515 Rods

Portages, love or hate them are a big part of the BWCA experience. You really cannot get anywhere without at least hiking some in-between lakes. Sure you can choose to stay on one lake your whole trip or simply go down a river, but such trips miss out on so much more that the BWCA has to offer. These days though people are increasingly doing shorter trips to only the periphery of the BWCA and not working their way into the interior as much (Forest Service latrine cleaning statistics back this fact up, specifically periphery lake campsites have a lot more you know what in their latrines!). Reason being is that doing so requires a lot more canoeing and a lot more portaging, people would rather set up camp a couple lakes in and relax as opposed to pushing themselves to see a larger portion of the wilderness.

While I have done some trips this summer that have been a bit more on the lazy side, my most recent solo was definitely not! While I did not cover as much mileage as some of my past trips my trip did take me through a route that is traveled by only a handful of daring souls each year. While my route was not exactly deep in the BWCA, people avoid it for a completely different reason.....a dreaded 515 Rod portage! Not only is this portage 1.60 miles long, but the elevation change is brutal as one is constantly going up and down over huge rolling hills.

My Route: Seagull Lake to Round Lake. I originally planned to just spend my entire day off on Seagull relaxing, but when morning came I decided I wanted something a bit more challenging (and perhaps insane). The Entire route is around 15 miles, the first marker (going North to South) is my starting point, the second my campsite, and the third was my final destination of Tuscarora Outfitters on Round Lake. The large portage is from Seagull Lake to JA Paulson Lake

Of course 515 rods and massive elevation change was not enough for me so I decided to do this portage solo (meaning I got to carry all my gear and my boat) and I did it on one of the hottest days of the summer (90+ degrees, sunny, and very high humidity). Needless to say by the time I finished it I was exhausted (although I did find a bit more strength to filter some more water to drink!). Unfortunately the long 515 rod portage was only my first portage of the day and I still had 10 more to go in order to make my way back to Round Lake and Tuscarora Outfitters.

So after a quick rest I was on my way cutting across more lakes and portages. Surprisingly by the end of the day the dreaded 515 Rod portage was not my least favorite of the day. Upon arriving on Fay Lake I was unable to locate the portage to Flying Lake. I searched several deer trails and other potential paths and was completely exasperated. Finally after about 45 mins of searching I went back to where I thought it should be (according to the map at least) and bushwhacked around in the woods a bunch. Finally I discovered what appeared to be a small path heading off in the right direction. I had not found it earlier because there were tons of trees down by the lake so it did not look like a portage from the water. While I had finally found the portage my trials and tribulations were far from over. As hardly anyone does this route the portage was extremely poorly kept up. Trees had overgrown the portage everywhere and there was barely any room to walk. The result of this was that I got to spend 100 rods literally ramming my canoe through brush and trees the entire way. There were many times during the portage where I wondered if I was actually on a portage at all or if I had just followed some deer path into the woods and would never reach a lake on the other side! Needless to say when I finally arrived at Flying Lake I was greatly relived (and tired).

The rest of my trip was mostly uneventful as I worked my way through a handful more lakes and portages, all of which I had done before on previous trips, before finally arriving back at Tuscarora mid-afternoon.

The trip from Seagull Lake to Round Lake, via JA Paulson Lake (also called Jap Lake), is not one I would generally recommend. I loved the challenge and the remoteness of it, but it is not for the feint of heart. Campsites are few and far between and portages are frequent and long. Still if you are up to the task and want to take on a fun challenging route, go for it, just do not say you were not warned!