112: Bad Portages

Episode Transcript

[0:00:01 – 0:00:06] Erik: Have you seen or heard something inexplicable coming from any North Shore wilderness areas?
[0:00:06 – 0:00:08] Erik: If so, you are not alone.
[0:00:09 – 0:00:28] Erik: You are one of many very credible people in this area who have reported things like high-pitched, sustained screams, howls much deeper and louder than that of wolves or coyotes, wood knocks, organized tree structures in densely forested locations or footprints.
[0:00:29 – 0:00:32] Erik: If you answered yes, even hesitantly, I’d like to speak with you.
[0:00:33 – 0:00:39] Erik: Multiple witnesses have volunteered additional, unexpected information that warrants our further investigation.
[0:00:40 – 0:00:48] Erik: If you have seen inexplicable flying spheres of light at night with no sound or odd-shaped craft, please email me.
[0:00:48 – 0:00:50] Erik: This is not a joke.
[0:00:50 – 0:00:52] Erik: You are not crazy.
[0:00:52 – 0:01:06] Erik: Between Lake County and St. Louis County, there have been over 200 people who have contacted me personally with their stories, including two helicopter pilots, credible resort owners, and many other honest, hardworking people.
[0:01:07 – 0:01:10] Erik: No names are released anywhere without your express permission.
[0:01:11 – 0:01:15] Erik: As a side note, it is very liberating to talk to someone who knows the truth.
[0:01:15 – 0:01:17] Erik: That someone is me.
[0:01:18 – 0:01:18] Erik: Jeff
[0:01:20 – 0:01:24] Erik: jjs5perctr at gmail.com.
[0:02:04 – 0:02:06] Adam: Welcome, friends.
[0:02:06 – 0:02:07] Adam: Welcome on into the show.
[0:02:07 – 0:02:09] Adam: You’re listening to Tumble Home.
[0:02:09 – 0:02:10] Adam: That’s right.
[0:02:11 – 0:02:20] Adam: It’s the show about canoe camping, canoes, all things North Shore, and Boundary Waters, Quetico adjacent.
[0:02:21 – 0:02:22] Adam: My name is Adam.
[0:02:22 – 0:02:25] Adam: I’m here in Studio K with my good friend, Eric.
[0:02:25 – 0:02:26] Adam: Hello, Eric.
[0:02:26 – 0:02:26] Adam: Hello.
[0:02:28 – 0:02:32] Adam: This is episode 112 of Tumble Home, a Ponder Waters podcast.
[0:02:32 – 0:02:33] Adam: We’re talking tough portages.
[0:02:35 – 0:02:36] Adam: What’s the toughest portage you’ve ever been on, Eric?
[0:02:37 – 0:02:38] Adam: Well, no, we’ll get to that later.
[0:02:38 – 0:02:40] Erik: Bad portages, I think, is the official question.
[0:02:41 – 0:02:41] Erik: Bad.
[0:02:41 – 0:02:42] Erik: We’ll get to the official question.
[0:02:42 – 0:02:46] Adam: Bad with one B, one A, and three Ds.
[0:02:47 – 0:02:50] Adam: Tumble Home is sponsored, of course, by our good friends on Patreon.
[0:02:50 – 0:02:54] Adam: Thanks for being with us on the show tonight and forever in our hearts.
[0:02:54 – 0:02:54] Adam: Thank you, Patreon.
[0:02:56 – 0:02:57] Erik: At least for now you’re in our hearts.
[0:02:58 – 0:02:59] Erik: Until you do us wrong.
[0:03:00 – 0:03:02] Erik: I couldn’t imagine you ever doing us wrong.
[0:03:02 – 0:03:03] Erik: Thank you.
[0:03:03 – 0:03:04] Erik: Seriously.
[0:03:04 – 0:03:05] Adam: They would never.
[0:03:06 – 0:03:19] Erik: Yeah, so we’re, well, obviously if you’re listening and you’ve been listening, we at this point have like four or five different things that we get to at the beginning of every show.
[0:03:20 – 0:03:22] Erik: Do you want to start with this week’s potential beer sponsor?
[0:03:23 – 0:03:25] Adam: I want to know what’s in the pack over here.
[0:03:26 – 0:03:26] Erik: All right.
[0:03:26 – 0:03:27] Erik: So, yeah.
[0:03:27 – 0:03:33] Adam: Eric comes walking down the driveway with a large present wrapped in unicorn paper.
[0:03:34 – 0:03:34] Erik: And?
[0:03:35 – 0:03:37] Adam: And then that is encased in a…
[0:03:38 – 0:03:40] Adam: A beautiful pink bag.
[0:03:41 – 0:03:43] Erik: Yeah, like a pink cellophane bag.
[0:03:43 – 0:03:44] Adam: Very festive.
[0:03:45 – 0:03:46] Erik: Yeah.
[0:03:46 – 0:03:57] Erik: So, I mean, everybody listening up to this point knows the whole beer sponsorship thing and how that has progressed and affected our lives in an amazing way, obviously.
[0:03:58 – 0:04:02] Erik: And it kind of started impromptu in the beginning.
[0:04:02 – 0:04:02] Erik: It really gets me going.
[0:04:02 – 0:04:03] Adam: It did, yeah.
[0:04:03 – 0:04:04] Adam: It was mostly a joke.
[0:04:04 – 0:04:05] Erik: Yeah.
[0:04:05 – 0:04:08] Erik: And not to say that I’m like bored with just getting beer sponsorships.
[0:04:08 – 0:04:09] Erik: Obviously, I’m not.
[0:04:10 – 0:04:10] Erik: What?
[0:04:10 – 0:04:11] Erik: I’m not saying that.
[0:04:11 – 0:04:17] Erik: But I’m also saying like there is a potential for this to maybe get out of hand based on… Never.
[0:04:17 – 0:04:17] Adam: No.
[0:04:17 – 0:04:19] Adam: We just got to do more episodes.
[0:04:19 – 0:04:19] Adam: No.
[0:04:19 – 0:04:27] Erik: Well, I’m just saying considering what happened with the drop off of this package here and considering it’s the first time that it’s happened…
[0:04:27 – 0:04:34] Erik: I will apologize to anybody who has donated beer up to this point that we haven’t gotten to.
[0:04:34 – 0:04:36] Erik: I can assure you it’s still in the fridge.
[0:04:36 – 0:04:49] Erik: The problem is the package that got dropped off at Clearwater is a large box that is literally wrapped, and I don’t have the space for it, which I was assuming it was beer, so I put it in the fridge.
[0:04:49 – 0:04:51] Adam: I think it might be a snake.
[0:04:51 – 0:04:54] Adam: Arrow reacted very strangely when you brought this in.
[0:04:54 – 0:05:00] Adam: Maybe it was the wrapping paper, but it could have been a live animal, and you may have refrigerated a squirrel or a snake.
[0:05:00 – 0:05:03] Erik: Well, yeah, if it was a live animal, it’s probably not alive anymore.
[0:05:04 – 0:05:09] Adam: I was thinking it was going to be a snake with a snake bite kit in it, but you said it feels heavy.
[0:05:09 – 0:05:12] Erik: It does feel like it should be something to drink.
[0:05:12 – 0:05:13] Adam: Probably art supplies then.
[0:05:14 – 0:05:18] Erik: Well, yeah, but it was dropped off in person by Steve.
[0:05:19 – 0:05:19] Erik: And who knows?
[0:05:19 – 0:05:20] Erik: There was a note in there.
[0:05:20 – 0:05:21] Erik: I can’t remember.
[0:05:21 – 0:05:23] Adam: There’s a note in there, but you know it’s from Steve.
[0:05:23 – 0:05:25] Erik: I know it’s for sure one of the guys was Steve.
[0:05:25 – 0:05:26] Erik: They were up here last year.
[0:05:26 – 0:05:33] Erik: They gave us that first round of the Ager beers, the Orono Lake beer that they donated to clean up Orono Lake.
[0:05:34 – 0:05:41] Erik: But then they said that they heard us just a couple of weeks ago being sponsored by that Chipotle beer and that porter.
[0:05:41 – 0:05:42] Erik: The dark porter.
[0:05:42 – 0:05:43] Erik: They had to change it up.
[0:05:43 – 0:05:45] Adam: That was the morning show.
[0:05:45 – 0:05:46] Adam: That was the morning show, yes.
[0:05:46 – 0:05:47] Erik: Good morning!
[0:05:49 – 0:05:50] Erik: But I’m just saying, like…
[0:05:51 – 0:05:59] Erik: If it’s filled with snake bite kits, I mean, we’re already at, since the last show that you heard, we’ve received more snake bite kits.
[0:06:00 – 0:06:01] Erik: They’re pouring in.
[0:06:01 – 0:06:02] Erik: We’re up to four.
[0:06:02 – 0:06:09] Adam: We’re going to monopolize the entire North American supply of Coghlan snake bite kits.
[0:06:09 – 0:06:13] Erik: I’m not saying don’t send us more snake bite kits, but I’m also saying we’re good on snake bite kits.
[0:06:13 – 0:06:14] Adam: We’ve got enough.
[0:06:15 – 0:06:19] Adam: I think I probably won’t get more than one more snake bite in my life.
[0:06:20 – 0:06:21] Adam: But I will always have one with me now.
[0:06:22 – 0:06:28] Adam: I carry two in the car, one on my person, and I got a couple in the dill den on the Stolquist.
[0:06:28 – 0:06:29] Erik: Always one in the Stolquist.
[0:06:29 – 0:06:31] Erik: Got to keep one in the Stolquist, Eric.
[0:06:32 – 0:06:33] Erik: All right, well.
[0:06:33 – 0:06:34] Adam: All right, let’s see what’s in this thing.
[0:06:35 – 0:06:35] Erik: Do you want to?
[0:06:35 – 0:06:36] Adam: No, you got to go for it.
[0:06:36 – 0:06:37] Adam: You’re the one who brought it.
[0:06:37 – 0:06:38] Adam: You opened the last one.
[0:06:38 – 0:06:45] Adam: I did open the last one, and you brought this thing walking down the driveway, and it’s like, oh, dear.
[0:06:45 – 0:06:55] Adam: And you got up close, and I can see the wrapping paper is unicorns, and it’s a white unicorn pattern with golden mane, a golden horn.
[0:06:57 – 0:07:02] Adam: And a golden tail of glitter with a field of gold stars set over a pink backdrop.
[0:07:02 – 0:07:06] Erik: It has to have been left over from, like, their daughter’s birthday party or something.
[0:07:06 – 0:07:11] Adam: I would wrap all my Christmas presents in this if I could get my hands on some of that.
[0:07:11 – 0:07:12] Erik: All right.
[0:07:12 – 0:07:13] Adam: Save that paper.
[0:07:13 – 0:07:14] Adam: That’s good unicorn paper, Eric.
[0:07:14 – 0:07:20] Adam: Well, I ripped it right down the middle, so… We’ll send out the next Pronto Pup Award with that paper.
[0:07:20 – 0:07:20] Erik: Oh, my God.
[0:07:21 – 0:07:21] UNKNOWN: Ah!
[0:07:24 – 0:07:26] Adam: It is beer.
[0:07:26 – 0:07:30] Adam: And it is a… Holy smokes.
[0:07:31 – 0:07:33] Adam: It’s a Heineken mini keg.
[0:07:33 – 0:07:35] Erik: It is a mini keg of Heineken.
[0:07:35 – 0:07:38] Erik: It’s a five liter mini keg.
