website: http://www.paddlewise.net/ ***************************************************************************
I would think about trying to avoid portaging as much as possible and stick to the big lakes, or even head over to Voyageurs NP where all the lakes are big. There are a few manufacturers of portage yoke/backpack systems for kayaking. I can't remember offhand who makes them. I see the big hassle being the loading and unloading. -Patrick At 11:03 AM -0500 6/4/01, tomweber_at_northwesternmutual.com wrote: >Hello All - > >I have done many trips on bigger water where I camped night after night >without unpacking all my gear. The Boundary Waters is an area >requiring repeated portaging and take outs. [SNIP] *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List - Any opinions or suggestions expressed here are solely those of the writer(s). You must assume the entire responsibility for reliance upon them. All postings copyright the author. Submissions: PaddleWise_at_PaddleWise.net Subscriptions: PaddleWise-request_at_PaddleWise.net Website: http://www.paddlewise.net/ ***************************************************************************
1. Use a canoe and barrel packs, or 2. Use a durable sprint kayak, pack ultra-light, and carry the whole sheboo without unloading, or 3. Use a sea kayak, unload fully, and tump bunches of drybags with 2" webbing. All work. My pref is for the canoe. Cheers, Richard Culpeper Thunder Bay tomweber_at_northwesternmutual.com wrote: > Hello All - > > I have done many trips on bigger water where I camped night after night > without unpacking all my gear. The Boundary Waters is an area > requiring repeated portaging and take outs. My questions relate to how > do others portage this type of terrain? Do you unload everything into > a larger bag and carry the kayak empty or throw the minimally loaded > kayak on your yoke/shoulders and make the carry in one trip? I have > problems seeing the justification in unloading and loading your kayak > maybe ten times each day but maybe that is the only way it can be done. > Help me out and others if you have had this type of experience. > > Thanks, > Tom from Wisconsin > > *************************************************************************** > PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List - Any opinions or suggestions expressed > here are solely those of the writer(s). You must assume the entire > responsibility for reliance upon them. All postings copyright the author. > Submissions: PaddleWise_at_PaddleWise.net > Subscriptions: PaddleWise-request_at_PaddleWise.net > Website: http://www.paddlewise.net/ > *************************************************************************** *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List - Any opinions or suggestions expressed here are solely those of the writer(s). You must assume the entire responsibility for reliance upon them. All postings copyright the author. Submissions: PaddleWise_at_PaddleWise.net Subscriptions: PaddleWise-request_at_PaddleWise.net Website: http://www.paddlewise.net/ ***************************************************************************
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