[0:07:38 – 0:07:42] Adam: All right, we better call some people up.
[0:07:43 – 0:07:44] Adam: We’re never going to be able to finish this.
[0:07:45 – 0:07:49] Erik: Yeah, we at the very least need to pause and figure out how this thing opens.
[0:07:49 – 0:07:52] Adam: All right, we’re going to have to get this thing kicking.
[0:07:53 – 0:07:53] Adam: Thank you, Steve.
[0:07:54 – 0:07:58] Adam: Nobody has ever donated a 5-liter mini keg.
[0:07:59 – 0:08:00] Adam: I’m writing a note down.
[0:08:00 – 0:08:04] Adam: This is definitely going to get at least a nomination for the Tumbleys.
[0:08:05 – 0:08:06] Erik: Oh, wow, yeah.
[0:08:06 – 0:08:08] Erik: I’m glad it was in the fridge.
[0:08:08 – 0:08:12] Erik: I didn’t know how a present was going to refrigerate, but I’m feeling it right now.
[0:08:14 – 0:08:19] Adam: There’s no other sound in the entire universe like a Heineken mini keg.
[0:08:20 – 0:08:24] Erik: This is exactly the opposite of what I was thinking was going to be in there.
[0:08:25 – 0:08:26] Erik: Well, I shouldn’t say that.
[0:08:26 – 0:08:29] Erik: I didn’t think that it was going to be beer in this form.
[0:08:29 – 0:08:30] Adam: It’s a drought keg, Eric.
[0:08:31 – 0:08:31] Adam: Let’s get droughty.
[0:08:32 – 0:08:33] Adam: All right, we’re going to have to pause here.
[0:08:34 – 0:08:36] Adam: We’ll be right back after a note from these sponsors.
[0:08:40 – 0:08:42] Adam: Cold, dark night in camp.
[0:08:43 – 0:08:48] Adam: Getting together with friends around the bonfire and you run out of wood.
[0:08:50 – 0:08:53] Adam: Just thirsty and looking for some ambiance.
[0:08:53 – 0:08:56] Adam: Try Coglins Party Candles.
[0:08:56 – 0:09:01] Adam: They’re battery powered and they last for 12 to 13 years.
[0:09:01 – 0:09:04] Adam: Always flickering in camp.
[0:09:05 – 0:09:11] Adam: Set one up next to your sky sleeping setup or ground dwelling on your next camping trip.
[0:09:14 – 0:09:37] Erik: all right well thanks for uh that uh we have cracked the code and uh we’ve got ourselves some drought cheers my good man yeah as uh we tapped into it we were joking that it was a uh a bomb from a ne’er-do-well and we thought we were we went on the list of who would want to do us uh do us wrong
[0:09:38 – 0:09:43] Erik: And we landed on the Chilean mining company, Antofagasto.
[0:09:43 – 0:09:48] Erik: So if this podcast abruptly ends, it’s been good.
[0:09:48 – 0:09:51] Adam: We were poisoned by Chilean miners.
[0:09:51 – 0:09:51] Adam: Yes.
[0:09:52 – 0:10:01] Erik: And they got through people that went on a trip and dropped off beer under the auspices of going out on a Bon Jovi trip.
[0:10:01 – 0:10:02] Adam: That’s some real Willy Wonka Slugworth.
[0:10:05 – 0:10:20] Adam: i don’t know it tastes pretty good to me i think we’re in the clear uh but yeah that was by far the largest and heaviest uh beer donation to date i don’t know if that fact checks actually but it was uh by at least volume the most beer in one container we’ve been given
[0:10:21 – 0:10:36] Erik: Yeah, so going forward, if you want your beers to skyrocket to the top of sponsorships, drop them off in exorbitant wrapping papers, bows, and boxes, not because they’re pretty and because I appreciate it, but because they take up more room, and I got to get them out of the way faster.
[0:10:37 – 0:10:43] Adam: So I got room here at Studio K for that mini keg, and it says it’s good for 30 days after tapping.
[0:10:43 – 0:10:46] Adam: I guarantee it will not last 30 days.
[0:10:46 – 0:10:46] Erik: Nope.
[0:10:47 – 0:10:51] Adam: We’ll try our best to drink as much as we can during tonight’s show.
[0:10:52 – 0:10:54] Adam: And who knows, stick around for hour two.
[0:10:54 – 0:10:56] Adam: You never know what’s going to happen here on Tumble Home.
[0:10:56 – 0:10:57] Adam: After dark.
[0:10:57 – 0:11:02] Adam: Before we get into the meat of the show, we’ve got to check that Ron Chera’s outdoor calendar, Eric.
[0:11:02 – 0:11:08] Erik: We’ve got a bunch of stuff ahead of time before the meat of the show, but we do like to… Yeah, start with the facts.
[0:11:08 – 0:11:13] Erik: Yeah, give us the facts at least before we truly go off the rails into fiction.
[0:11:13 – 0:11:14] Adam: August 21st, 2020.
[0:11:18 – 0:11:19] Adam: Snapping turtle eggs are hatching.
[0:11:20 – 0:11:21] Adam: Really?
[0:11:21 – 0:11:23] Adam: At first I was like, that doesn’t make any sense at all.
[0:11:24 – 0:11:27] Adam: But what I was thinking of was seeing the eggs be laid.
[0:11:27 – 0:11:29] Adam: We were seeing the eggs be laid, Eric.
[0:11:31 – 0:11:32] Adam: Not seeing the hatch.
[0:11:32 – 0:11:33] Erik: When were you seeing that?
[0:11:33 – 0:11:36] Adam: We seen it on Otter Track that one time.
[0:11:37 – 0:11:39] Erik: Oh, I thought you were talking about recently, just in general.
[0:11:39 – 0:11:48] Adam: And then on the Nina Moose River, we’ve seen some suspicious holes in the sandy dunes of the river.
[0:11:48 – 0:11:48] Erik: Yeah.
[0:11:48 – 0:11:55] Erik: And I know there’s the Cabin 6 has that gravelly backside to it that you… Yeah.
[0:11:55 – 0:11:58] Erik: I don’t know if those are painted or snappers, but you definitely get some turtle legs back there.
[0:11:58 – 0:12:01] Adam: Turtles always lay on their eggs in the early June, but I don’t know.
[0:12:01 – 0:12:04] Adam: Apparently, according to this, they’re hatching.
[0:12:05 – 0:12:07] Adam: Well, I trust Ron with all my heart.
[0:12:07 – 0:12:11] Adam: Sunset today is at 8.07 p.m. Well, I know that’s a lie.
[0:12:11 – 0:12:12] Erik: I just checked it today.
[0:12:12 – 0:12:13] Erik: It’s 8.04.
[0:12:14 – 0:12:15] Erik: Where’s he getting that information from?
[0:12:15 – 0:12:16] Erik: Where are they drawing that from?
[0:12:16 – 0:12:19] Erik: Because it’s wildly different from the southernmost part of the state.
[0:12:19 – 0:12:20] Adam: It’s from Ron Scherer’s house.
[0:12:21 – 0:12:24] Adam: He’s at the right latitude to do the calculations.
[0:12:26 – 0:12:26] Erik: All right.
[0:12:27 – 0:12:29] Erik: Well, I have a couple of other things to get to.
[0:12:29 – 0:12:33] Erik: Of course, we’ll talk for 25 to 30 minutes before getting into the meat of the show.
[0:12:33 – 0:12:34] Adam: Tough portages.
[0:12:34 – 0:12:38] Adam: Stick around for… We’re going to start with your toughest portages.
[0:12:38 – 0:12:40] Adam: I’m sorry, bad portages.
[0:12:40 – 0:12:40] Erik: Yeah.
[0:12:41 – 0:12:42] Adam: That’s a bad portage, Eric.
[0:12:42 – 0:12:44] Erik: And that’s up for debate.
[0:12:44 – 0:12:45] Erik: That can be… Bad.
[0:12:45 – 0:12:48] Erik: Whatever you want it to be.
[0:12:49 – 0:12:51] Adam: Bad’s in your own, you know, boots.
[0:12:52 – 0:12:55] Erik: Well, we’ve got an email, some correspondence, if you will.
[0:12:55 – 0:12:55] Adam: Doo-doo-doo.
[0:12:57 – 0:12:59] Adam: Correspondence.
[0:12:59 – 0:13:02] Adam: I’m really glad that correspondence is the one that stuck.
[0:13:03 – 0:13:03] Erik: Still around.
[0:13:03 – 0:13:05] Erik: It’s almost been a year of correspondence.
[0:13:05 – 0:13:07] Adam: Correspondence.
[0:13:07 – 0:13:18] Erik: And this is a note which was sent in the form of an electronic message, which I believe these days they are calling emails.
[0:13:19 – 0:13:22] Erik: So thank you, Dakota, for the email.
[0:13:23 – 0:13:25] Adam: And the words that were sent are these.
[0:13:25 – 0:13:28] Erik: And the words that were sent were as follows.
[0:13:29 – 0:13:43] Erik: In regards to increase in plane traffic, after hearing about your experiences with the increases in float plane sightings while in the BWCA, I thought I should share the experiences we had last September.
[0:13:43 – 0:13:49] Erik: My friend and I were base camped on Swan, and on our second day, we decided to go try our luck fishing.
[0:13:50 – 0:13:57] Erik: After an unsuccessful morning, we stopped at the unoccupied campsite number one for lunch and to check out the old railroad grade.
[0:13:58 – 0:14:01] Erik: Found some old tools and had a nice lunch.
[0:14:01 – 0:14:06] Erik: While we were loading up and planning our strategy for fishing that afternoon, we heard a plane approaching.
[0:14:06 – 0:14:11] Erik: When we finally spotted it, we found it to be coming directly over us.
[0:14:11 – 0:14:14] Erik: It was moving from south to north and flying overhead.
[0:14:14 – 0:14:20] Erik: It banked and circled Swan three times, then made an approach and touched down on the lake.
[0:14:21 – 0:14:24] Erik: It is a thing of beauty watching a skilled pilot maneuver such a fine craft.
[0:14:25 – 0:14:28] Erik: the beaver, onto the water with little effort.
[0:14:28 – 0:14:38] Erik: Although pleasing to watch, my paddling partner and I knew something was wrong, as we have never heard of a U.S. Forest Service plane touchdown in the BWCA without a darn good reason.
[0:14:39 – 0:14:48] Erik: The two Forest Service employees taxied the beaver to campsite number one, where we were asked if we had seen a white male in a white solo canoe.
[0:14:50 – 0:14:56] Erik: told the two men that we unfortunately had not, and they thanked us and taxied the beaver back into open water and took back off.
[0:14:57 – 0:15:05] Erik: We searched for any info we could on this possible missing person when we got out, but never did find out if he was found, so we will assume no news is good news.
[0:15:06 – 0:15:11] Erik: Funny how after that every downed birch tree in the woods looked like a solo white canoe.
[0:15:12 – 0:15:12] Adam: Mmm, yes.
[0:15:14 – 0:15:14] Erik: So that’s weird.
[0:15:14 – 0:15:15] Erik: Search and rescue from last year?
[0:15:16 – 0:15:21] Erik: Yeah, I don’t remember anything about that, but it’s interesting that they would just dip down and start asking people.
[0:15:22 – 0:15:23] Erik: Missing person?
[0:15:24 – 0:15:27] Erik: Yeah, the planes we’ve been seeing are a different variety.
[0:15:27 – 0:15:29] Erik: It’s just a thing now.
[0:15:29 – 0:15:32] Adam: Yeah, none of them have tried the dip down on us.
[0:15:32 – 0:15:35] Erik: No, we did get the circle maneuver on Tuscarora.
[0:15:36 – 0:15:41] Erik: They were just giving us the what for, because that was during the time of not supposed to be camping, only day tripping.
[0:15:42 – 0:15:47] Erik: Maybe they were spying for tents and or permanent-esque setups.
[0:15:47 – 0:15:49] Adam: As if we would set up a tent.
[0:15:49 – 0:15:50] Erik: No, right.
[0:15:51 – 0:15:52] Erik: So, yeah, thanks, Dakota.
[0:15:52 – 0:15:53] Erik: That’s interesting.
[0:15:54 – 0:15:55] Erik: I never heard anything about that.
[0:15:55 – 0:15:57] Erik: But Swan’s not the biggest lake in the world.
[0:15:58 – 0:16:00] Erik: Pretty interesting that they were able to just drop down.
[0:16:00 – 0:16:05] Erik: And like you said, I’m sure it was probably pretty impressive to see him landing on that lake.
[0:16:05 – 0:16:07] Erik: But thanks for the email.
[0:16:07 – 0:16:11] Adam: Yeah, I’ve never seen one like land or take off real up close like that.
[0:16:11 – 0:16:18] Erik: Well, that’s even, I mean, that lake’s bigger than even the one that they had to land for Dan Stevens up in Quetico.
[0:16:18 – 0:16:21] Erik: Like, that one is always crazy when you look at how big it is.
[0:16:21 – 0:16:25] Erik: And they, like, I don’t even know, looned it out of there, just circled.
[0:16:25 – 0:16:27] Adam: They got jet packs for special maneuvers.
[0:16:27 – 0:16:30] Erik: Well, yeah, they probably had the company jet from FiberTech come down.
[0:16:31 – 0:16:31] Erik: Oh, yeah.
[0:16:31 – 0:16:33] Erik: Retrofitted with some skis.
[0:16:33 – 0:16:36] Erik: Some pontoons.
[0:16:38 – 0:16:38] Erik: Yeah.
[0:16:39 – 0:16:44] Erik: So finishing up before we get to the cherished meat of the episode.
[0:16:46 – 0:17:13] Adam: know how i feel about now the term meat of the show no come on you both said it a few times now and uh i’m i’m not sure about it but the beef the beef of the show the beef is cherished beef is uh you have been into and then back out of the park since we’ve last spoken yeah regardless of uh our existence on a podcast or not have not really talked to you about your trip into south
[0:17:14 – 0:17:14] Adam: I haven’t told you anything.
[0:17:14 – 0:17:16] Adam: I haven’t showed you any pictures.
[0:17:16 – 0:17:17] Adam: Yeah.
[0:17:18 – 0:17:19] Adam: Yeah, I haven’t said much.
[0:17:19 – 0:17:22] Adam: But it was a short trip, but a successful one.
[0:17:23 – 0:17:25] Adam: And I don’t know.
[0:17:25 – 0:17:28] Adam: I think the last time I was out in August, we were doing like PMA stuff.
[0:17:28 – 0:17:32] Adam: So to be on kind of a main route, it was a little busy.
[0:17:34 – 0:17:35] Adam: You know, like we pulled into the landing.
[0:17:36 – 0:17:37] Adam: So I don’t know.
[0:17:37 – 0:17:39] Adam: I can’t remember how much we had actually said about it.
[0:17:40 – 0:18:04] Adam: what we were doing i believe i just said you know we’re meeting natalie’s folks out they’re gonna be out we’re gonna go find them and then just spend like a short trip out with them and then had to come right back out for work i mean you were taking the topper way so we’re going in from topper so we pull in the topper and like there’s a ton of cars parked up there and then like before i even like begin to take the canoe off here comes a group out they’re coming out
[0:18:04 – 0:18:12] Adam: And then while they were coming out and dropping gear, then another vehicle came up and was dropping somebody off to pick up their car.
[0:18:12 – 0:18:15] Adam: So it was a lot of activity right away.
[0:18:17 – 0:18:21] Adam: And those people were double portaging out, so, like, we had to, like, cross them on the portage a few times.
[0:18:23 – 0:18:27] Adam: But then I just decided I was going to, like, double portage because, you know, what’s the big hurry?
[0:18:28 – 0:18:34] Adam: And, you know, I don’t want to stress, but I just decided to end up with just solo portage down.
[0:18:34 – 0:18:36] Adam: I was too excited to get in.
[0:18:37 – 0:18:42] Adam: So going in, that’s not too bad, but I was, like, huffing and puffing a little, like, going up that first hill on the topper.
[0:18:42 – 0:18:43] Erik: It’s a decent little gradual hill.
[0:18:43 – 0:18:44] Erik: It’s sneaky.
[0:18:45 – 0:18:47] Adam: Yeah, and I was fully loaded.
[0:18:47 – 0:18:52] Adam: And then we packed pretty late, but, I mean, we still had cast iron and wine with us and biters.
[0:18:53 – 0:18:54] Adam: And biters.
[0:18:54 – 0:18:55] Adam: So, I don’t know.
[0:18:55 – 0:18:57] Adam: We got down to south in pretty quick order.
[0:18:57 – 0:19:00] Adam: We went to the left, and they weren’t on the far one to the west.
[0:19:01 – 0:19:02] Adam: Thank God.
[0:19:02 – 0:19:03] Adam: Right.
[0:19:03 – 0:19:05] Adam: I can’t remember what the grade was on that one, like a D minus.
[0:19:05 – 0:19:06] Adam: Not great.
[0:19:06 – 0:19:06] Adam: It looked bad.
[0:19:07 – 0:19:10] Adam: And then the one straight across from the portage, we could tell somebody was there, and it wasn’t them.
[0:19:11 – 0:19:17] Adam: So we went by the second one on that little group of three, and that one was empty, and they weren’t there.
[0:19:19 – 0:19:20] Adam: Thank Charlie Bostrom.
[0:19:21 – 0:19:22] Adam: That one looked pretty rough too.
[0:19:23 – 0:19:31] Adam: And then we got to the end of the little triumvirate of the North Shore, and we came around that corner, and that one’s just kind of sneaky around the corner.
[0:19:32 – 0:19:33] Adam: You’re like, I think it’s right here.
[0:19:33 – 0:19:35] Adam: And then we finally came around, and there they were.
[0:19:36 – 0:19:38] Adam: So the one just south of the portage in the north?
[0:19:38 – 0:19:38] Adam: Right.
[0:19:38 – 0:19:42] Adam: They were right on the height of land portage there would be south four.
[0:19:43 – 0:19:46] Adam: So we pulled in and that was like early afternoon.
[0:19:46 – 0:19:51] Adam: Like we certainly hadn’t gotten like a super early start and weren’t really going very fast, but it was beautiful.
[0:19:51 – 0:19:52] Adam: There was real light wind.
[0:19:53 – 0:20:00] Adam: Pulled into there, got our hammock set up and we’re not anticipating any rain and none was ever had while we were out.
[0:20:01 – 0:20:03] Adam: It was a pretty nice sight, actually.
[0:20:03 – 0:20:08] Adam: I mean, there’s definitely some wind blowdown, but it just made firewood just be automatic.
[0:20:09 – 0:20:10] Erik: Yeah, no, that’s for sure.
[0:20:10 – 0:20:19] Erik: That spot, you can tell it’s been a little affected, but I think the important parts of the campsite have been mostly… Yeah, there’s just, like, down-dead cedar everywhere.
[0:20:19 – 0:20:25] Adam: So then I just, like, went to town on cedar, just grabbing and sawing and splitting it.
[0:20:27 – 0:20:32] Adam: And we busted out the bag of wine and we’re just chilling.
[0:20:32 – 0:20:33] Adam: It was such a nice afternoon.
[0:20:33 – 0:20:38] Adam: I did bring fishing stuff, but we never even ended up attempting fishing.
[0:20:39 – 0:20:40] Adam: The fishing stuff just stayed broken.
[0:20:41 – 0:20:44] Adam: The rod was just never got put back together.
[0:20:44 – 0:20:46] Adam: It was just in its little case.
[0:20:47 – 0:20:47] Erik: Yeah.
[0:20:48 – 0:20:50] Adam: Just relaxing, enjoying the day in camp.
[0:20:50 – 0:20:55] Adam: And yeah, got the hammocks up and had ourselves a nice dinner.
[0:20:57 – 0:20:58] Adam: Enjoyed the wine.
[0:20:58 – 0:20:59] Adam: Good times.
[0:20:59 – 0:21:00] Adam: Great cheer.
[0:21:01 – 0:21:04] Adam: And man, the stars that night were something else.
[0:21:04 – 0:21:05] Adam: Yeah.
[0:21:05 – 0:21:06] Adam: A plus crispy.
[0:21:06 – 0:21:18] Erik: Yeah, that was the same night we were down at my house having a campfire, and we were all up until 1 in the morning, and the stars were, man, hadn’t seemed like that in a long time.
[0:21:18 – 0:21:22] Adam: Yeah, they were good right away, and then I didn’t stay up until 1 for sure.
[0:21:23 – 0:21:26] Adam: But I got up, like, middle of the night, I woke up, and I was just kind of looking.
[0:21:28 – 0:21:51] Adam: i don’t know what time it was honestly middle of the night or early morning i don’t know but yeah i just laid awake and watched the stars from the hammock never uh there wasn’t like a whisper of wind and then uh finally i like came to and there the sun was just starting to like lighten up the sky and i looked out and the fog was uh just like coating the lake
[0:21:51 – 0:21:51] Erik: Nice.
[0:21:52 – 0:22:01] Adam: And so I got up and, you know, it was one of those where, like, you could look in, like, the crevasses, like, the site you stayed at where the Mucker Creek comes down.
[0:22:02 – 0:22:02] Adam: Yeah.
[0:22:02 – 0:22:05] Adam: You could, like, see from that site the little, like, creek valley.
[0:22:06 – 0:22:06] Adam: Yeah.
[0:22:06 – 0:22:11] Adam: And it was almost like a river of fog coming down that valley across the lake, like, down into the bank.
[0:22:11 – 0:22:11] Adam: Wow.
[0:22:12 – 0:22:27] Adam: nice and you could just see like the palisade of that bottle uh overlook way off in the distance just like poking out of it and then i’m down there and i was the first one up and which i was surprised by and i kind of walked down by the waterfront there sitting on the rocks and then
[0:22:27 – 0:22:30] Adam: I’m, like, taking pictures down there, and all of a sudden I hear something.
[0:22:30 – 0:22:34] Adam: And I look, and there’s a guy coming in a solo canoe with a kayak paddle.
[0:22:34 – 0:22:35] Adam: Just real quiet.
[0:22:36 – 0:22:38] Adam: He just, like, emerged from the fog.
[0:22:38 – 0:22:39] Adam: Like, you were certain.
[0:22:40 – 0:22:42] Adam: 98% certainty it was a French ghoul.
[0:22:43 – 0:22:45] Adam: Like, I was prepared to… Did anybody else see him?
[0:22:45 – 0:22:46] Adam: Bonjour.
[0:22:46 – 0:22:48] Adam: Oh, nobody else was awake.
[0:22:48 – 0:22:49] Erik: Well, that’s what I mean.
[0:22:50 – 0:22:51] Erik: Potential.
[0:22:51 – 0:22:51] Adam: Yeah.
[0:22:51 – 0:22:52] Adam: That was maybe…
[0:22:53 – 0:23:15] Adam: could have been and he went by very quietly and just went over the heidel and portage and like never even heard the canoe so much as uh gently graze a rock yeah never heard of never heard a thud or nothing so it was quite magical and then of course like none of the pictures like there’s nothing in the pictures so further proof probably we’re right on the the voyagers highway there yeah
[0:23:16 – 0:23:17] Adam: So that was pretty neat.
[0:23:17 – 0:23:24] Adam: Uh, night before, you know, when I was stargazing, like it was, I believe the actual new moon, I confirmed it on the Ron share earlier.
[0:23:25 – 0:23:34] Adam: And when I was looking at the stars and I kind of looked down, my feet were facing towards the lake and I could just see like, as it was coming over the horizon, just the black disc of it.
[0:23:35 – 0:23:42] Adam: That’s how dark it was, like, overlaid on some stars, which is the only reason you could see the, like, dark black disk of the new moon.
[0:23:42 – 0:23:42] Erik: That’s crazy.
[0:23:43 – 0:23:44] Erik: You can always… That was something else.
[0:23:45 – 0:23:52] Erik: It doesn’t happen very often, but it is always cool when that is how crazy the stars are, is you can see the outline of the moon.
[0:23:52 – 0:23:53] Adam: Yeah, it was wild.
[0:23:54 – 0:23:55] Adam: So that was great.
[0:23:55 – 0:23:58] Adam: And we had a nice rotund camp mouse.
[0:23:58 – 0:23:58] Adam: Oh, you did?
[0:23:59 – 0:23:59] Adam: At night, and then…
[0:24:00 – 0:24:05] Adam: I didn’t hear it, but then the next morning Natalie’s like, yeah, something definitely murdered that mouse.
[0:24:05 – 0:24:08] Adam: It was screaming, the old mouse screams, and nobody heard it.
[0:24:08 – 0:24:10] Adam: So nobody knows what got it.
[0:24:11 – 0:24:12] Erik: We don’t need any more mice in this world.
[0:24:12 – 0:24:14] Erik: Yeah, it was a cute one though.
[0:24:14 – 0:24:16] Erik: There’s enough of them out there.
[0:24:16 – 0:24:16] Adam: Oh, not yet.
[0:24:17 – 0:24:18] Adam: Whose side are you on?
[0:24:19 – 0:24:19] Adam: I don’t know.
[0:24:20 – 0:24:26] Adam: I will try and keep the rest of this trip tidy because it wasn’t that long of a trip, but it was a fun trip and I’m glad we went.
[0:24:27 – 0:24:28] Adam: Next morning, dinner for Tata.
[0:24:29 – 0:24:30] Adam: Had fresh dill from the garden.
[0:24:31 – 0:24:32] Adam: That went great.
[0:24:32 – 0:24:34] Adam: We had so much cedar.
[0:24:34 – 0:24:36] Adam: That place got seriously wood gnomed.
[0:24:36 – 0:24:40] Adam: We tried to burn a bunch on breakfast, but you just can’t.
[0:24:41 – 0:24:47] Adam: So I did the frittata, and then this was the great new, I don’t know if it’s a great new thing, but it’s the new thing, Eric.
[0:24:47 – 0:24:48] Erik: Okay.
[0:24:49 – 0:24:52] Adam: So we finished the frittata, and I’m like, everybody finish theirs.
[0:24:53 – 0:24:56] Adam: And I was like, I could eat a little bit more, honestly.
[0:24:56 – 0:24:56] Adam: Okay.
[0:24:57 – 0:25:01] Adam: We’re all kind of sitting there, and then Natalie’s mom had Pop-Tarts.
[0:25:01 – 0:25:18] Adam: So we had a hot cast iron and a nice fire going, so we threw just strawberry with frosting Pop-Tarts, frosting up in the cast iron and fried them up in the remnants of the frittata.
[0:25:18 – 0:25:19] Adam: It was impeccable.
[0:25:20 – 0:25:20] Erik: Oh, wow.
[0:25:21 – 0:25:23] Adam: And we did have pizza biters the night before as, like, an appetizer.
[0:25:24 – 0:25:24] Adam: Yeah.
[0:25:24 – 0:25:28] Adam: We did the, like, nachos and bean, nacho cheese and bean.
[0:25:29 – 0:25:29] Erik: Yeah.
[0:25:29 – 0:25:36] Erik: Basically, all that’s happening is we’re just slowly transitioning into eating as much junk food in the banjo waters as possible.
[0:25:36 – 0:25:38] Adam: I just said I made a homemade frittata.
[0:25:38 – 0:25:39] Erik: Yeah, well, all right, fine.
[0:25:39 – 0:25:41] Erik: We, like, did a pretty fancy dinner.
[0:25:41 – 0:25:43] Erik: We’ve now introduced Pop-Tarts.
[0:25:43 – 0:25:44] Erik: Why not Toaster’s Strudels?
[0:25:45 – 0:25:45] Adam: Wow.
[0:25:45 – 0:25:47] Adam: Well, maybe that would even be better.
[0:25:47 – 0:25:48] Adam: I don’t know.
[0:25:48 – 0:25:49] Adam: It was just something I had never thought of.
[0:25:49 – 0:25:50] Adam: It was pretty fun.
[0:25:50 – 0:25:50] Adam: Do you flip them?
[0:25:51 – 0:25:51] Adam: No.
[0:25:51 – 0:25:52] Adam: Well, they had frosting.
[0:25:52 – 0:25:53] Adam: I don’t want to scorch that.
[0:25:54 – 0:25:56] Erik: Yeah, that would be a lot of burnt sugar.
[0:25:56 – 0:25:56] Adam: Too much sugar.
[0:25:56 – 0:25:56] Adam: Yeah.
[0:25:57 – 0:25:58] Erik: All right.
[0:25:58 – 0:26:00] Erik: I mean, I love Pop-Tarts, or at least I’m used to.
[0:26:00 – 0:26:01] Erik: I haven’t had a Pop-Tart in like 20 years.
[0:26:01 – 0:26:03] Adam: It was unexpected and delicious.
[0:26:03 – 0:26:05] Adam: And yeah, they never go bad.
[0:26:05 – 0:26:05] Adam: Right.
[0:26:06 – 0:26:13] Adam: It might just be a thing where throwing a little thing of duct tape and some toilet paper and maybe a thing of Pop-Tarts.
[0:26:15 – 0:26:18] Erik: one of those pelican cases that’s the perfect size?
[0:26:18 – 0:26:19] Erik: Because those things will crush into a pile of dust.
[0:26:19 – 0:26:20] Erik: They would.
[0:26:20 – 0:26:21] Adam: That would be the only problem.
[0:26:21 – 0:26:24] Adam: You’d have to have some sort of exoskeleton on them.
[0:26:25 – 0:26:27] Adam: They’re like pizza biters that literally would never go bad.
[0:26:27 – 0:26:29] Adam: They’re like pizza biters for the nuclear age.
[0:26:29 – 0:26:31] Erik: Yeah, no, they don’t need to be refrigerated or anything.
[0:26:31 – 0:26:33] Erik: As long as you kept them from turning into dust.
[0:26:34 – 0:26:35] Adam: Mice wouldn’t even eat them.
[0:26:36 – 0:26:38] Adam: And the things that eat mice definitely wouldn’t eat it.
[0:26:39 – 0:26:42] Adam: I theorized of owl, but I thought it was ground-based.
[0:26:43 – 0:26:51] Adam: So yeah, after that we did do, we went over and just like hiked over the land, the height of land portage and then had the ceremony on North.
[0:26:52 – 0:26:52] Erik: How was it?
[0:26:52 – 0:26:53] Erik: Did you swim at the beach?
[0:26:54 – 0:26:56] Adam: Nah, it wasn’t really that warm in the morning.
[0:26:57 – 0:27:00] Adam: None of the days of our trip were like, I was actually like kind of chilly that night.
[0:27:01 – 0:27:03] Adam: I think it had gotten to the forties, honestly, up there.
[0:27:04 – 0:27:06] Adam: It was cold and then it was still quite cold in the morning.
[0:27:06 – 0:27:08] Adam: So no swimming, but we did wade very nicely.
[0:27:09 – 0:27:29] Adam: and i plucked a nice rock for the disco of course nice and then we saw a bunch more people like coming down from north into south and so we got like in a real log jam of people on the portage it’s like we just gotta get out of here yeah and then of course getting out of there is the the gem on this trip is going up that south to topper portage
[0:27:30 – 0:27:31] Erik: You went right back up the same way you came in.
[0:27:32 – 0:27:32] Adam: Yeah, we did.
[0:27:32 – 0:27:34] Adam: Just the old in and out.
[0:27:34 – 0:27:36] Adam: Just the old in and out.
[0:27:37 – 0:27:40] Adam: So, yeah, man, that one’s tough.
[0:27:41 – 0:27:41] Adam: So I double portage.
[0:27:42 – 0:27:43] Adam: We didn’t even have the wine.
[0:27:43 – 0:27:44] Adam: All the wine was gone.
[0:27:45 – 0:27:47] Adam: And all the food, basically.
[0:27:47 – 0:27:50] Adam: And, oh, man, I was wheezing going up that thing.
[0:27:51 – 0:27:51] Adam: Wheezing.
[0:27:51 – 0:27:52] Adam: Yeah.
[0:27:53 – 0:28:20] Erik: and then yeah the the topper just the get out portage also is a pretty nice little climb to start it’s about i’d say a third of the difficulty of the first portage though yeah yeah no for sure um yeah that sounds good i mean i remember the last the they were happened to be two of my days off the last two i’ll probably see for quite some time based on disappearance of staff there’s no good
[0:28:21 – 0:28:47] Erik: um anyway um but i remember sitting around and just thinking about how nice the weather was during those two days and how i really wish i could have been out on the uh on the water and i could have been but i don’t know the whole overnight thing right now still kind of it’s a little scary yeah i mean honestly it was a we saw some people but then once we actually got to the campsite didn’t see anyone other than the the morning ghoul which was pretty pretty pleasant
[0:28:48 – 0:28:50] Erik: The morning ghoul sounds like he was very pleasant.
[0:28:50 – 0:28:55] Adam: He did give a gentle wave as he paddled by, just like a nod and a gentle wave.
[0:28:56 – 0:28:57] Adam: Of course, he didn’t say anything.
[0:28:57 – 0:28:57] Adam: Yeah.
[0:28:57 – 0:28:59] Adam: Otherwise, he would have given himself away.
[0:29:00 – 0:29:01] Erik: Yeah, no, don’t say anything.
[0:29:01 – 0:29:03] Adam: Do not reveal your voice.
[0:29:03 – 0:29:03] Adam: Yep.
[0:29:03 – 0:29:05] Adam: It would have sounded really off.
[0:29:05 – 0:29:08] Adam: Then that’s how you know you’re in the presence of a ghoul.
[0:29:08 – 0:29:08] Erik: Yeah.
[0:29:09 – 0:29:11] Adam: So, yeah, overall, really great trip.
[0:29:12 – 0:29:16] Adam: And then we were able to stop and pick up some cold beers at Poplar House.
[0:29:17 – 0:29:17] Adam: Nice.
[0:29:17 – 0:29:19] Adam: And then some hot food at Trail Center.
[0:29:19 – 0:29:24] Erik: Oh, you did make it down to the old A&W that is the Trail Center these days.
[0:29:25 – 0:29:26] Adam: Yeah, it was pretty good.
[0:29:27 – 0:29:30] Adam: You know, there’s some people around and we got one of the tables outside and
[0:29:31 – 0:29:32] Adam: It hit the spot, baby.
[0:29:32 – 0:29:33] Adam: It hit the spot.
[0:29:33 – 0:29:35] Adam: So glad to stop in there.
[0:29:35 – 0:29:38] Adam: And then that was the end of that.
[0:29:38 – 0:29:39] Adam: Made our way on home.
[0:29:39 – 0:29:42] Adam: But yeah, so it was good to get out for a little trip.
[0:29:43 – 0:29:44] Erik: Nice.
[0:29:44 – 0:29:44] Erik: Yeah.
[0:29:44 – 0:29:45] Erik: I don’t know.
[0:29:45 – 0:29:50] Erik: I have nothing planned in terms of a trip.
[0:29:50 – 0:29:57] Erik: Besides some high hopes, high, high hopes for a solo trip in October, I’m hoping.
[0:29:58 – 0:30:01] Adam: Have you considered just doing like a solo hiking trip?
[0:30:01 – 0:30:02] Erik: No, no, no, no.
[0:30:02 – 0:30:04] Erik: You’re paddling that magic.
[0:30:04 – 0:30:06] Erik: Yeah, I’m not doing a solo hiking trip.
[0:30:07 – 0:30:07] Erik: No.
[0:30:07 – 0:30:08] Erik: Why would I do that?
[0:30:09 – 0:30:09] Erik: Overnight?
[0:30:10 – 0:30:10] Adam: Get out of here.
[0:30:10 – 0:30:11] Adam: What the hell?
[0:30:11 – 0:30:12] Adam: I thought you knew me.
[0:30:13 – 0:30:14] Adam: You should hike in the sock lake.
[0:30:15 – 0:30:15] Adam: No.
[0:30:15 – 0:30:17] Erik: Yeah, go to sock.
[0:30:17 – 0:30:17] Erik: God, no.
[0:30:17 – 0:30:21] Erik: I want to paddle the magic, especially after the conversation that we had about the magic.
[0:30:21 – 0:30:24] Erik: You suggest to me that I go solo hiking.
[0:30:24 – 0:30:25] Adam: Well, I don’t know.
[0:30:25 – 0:30:29] Adam: I was just on this trip, and there’s a split in the trail where you can go to the border route trail.
[0:30:29 – 0:30:31] Erik: Yeah, you can go sit on sock lake.
[0:30:31 – 0:30:32] Adam: Go down the sock with a baba.
[0:30:35 – 0:30:37] Erik: I’ve never understood the overnight hiking.
[0:30:38 – 0:30:40] Adam: Yeah, I don’t know either.
[0:30:40 – 0:30:41] Adam: What do you do?
[0:30:41 – 0:30:42] Erik: You get there and you’re just there.
[0:30:42 – 0:30:45] Erik: All right, well, I guess we’ll just keep walking.
[0:30:45 – 0:30:46] Adam: You got to doodle.
[0:30:47 – 0:30:48] Erik: Yeah, you really need to bring something to do.
[0:30:49 – 0:30:50] Erik: There’s that.
[0:30:51 – 0:30:51] Erik: I don’t know.
[0:30:52 – 0:30:55] Erik: I don’t mean to disparage people that overnight hike.
[0:30:56 – 0:31:03] Erik: But the long distance overnight hiking where you’re carrying everything on your back where it’s like, if I’m not hiking, what do you do in camp?
[0:31:03 – 0:31:04] Erik: You’re just in the woods.
[0:31:05 – 0:31:05] Adam: Yeah.
[0:31:05 – 0:31:06] Erik: Okay.
[0:31:06 – 0:31:09] Erik: I mean, you don’t get to bring anything that’s like…
[0:31:10 – 0:31:12] Erik: very much fun in terms of like food.
[0:31:13 – 0:31:14] Erik: Like that’s what keeps me occupied at the end of the day.
[0:31:14 – 0:31:15] Adam: No, it is.
[0:31:15 – 0:31:22] Adam: I’m like, as I was doing those partridges, it’s like, geez, you know, can bring half the stuff I brought out immediately.
[0:31:23 – 0:31:23] Erik: Yeah.
[0:31:23 – 0:31:26] Adam: For less, for like pale versions of those things.
[0:31:26 – 0:31:26] Adam: Yeah.
[0:31:27 – 0:31:27] Adam: I don’t know.
[0:31:27 – 0:31:28] Adam: What’s the point?
[0:31:28 – 0:31:32] Erik: Well, it’s no wonder people can through hike those long trails as long as they do.
[0:31:32 – 0:31:38] Erik: It’s like, well, you just get up in the morning and hike until it gets kind of dark and set up and eat your little dehydrated beans.
[0:31:38 – 0:31:38] Erik: Yeah.
[0:31:38 – 0:31:44] Adam: Both times we did the Grand Canyon hike and people were just marveling over that we had boxed wine with us.
[0:31:44 – 0:31:45] Erik: Hikers have wine.
[0:31:45 – 0:31:46] Erik: Yeah.
[0:31:46 – 0:31:48] Erik: We walked down there with beer.
[0:31:49 – 0:31:50] Erik: Cracked open some like Milwaukee’s best.
[0:31:51 – 0:31:52] Adam: You know the cantina has cold beer, right?
[0:31:52 – 0:31:54] Adam: We’re like, well, you know, you’re going to need it.
[0:31:55 – 0:31:56] Adam: We were only going downhill.
[0:31:56 – 0:31:57] Adam: Up in the down, you know.
[0:31:57 – 0:31:58] Adam: Yep.
[0:31:58 – 0:31:59] Adam: I’m not getting across this.
[0:32:01 – 0:32:02] Adam: Yeah, that was a tough portage getting out.
[0:32:03 – 0:32:05] Adam: And that is the topic of tonight’s show.
[0:32:06 – 0:32:12] Erik: Which at this point almost seems like we should audible and do, because we still have one tiny little segment to get to.
[0:32:12 – 0:32:19] Erik: And then we should just do hours and spend the entire next episode doing responses.
[0:32:19 – 0:32:20] Erik: Okay.
[0:32:20 – 0:32:22] Erik: Because I’m looking at the number of them right now.
[0:32:22 – 0:32:22] Erik: Yeah.
[0:32:23 – 0:32:24] Erik: And it’s a lot of reading.
[0:32:26 – 0:32:27] Erik: Yeah.
[0:32:27 – 0:32:30] Erik: And then we won’t allow ourselves to be affected.
[0:32:31 – 0:32:34] Erik: We’re just going to have these be what our thoughts are on them.
[0:32:34 – 0:32:35] Erik: I wouldn’t change mine.
[0:32:35 – 0:32:36] Adam: Well, no, I wouldn’t.
[0:32:36 – 0:32:38] Adam: I doubt half of these are on anybody else’s list.
[0:32:38 – 0:32:41] Erik: I’m sure there’s going to be some crossover.
[0:32:41 – 0:32:43] Adam: They’re all mental portages, really.
[0:32:43 – 0:32:43] Erik: Yeah.
[0:32:44 – 0:32:46] Adam: Yeah, well, I did have one more.
[0:32:46 – 0:32:48] Adam: We still haven’t even gotten to our tumble home cast yet.
[0:32:48 – 0:32:49] Erik: Well, that’s what I’m saying, and we’re at 33 minutes right now.
[0:32:50 – 0:32:57] Adam: We’re feeling real chatty tonight here in Studio K. Yeah, so let’s shout out some of the… All right, we’ve got to get these RTHC shout outs in.
[0:32:57 – 0:33:00] Erik: Well, no, somebody did point out that is a completely different subreddit.
[0:33:00 – 0:33:01] Adam: Oh, is it?
[0:33:01 – 0:33:07] Adam: Anybody listening to this is going to accidentally end up at our, you know what I’m saying, our Tumble Home cast.
[0:33:07 – 0:33:08] Erik: What is this?
[0:33:08 – 0:33:09] Adam: Our THC.
[0:33:09 – 0:33:10] Adam: Oh my.
[0:33:10 – 0:33:12] Adam: I don’t know what that is, but it’s not Tumble Home cast.
[0:33:12 – 0:33:13] Adam: You got to spell it out.
[0:33:13 – 0:33:15] Adam: It’s our Tumble Home cast.
[0:33:15 – 0:33:17] Adam: It’s the greatest new, it’s the hottest new subreddit.
[0:33:17 – 0:33:20] Adam: It’s on all the lists of the up and coming subreddits of 2020.
[0:33:20 – 0:33:21] Adam: Yep.
[0:33:21 – 0:33:24] Erik: It’s growing like the state of Wyoming’s COVID cases.
[0:33:24 – 0:33:25] Erik: Oh boy.
[0:33:25 – 0:33:26] Erik: Slowly but steadily.
[0:33:27 – 0:33:28] Adam: Everybody do-si-do.
[0:33:30 – 0:33:39] Adam: I think we got to start at the top, which was… Well, no, we’ll start with the biters, because we were just talking about biters and camp cooking.
[0:33:40 – 0:33:47] Adam: Our good friend of the show, Hopalicious, had a beautiful picture of biters on the grate, direct on the grate, on Birch Lake.
[0:33:47 – 0:33:48] Erik: Blacked?
[0:33:48 – 0:33:49] Erik: He said blacked biters?
[0:33:49 – 0:33:51] Adam: Blackened biters, yeah.
[0:33:51 – 0:33:53] Erik: I think that it meant… Char broiled.
[0:33:54 – 0:33:55] Erik: I think it meant to say blackened.
[0:33:56 – 0:33:57] Erik: Blacked is a different thing.
[0:33:58 – 0:33:58] Erik: Um…
[0:33:59 – 0:34:06] Erik: But yeah, there was a lot of comments about how the fire grate was one that many people had not seen.
[0:34:06 – 0:34:07] Adam: Yeah, I don’t know what’s going on.
[0:34:07 – 0:34:11] Adam: Maybe there’s been a renaissance and we’re all going back to the old school grates.
[0:34:11 – 0:34:17] Erik: Yeah, the old Smith foundry ones are the ones that… Old Smith, they got a place in my heart.
[0:34:18 – 0:34:20] Adam: These new age ones, I don’t know.
[0:34:20 – 0:34:25] Adam: I got to say on South, I don’t know if I asked you what your great was.
[0:34:26 – 0:34:29] Erik: Well, see, I don’t necessarily pay attention so much when there aren’t…
[0:34:29 – 0:34:30] Adam: Ours was just regular.
[0:34:31 – 0:34:36] Adam: We had a new one, but it was severely beaten and missing part of itself.
[0:34:36 – 0:34:37] Erik: Severely beaten.
[0:34:37 – 0:34:37] UNKNOWN: Yeah.
[0:34:39 – 0:34:41] Adam: It suffered, but it could have been wind trauma.
[0:34:41 – 0:34:42] Adam: Who knows?
[0:34:42 – 0:34:43] Adam: Wind trauma?
[0:34:43 – 0:34:45] Adam: Well, it was in that wind storm.
[0:34:45 – 0:34:46] Adam: Well, something may have landed on it.
[0:34:46 – 0:34:47] Adam: That’s what I’m saying.
[0:34:47 – 0:34:48] Adam: It might not have been a human cause.
[0:34:49 – 0:34:49] Adam: Sure.
[0:34:49 – 0:34:54] Adam: It wasn’t obvious that it was been human monkey wrenched, but it could have been a wind cause.
[0:34:55 – 0:35:00] Erik: Well, you could bring out a big flathead screwdriver and screw the top off if you really wanted.
[0:35:00 – 0:35:01] Adam: Wow, yeah.
[0:35:01 – 0:35:03] Adam: Is that what that person had the wrench for?
[0:35:03 – 0:35:08] Erik: No, the 13 millimeter wrench, it still doesn’t serve me any purpose.
[0:35:08 – 0:35:09] Erik: Doesn’t do anything to a fire grate.
[0:35:09 – 0:35:10] Erik: It is still in the dildon.
[0:35:11 – 0:35:15] Adam: Anyway, shout out to Hopalicious for that beautiful biter shot of the week.
[0:35:15 – 0:35:16] Adam: Yep.
[0:35:16 – 0:35:18] Adam: Biter.
[0:35:18 – 0:35:19] Adam: We got to start working.
[0:35:19 – 0:35:20] Adam: Shot of the week.
[0:35:20 – 0:35:21] Erik: This fall.
[0:35:21 – 0:35:22] Erik: That was a good drop.
[0:35:22 – 0:35:23] Erik: That was good.
[0:35:23 – 0:35:24] Erik: I talked over it.
[0:35:25 – 0:35:28] Erik: We had to start coming up with categories for the tumblies.
[0:35:28 – 0:35:31] Erik: Biter shot, best biter shot.
[0:35:31 – 0:35:34] Adam: I’ve been keeping tumbly notes in every episode, so yeah.
[0:35:34 – 0:35:36] Adam: Yeah, best biter shot of the week.
[0:35:36 – 0:35:37] Erik: Best biter shot.
[0:35:38 – 0:35:46] Erik: Best biter shot of the year, best Coglins meme, best general meme, and best movie poster.
[0:35:46 – 0:35:48] Adam: Yeah, best Bobby and Rex meme for sure.
[0:35:49 – 0:36:01] Erik: Well, I know clearly my favorite, which is maybe my favorite thus far, is I underscore been underscore tired, which is the blue-eared sunfish.
[0:36:01 – 0:36:03] Adam: The blue-eared sunfish shot.
[0:36:03 – 0:36:04] Adam: That has the America.
[0:36:04 – 0:36:04] Adam: It’s got a nice hat on.
[0:36:05 – 0:36:06] Erik: Yeah, hat on.
[0:36:06 – 0:36:07] Adam: Yeah.
[0:36:07 – 0:36:10] Erik: And the description of the blue-eared sunfish…
[0:36:11 – 0:36:12] Adam: Yeah, you’re going to have to read this one, I think.
[0:36:12 – 0:36:17] Erik: With all of the Latin names is pretty well done and amazing.
[0:36:18 – 0:36:35] Erik: The blue-eared sunfish, edamomus, microlofus, also known as the crawcracker, gunflint bream, blueberry gill, aqua chupacabra, improved rock bass, and moon perch.
[0:36:35 – 0:36:36] Erik: The moon perch.
[0:36:36 – 0:36:37] Erik: The moon perch.
[0:36:37 – 0:36:39] Adam: I like the blueberry gill and the moon perch.
[0:36:39 – 0:36:40] Adam: I don’t know.
[0:36:40 – 0:36:41] Erik: I like improved rock bass.
[0:36:41 – 0:36:52] Erik: It’s a freshwater fish in the family Centrachidae and is native to the northeastern parts of Minnesota in the United States.
[0:36:53 – 0:37:01] Erik: Since it is a legendary sport fish, it has been introduced to bodies of water all over North America, but has never survived outside its home waters.
[0:37:02 – 0:37:08] Erik: It is known for its diet of pronto mud puppies, pizza biter mollusks, and wheel snails.
[0:37:11 – 0:37:11] Erik: Oh, man.
[0:37:12 – 0:37:18] Erik: The photoshopping of that hat onto the fish is truly a thing of beauty.
[0:37:18 – 0:37:21] Adam: That’s top-notch work.
[0:37:21 – 0:37:26] Adam: There was one more post on this week’s TumbleHomes Reddit page.
[0:37:28 – 0:37:34] Adam: I really, I got to get it together on this, our tumble home cast.
[0:37:34 – 0:37:40] Adam: Did you see, I know you’ve seen it from user Colin Hawkins.
[0:37:41 – 0:37:48] Erik: Yeah, we’ve talked about this in the past, I think more or less, but I don’t think we’ve ever actually sat down together and watched this.
[0:37:49 – 0:37:51] Erik: The video, like canoe dancer.
[0:37:51 – 0:37:52] Erik: Canoe dancing.
[0:37:52 – 0:37:53] Erik: It’s amazing.
[0:37:53 – 0:37:58] Erik: Yeah, the title of the post was, so can we talk about this?
[0:37:58 – 0:38:03] Erik: Because I just saw it and now I’m worried I won’t sleep tonight or ever again.
[0:38:03 – 0:38:08] Adam: Yeah, you couldn’t sleep due to excitement and the beauty and majesty of the performance.
[0:38:09 – 0:38:34] Erik: the the comments on there were really good as well no pfd don’t let the kids watch or at the very least don’t show stew osthoff yeah and then uh hopalicious responded that was a tfd tuxedo flotation device because he literally was doing these magical like canoe dances in a solo in a tuxedo just without the jacket he had the bow tie at the vest he had everything
[0:38:34 – 0:38:36] Adam: Yeah, I got to give a shout out.
[0:38:36 – 0:38:43] Adam: So that was Mark Ornstein, and he’s from Hanoi Falls, I assume Ontario?
[0:38:43 – 0:38:43] Adam: I don’t know.
[0:38:44 – 0:38:45] Adam: Vermont?
[0:38:46 – 0:38:46] Erik: Yeah.
[0:38:46 – 0:38:47] Adam: Where’s Hanoi Falls?
[0:38:47 – 0:38:48] Adam: I didn’t look it up.
[0:38:48 – 0:38:49] Adam: I’m not looking it up.
[0:38:49 – 0:38:51] Adam: The boat, did you catch the boat?
[0:38:52 – 0:38:54] Adam: It was a Loonworks Allegro.
[0:38:55 – 0:38:57] Adam: So it’s no magic, but I’d love to…
[0:38:59 – 0:39:20] Adam: bring a little uh i’ll borrow you my selfie stick when you go on your solo canoe trip and try to do that and you gotta get yeah bring your little uh bring like a nice bluetooth speaker play lady in red and then try and do some of those spins i don’t expect you to wear a tuxedo or do the whole you know performance i was watching it at clearwater at the front desk and i didn’t turn it on is that what he was doing it to
[0:39:21 – 0:39:42] Adam: yes put on the sound that makes it even better okay mark ornstein will be performing to lady in red in his loonworks allegro using a dog paddle uh freestyle paddle and he’s wearing his paddling tfd i feel like you need to get tfds that’s absolutely a must
[0:39:42 – 0:39:55] Erik: I feel like that’s very reminiscent of that video we watched a couple of years ago where it was all that black and white dudes with the canoes that they were like paddling it up out onto docks and then walking back into it.
[0:39:55 – 0:39:58] Adam: Yeah, the trick canoe video was right up there with this thing.
[0:39:58 – 0:40:02] Adam: This was graceful in a way that the shakeout boys weren’t doing.
[0:40:02 – 0:40:05] Erik: No, the music, the two different kinds of music.
[0:40:06 – 0:40:12] Adam: He was tipping it to the point where you’re like a half inch away from water coming in.
[0:40:14 – 0:40:17] Erik: And then just spinning, you know, and just, oh.
[0:40:17 – 0:40:21] Adam: The way he controlled his balance in that boat, it was a thing of beauty.
[0:40:22 – 0:40:25] Adam: It was like a tumble home ballet right there.
[0:40:25 – 0:40:33] Erik: Yeah, no, it was the thing of beauty, but there was also a lot of comments basically saying kind of the same thing about how it was borderline uncomfortable.
[0:40:33 – 0:40:34] Erik: And it kind of was.
[0:40:34 – 0:40:39] Erik: I mean, it was a thing of beauty, but the choice of music, I guess, now that… Yeah, Lady in Red.
[0:40:39 – 0:40:42] Adam: Some of the other comments about, like, the other songs that you could do a…
[0:40:42 – 0:41:04] Adam: water ballet yeah canoe ballet performance to my lady in red and the canoe’s green so yeah he could have been like a relationship red canoe obviously yes exactly that would have been much i like some of the moves though he’d be like spinning and then he’d he’d go like one hand on the or on the paddle he was more oaring it at that point and then he’d have like a hand on his heart
[0:41:05 – 0:41:05] Erik: Yeah.
[0:41:05 – 0:41:07] Adam: As he’s like spinning around.
[0:41:07 – 0:41:09] Erik: Yeah, he is the falcon.
[0:41:09 – 0:41:10] Adam: I think he was blowing kisses at one point.
[0:41:10 – 0:41:12] Adam: I mean, it was incredible.
[0:41:12 – 0:41:14] Erik: It is borderline incredible, but also…
[0:41:14 – 0:41:15] Adam: I couldn’t do that.
[0:41:15 – 0:41:25] Adam: If you gave me 10 years of practice and a nice solo canoe like that, even if you gave me a TFT, I would never be able to pull off anything remotely like that.
[0:41:26 – 0:41:30] Adam: I am a pretty graceful man, but I do not have that kind of panache.
[0:41:31 – 0:41:39] Erik: I know, but we should finish with the top upvoted comment, which is, at the end of the day, the funniest one, which is from Have Beer Will Paddle.
[0:41:39 – 0:41:47] Erik: I’d like to see someone in a Grumman do a routine to the tune of Metallica’s Ride the Lightning, which would be pretty great.
[0:41:47 – 0:41:48] Erik: If somebody came on right after…
[0:41:50 – 0:41:53] Erik: It was just like chop and paddling.
[0:41:53 – 0:41:55] Adam: Paddling really fast in a circle.
[0:41:55 – 0:41:57] Adam: But also still impressive.
[0:41:57 – 0:41:57] Adam: Whoa.
[0:41:58 – 0:41:59] Adam: This is not dance.
[0:41:59 – 0:42:00] Adam: He’s riding the lightning.
[0:42:00 – 0:42:02] Adam: I don’t know what this is, but I like it.
[0:42:02 – 0:42:16] Erik: Yeah, there’s some deep cut, like, I don’t even know who would be in that movie, but it’d be like if Will Ferrell and Andy Samberg really just fail as actors ever and they do one of those movies.
[0:42:16 – 0:42:19] Erik: You know, they’ve got all like the skating one, the basketball one.
[0:42:19 – 0:42:20] Erik: Sure.
[0:42:21 – 0:42:47] Adam: if they’re yeah if they just stop making movies basically like they have and they have to start scraping the bottom of the barrel for ideas there’s a good one those guys would be in the competition and they were like a team thing and then they broke up now they’re both doing a solo canoe paddle dance and then somehow bill murray shows up as like a race judge or a dance judge yeah and then yeah i used to i used to perform yeah all you do but he’s like a real serious bill murray
[0:42:47 – 0:42:48] Erik: Yeah, there’s a format.
[0:42:48 – 0:42:54] Erik: I’m sure there’s a fill-in-the-blank Mad Libs Hollywood movie script for anything.
[0:42:54 – 0:42:56] Adam: What was the guy that played the dolphin in that one?
[0:42:57 – 0:42:58] UNKNOWN: What?
[0:42:58 – 0:42:59] Adam: Dolphin Boy.
[0:42:59 – 0:43:00] Erik: Oh, yeah, yeah.
[0:43:00 – 0:43:02] Erik: No, I don’t know what you’re talking about.
[0:43:02 – 0:43:02] Adam: All right.
[0:43:02 – 0:43:03] Adam: Well, moving on.
[0:43:03 – 0:43:04] Erik: Moving on.
[0:43:04 – 0:43:11] Erik: Is that your last subreddit shout-out before we get to the… At this point, this is the dessert of the episode.
[0:43:12 – 0:43:15] Adam: Yeah, it is, but I think we should take a break and then come back for the dessert.
[0:43:16 – 0:43:16] Adam: Sure.
[0:43:16 – 0:43:18] Adam: I need a refill on my Heineken.
[0:43:18 – 0:43:23] Adam: Unfortunately, it’s in the fridge and not in Studio K. Well, we might need to get a kegerator now.
[0:43:23 – 0:43:24] Adam: We’ve got to get a fridge in here.
[0:43:25 – 0:43:25] Adam: That’s it.
[0:43:26 – 0:43:26] Erik: That’s it.
[0:43:31 – 0:43:32] Erik: Well, what do you know?
[0:43:32 – 0:43:36] Erik: We’ve talked 45 minutes and haven’t gotten to portages yet.
[0:43:37 – 0:43:38] Erik: I can assure you we are now.
[0:43:40 – 0:43:42] Erik: We’re talking bad portages.
[0:43:43 – 0:43:55] Erik: We’ll be back next week with all of your responses, which there are a number of them, and I can’t wait to read them, which I can guarantee will take much longer than it will for us to do ours.
[0:43:56 – 0:43:59] Erik: So we’re going to finish with those.
[0:44:00 – 0:44:05] Erik: We talked about maybe doing them as a backwards ranker, bad rankers.
[0:44:07 – 0:44:11] Erik: I kind of thought I had a little… Because they’re so variable.
[0:44:11 – 0:44:16] Erik: You know, really, at the end of the day, a portage is very unique.
[0:44:16 – 0:44:21] Erik: And there’s a certain aspect to the portage that…
[0:44:24 – 0:44:31] Erik: I think makes the Boundary Waters and Quetico as unique as it is.
[0:44:33 – 0:44:49] Erik: You know, there’s a time and a place for your base camp brulee, seagull, sag trips, but it’s that feeling of unloading and moving across the land to another lake that
[0:44:49 – 0:44:51] Erik: That I think sets it apart as a wilderness.
[0:44:53 – 0:44:54] Erik: There’s really nothing else like it.
[0:44:55 – 0:45:12] Erik: And that’s why, I mean, if you’ve listened to any of our Tumble Home Cinema Classics episodes or just generally seen movies, I feel like that’s why they get portages, moving canoes over land just so wrong.
[0:45:12 – 0:45:14] Adam: Yeah, I’ve never seen it done right yet.
[0:45:14 – 0:45:20] Erik: No, because it’s, I mean, there’s really… Maybe just in the Sigurd Olsen movie.
[0:45:20 – 0:45:22] Erik: Well, yeah, but that’s a documentary.
[0:45:22 – 0:45:23] Adam: It’s not really a movie.
[0:45:23 – 0:45:24] Adam: Yeah, it was a promo piece.
[0:45:24 – 0:45:27] Erik: Yeah, kind of a combination of both.
[0:45:27 – 0:45:31] Erik: But, you know, and that’s also, at the end of the day, the biggest point of question is…
[0:45:33 – 0:45:39] Erik: And trying to understand and figure out what your trip, as you plan your first one, is going to look like.
[0:45:40 – 0:45:41] Erik: It’s the portaging.
[0:45:41 – 0:45:49] Erik: That is kind of like the, I don’t know, this portaging thing, this business, it’s kind of crazy.
[0:45:50 – 0:45:52] Erik: And it is because it doesn’t really exist in very many places.
[0:45:53 – 0:45:53] Erik: It’s not hiking.
[0:45:55 – 0:45:56] Erik: It’s not even the overnight hiking.
[0:45:57 – 0:45:58] Erik: It’s basically…
[0:45:59 – 0:45:59] Erik: It’s freight.
[0:46:00 – 0:46:01] Erik: It’s overland freight.
[0:46:01 – 0:46:02] Erik: Yeah, you’re just mulling it.
[0:46:02 – 0:46:04] Adam: Yeah, be your own meal.
[0:46:04 – 0:46:05] Erik: Yeah, and we’ve talked in the past.
[0:46:06 – 0:46:07] Erik: I don’t remember what the name of the episode is.
[0:46:08 – 0:46:11] Erik: There’s probably a pretty easy way to go back and figure that out.
[0:46:12 – 0:46:15] Erik: But there is an episode where we talk about how you portagen.
[0:46:15 – 0:46:16] Erik: How do you do it?
[0:46:16 – 0:46:17] Erik: You hopscotcher.
[0:46:18 – 0:46:19] Erik: You’re once and done.
[0:46:20 – 0:46:20] Erik: You double in it.
[0:46:20 – 0:46:22] Erik: You lollygagging.
[0:46:22 – 0:46:24] Erik: Yeah, you stew Osthoff.
[0:46:24 – 0:46:25] Erik: You tank team in it.
[0:46:25 – 0:46:26] Erik: You blue jean in it.
[0:46:29 – 0:46:32] Erik: So there’s a number of different ways to actually portage.
[0:46:33 – 0:46:40] Erik: And at the end of the day, it’s a subjective conversation as to which ones are the worst, which ones are the hardest.
[0:46:41 – 0:46:44] Erik: It probably has to do with how you’re portaging.
[0:46:45 – 0:46:46] Adam: It’s a lot about how you’re portaging.
[0:46:46 – 0:46:53] Adam: It’s also just the time that you are on the portage.
[0:46:54 – 0:46:59] Adam: There’s a famous saying that you can never step in the same river twice.
[0:46:59 – 0:47:00] Erik: Sure.
[0:47:00 – 0:47:04] Adam: For the river is not the same and you are not the same or something to that effect.
[0:47:04 – 0:47:07] Adam: I believe firmly that that is also very true of a portage.
[0:47:08 – 0:47:08] Erik: Yep.
[0:47:08 – 0:47:12] Adam: You never do the same portage twice, even if you’ve done it a few times.
[0:47:12 – 0:47:12] Erik: Yeah.
[0:47:13 – 0:47:13] Erik: Yeah.
[0:47:13 – 0:47:14] Adam: Same, same idea.
[0:47:14 – 0:47:15] Adam: For sure.
[0:47:15 – 0:47:25] Adam: You know, I’ve got a couple in here where it’s like, it was the time in my life or the time of the year that we did it that made it, that made it tough or bad at the time.
[0:47:25 – 0:47:25] Erik: But, uh,
[0:47:26 – 0:47:34] Adam: That’s why I had kind of written in my notes that this was tough portages, not necessarily bad, because it can be a tough portage and still be a positive experience.
[0:47:35 – 0:47:38] Adam: There’s been a few portages where I’ve been on them, and it’s definitely been a bad portage.
[0:47:39 – 0:47:41] Erik: Yeah, and I think we originally… That’s a different thing.
[0:47:41 – 0:47:46] Erik: We did originally ask, like, what is the worst to you, you know?
[0:47:46 – 0:47:54] Adam: Yeah, I did focus on ones that I just supremely hate with every fiber of my being for different reasons, though.
[0:47:54 – 0:47:54] Erik: Sure.
[0:47:55 – 0:47:58] Erik: And I kind of expounded a little bit, obviously.
[0:47:59 – 0:48:01] Erik: That’s just pretty easy for me to do.
[0:48:01 – 0:48:09] Erik: But in the process, I was actually kind of surprised going through the map and looking at where we’ve been and what we’ve paddled and the places that we’ve explored.
[0:48:10 – 0:48:14] Erik: There’s a lot of bad-looking portages we’ve never experienced.
[0:48:14 – 0:48:16] Adam: Well, we typically avoid those.
[0:48:16 – 0:48:18] Adam: What’s the ones up on the Wauweag?
[0:48:18 – 0:48:21] Adam: And you’re like, these are 45,000 meters.
[0:48:21 – 0:48:24] Adam: What does that convert to rods?
[0:48:24 – 0:48:25] Adam: I don’t even want to find out.
[0:48:26 – 0:48:29] Adam: I would never do that route just because those things are out there.
[0:48:29 – 0:48:32] Adam: And you’re like, well, we were just talking earlier.
[0:48:32 – 0:48:33] Adam: Why would you even do a hiking trip?
[0:48:34 – 0:48:36] Adam: Well, at that point, you’re not even on a canoe trip.
[0:48:36 – 0:48:38] Adam: You’re on a hiking trip with a canoe.
[0:48:38 – 0:48:39] Adam: Basically, yeah.
[0:48:39 – 0:48:40] Erik: What the heck was that?
[0:48:40 – 0:48:42] Erik: Whitewater summer relived.
[0:48:42 – 0:48:43] Adam: Yeah, it’s Vic.
[0:48:43 – 0:48:44] Adam: Vic, what are you doing?
[0:48:45 – 0:48:46] Adam: Are you paddling or are you hiking?
[0:48:46 – 0:48:49] Adam: No, we’re just going to carry this canoe through the gorge.
[0:48:49 – 0:48:51] Erik: Yeah, to paddle one cool section.
[0:48:52 – 0:48:54] Erik: Yeah, so it’s like- It was worth it.
[0:48:54 – 0:48:59] Erik: The memory lanes portages, the Bonhomme and Sauvage portages.
[0:48:59 – 0:48:59] Erik: Yeah.
[0:48:59 – 0:49:02] Erik: All these ones up in Quetico that are like- Not the names.
[0:49:02 – 0:49:05] Erik: 5,000 meters long where you’re just like, well-
[0:49:06 – 0:49:12] Erik: I mean, yeah, it’s going to be easy to take a look at your route and maybe avoid those.
[0:49:12 – 0:49:18] Erik: So not necessarily coming at it from like, I’ve done every portage.
[0:49:18 – 0:49:21] Adam: On the other hand, we’ve done the Grand Portage.
[0:49:22 – 0:49:23] Erik: Well, yeah, there’s that too.
[0:49:23 – 0:49:24] Adam: You know, which is…
[0:49:25 – 0:49:27] Adam: I don’t know if you can find one that’s longer around here.
[0:49:27 – 0:49:28] Adam: No.
[0:49:28 – 0:49:28] Erik: No.
[0:49:29 – 0:49:30] Erik: But it’s also…
[0:49:30 – 0:49:31] Adam: But is that a bad portage?
[0:49:32 – 0:49:34] Erik: It comes with an asterisk, for sure, I would say.
[0:49:34 – 0:49:35] Adam: Because you knew what you were doing.
[0:49:35 – 0:49:36] Adam: You did it on purpose.
[0:49:36 – 0:49:39] Adam: We didn’t accidentally end up going down the Grand Portage.
[0:49:39 – 0:49:40] Adam: You’re like, what the hell is this?
[0:49:40 – 0:49:41] Adam: What is this?
[0:49:41 – 0:49:42] Adam: What have we done?
[0:49:42 – 0:49:55] Erik: It’s also a national park and has relatively decent maintenance, still surprisingly little maintenance in sections that you would be, you know, you’d think that there would be better maintenance for being a national park.
[0:49:55 – 0:50:00] Erik: But so, yeah, it’s a fun topic of conversation.
[0:50:01 – 0:50:07] Erik: I’m really looking forward to one 13 where we just delve into what everybody else has to think.
[0:50:07 – 0:50:08] Erik: Yeah.
[0:50:09 – 0:50:28] Erik: has to say because at this point we’re going to finish what we have to say based on our experiences um and there’s probably a time and a place in the future for another how you portaging kind of an episode we’re not really going to try to get into that as much at all i’m sure there’s going to be some comments that do mention that um
[0:50:29 – 0:50:42] Erik: but you may like, I’ll just tell you where I was coming from when I, I just kind of started going through and, and just taking as many like quick snapshots in my memory of portages that just stand out in my mind and why they do.
[0:50:42 – 0:50:42] Erik: Okay.
[0:50:43 – 0:50:51] Erik: And then trying to quantify them with like a category and not necessarily ranking them.
[0:50:52 – 0:50:56] Adam: So yeah, I had mine kind of ranked and then I unranked them.
[0:50:59 – 0:51:04] Erik: So just as an example, I’ve got… Because, like, it’s toughest portages, whatever.
[0:51:05 – 0:51:07] Erik: There’s a lot of things… Baddest portages.
[0:51:07 – 0:51:09] Erik: Ba-ba-ba-ba-ba-bad.
[0:51:09 – 0:51:10] Adam: Those are bad boys.
[0:51:10 – 0:51:13] Erik: There’s a lot that goes into, like, a bad portage.
[0:51:14 – 0:51:20] Erik: You know, a lot of times people think long ones are the worst, but there’s a lot that goes into long ones being bad.
[0:51:20 – 0:51:22] Erik: And so I kind of broke mine down.
[0:51:23 – 0:51:24] Erik: And I’ll start with the…
[0:51:27 – 0:51:38] Erik: The longest hardest, which I feel like is probably the one that’s most applicable to the question.
[0:51:39 – 0:51:43] Erik: And that is like by far the pine to canoe portage.
[0:51:44 – 0:51:44] Erik: Yeah.
[0:51:44 – 0:51:47] Adam: A lot of people I just asked, I was asking everybody this week.
[0:51:48 – 0:51:48] Adam: Yeah.
[0:51:48 – 0:51:51] Adam: A lot of people said that one right off the top of their head.
[0:51:51 – 0:51:51] Adam: Yeah.
[0:51:51 – 0:51:52] Adam: Pine to canoe.
[0:51:52 – 0:51:55] Adam: Or a lot of people would just say that Johnson Falls one.
[0:51:55 – 0:51:55] Adam: Yeah.
[0:51:56 – 0:51:56] Adam: Yeah.
[0:51:56 – 0:51:56] Adam: Yeah.
[0:51:57 – 0:51:57] Adam: I know the one.
[0:51:58 – 0:51:58] Erik: Yeah.
[0:51:58 – 0:52:06] Erik: And that one’s going from pine to canoe is like, I mean, it’s you feel like you’re hiking because there’s switchbacks.
[0:52:07 – 0:52:07] Erik: Yeah.
[0:52:07 – 0:52:08] Erik: And then it flattens out.
[0:52:08 – 0:52:10] Erik: And then like somehow there’s like a muddy section.
[0:52:11 – 0:52:12] Adam: There’s a flying J halfway through.
[0:52:13 – 0:52:14] Erik: Yeah, you have to stop and get your knockoff.
[0:52:15 – 0:52:17] Adam: Have a shower and a flapjack.
[0:52:17 – 0:52:18] Erik: Yeah, play some video games.
[0:52:19 – 0:52:20] Adam: Fuel up.
[0:52:20 – 0:52:21] Erik: Fuel up.
[0:52:21 – 0:52:25] Erik: Yeah, that one’s, I think, listed as well over a mile.
[0:52:25 – 0:52:27] Adam: Yeah, I wish I would have looked that one up.
[0:52:27 – 0:52:30] Erik: The fishers have it listed at like 460, which is like, eee.
[0:52:31 – 0:52:35] Erik: And I’ve walked it, and it’s closer to two-thirds of a mile on the GPS.
[0:52:36 – 0:52:47] Erik: So in the 200 rod range, but it is the elevation change between pine to canoe of just a gradual uphill climb.
[0:52:47 – 0:52:49] Adam: Would you say the fisher was listed in it?
[0:52:49 – 0:52:49] Adam: Yeah.
[0:52:50 – 0:52:52] Erik: I think the Fisher is relatively accurate.
[0:52:52 – 0:52:57] Erik: I think it’s the Nat Geo and the McKenzie that have it at like 400 plus.
[0:52:57 – 0:53:00] Adam: Yeah, the Nat Geo is listing at 460.
[0:53:00 – 0:53:01] Adam: Yeah, which is not.
[0:53:01 – 0:53:04] Adam: Yeah, just an S-curve line, several S-curves.
[0:53:04 – 0:53:06] Erik: Well, they got the switchbacks right, but it’s not that long.
[0:53:07 – 0:53:10] Erik: But it is a horrendous climb.
[0:53:12 – 0:53:13] Erik: Nothing about it.
[0:53:13 – 0:53:15] Erik: All right, so the footing is good.
[0:53:15 – 0:53:21] Erik: It does have that going for it, but it’s got to be one of the most gradual uphill climbs of any portage.
[0:53:21 – 0:53:22] Adam: Yeah, it’s a slow burn.
[0:53:23 – 0:53:24] Erik: It’s a slow burn.
[0:53:24 – 0:53:27] Erik: Yeah, and you kind of can get it over with going from canoe to pine.
[0:53:27 – 0:53:29] Erik: You get it all over at once and then you just slowly go down.
[0:53:30 – 0:53:30] Erik: Yeah.
[0:53:30 – 0:53:32] Erik: But I’ve heard people that say that’s just as hard.
[0:53:32 – 0:53:33] Erik: It’s like going down the Grand Canyon.
[0:53:34 – 0:53:37] Adam: Yeah, that’s the only way I’ve done it is canoe to pine.
[0:53:37 – 0:53:39] Adam: And I’ve only done it once, I think.
[0:53:40 – 0:53:40] Erik: Yeah.
[0:53:40 – 0:53:43] Adam: And yeah, it’s rough.
[0:53:43 – 0:53:45] Adam: It feels like you’re on it forever, but…
[0:53:46 – 0:53:48] Adam: That’s the way to go, we were told.
[0:53:48 – 0:53:52] Adam: And then I did it, and so I was like, well, I’m never going back through there again.
[0:53:53 – 0:53:53] Erik: Yeah.
[0:53:53 – 0:53:54] Adam: Why would you?
[0:53:54 – 0:53:56] Erik: So, I mean, I can continue on with mine.
[0:53:56 – 0:53:58] Erik: They’re along that same vein.
[0:53:58 – 0:54:01] Erik: So, like, the next one that I’m going to do is the shortest, hardest.
[0:54:01 – 0:54:01] Erik: Okay.
[0:54:01 – 0:54:02] Erik: But I’ll let…
[0:54:02 – 0:54:02] Erik: I mean, you can…
[0:54:04 – 0:54:05] Erik: Do one of yours if you want.
[0:54:05 – 0:54:05] Adam: I’m all right.
[0:54:06 – 0:54:07] Adam: Keep going.
[0:54:07 – 0:54:14] Erik: The shortest, hardest one that I could think of is that son of a bitch between The Unnamed Lake and Other Man.
[0:54:14 – 0:54:14] Erik: Oh.
[0:54:15 – 0:54:18] Erik: Where there’s that weird mud…
[0:54:18 – 0:54:35] Adam: natalie had this on her list pile i can interject and i have some stats no actually i don’t so it’s it’s like bit to other man bit yeah yes that was uh natalie’s number two natalie’s are in order yeah so it’s that one was in in parentheses it just says mud
[0:54:36 – 0:54:56] Erik: It’s like, so if you’re coming from the north, you’re coming from Bitterbell or whatever that Bisk Lake is, just north of Otherman, and it is literally unlabeled in terms of a length, and you’re landing, and you’re just in front of a 10-foot rock wall that you kind of have to go up sort of at an angle.
[0:54:56 – 0:54:57] Adam: Yeah, it’s a weird starter.
[0:54:57 – 0:54:58] Adam: That’s right.
[0:54:58 – 0:54:58] Adam: It’s a weird start.
[0:54:58 – 0:55:00] Adam: Yeah, I forgot about that part of it.
[0:55:00 – 0:55:04] Erik: And then you come over this rock wall, and it’s just a quagmire as far as the eye can see.
[0:55:05 – 0:55:05] Adam: Wow.
[0:55:05 – 0:55:05] Adam: yeah.
[0:55:05 – 0:55:08] Adam: And I’ve been through there before and I don’t remember it being like that.
[0:55:08 – 0:55:15] Adam: But then when we did that, that loop with, uh, Natalie and brother Andrew, that was, that was a real son of a gun.
[0:55:15 – 0:55:18] Erik: Yeah, no, it was, I’ve gone, I’ve gone both ways.
[0:55:18 – 0:55:23] Erik: I, I, I witnessed a relationship deteriorate on that portage.
[0:55:23 – 0:55:23] Adam: Yeah.
[0:55:24 – 0:55:24] Adam: Oh dear.
[0:55:24 – 0:55:25] Erik: Yeah.
[0:55:25 – 0:55:27] Erik: That was going from the other direction.
[0:55:27 – 0:55:31] Erik: Um, and then we ended on, we did that one in 2011.
[0:55:31 – 0:55:33] Adam: I don’t remember being anything.
[0:55:33 – 0:55:35] Erik: Do you remember how dry 2011 was?
[0:55:35 – 0:55:38] Adam: Yeah, maybe it was frozen over by then because we were coming through at the end.
[0:55:38 – 0:55:41] Erik: I think it was just so dry that there was nothing in there.
[0:55:42 – 0:55:46] Erik: But it’s this weird crease of a portage.
[0:55:48 – 0:55:56] Erik: So you start at a rock wall and then you end at a rock wall and in between is basically just a mud puddle, a bog.
[0:55:57 – 0:56:01] Erik: And you can tell everybody and their brother has tried to go every other which way.
[0:56:01 – 0:56:02] Adam: There’s no good way.
[0:56:02 – 0:56:03] Adam: And there’s no good way.
[0:56:03 – 0:56:07] Adam: There’s just mud in every direction in between these two little rock crevasse.
[0:56:07 – 0:56:07] Erik: Yeah.
[0:56:07 – 0:56:08] Erik: It’s a mud trench.
[0:56:08 – 0:56:09] Adam: Yeah.
[0:56:09 – 0:56:12] Erik: And it’s short, but it takes an hour and a half.
[0:56:12 – 0:56:15] Adam: And for us, when we did it, it was the last partage of the day.
[0:56:16 – 0:56:18] Erik: Well, it for sure was when we got to the other end.
[0:56:18 – 0:56:21] Adam: After that one, it was, well, we might keep going.
[0:56:21 – 0:56:24] Adam: But by the time we got out of there, it was like, that was the last one of the day.
[0:56:24 – 0:56:24] Adam: We’re stopping.
[0:56:24 – 0:56:24] Adam: Yeah.
[0:56:24 – 0:56:25] Erik: We’re done.
[0:56:25 – 0:56:26] Adam: I can’t go on another one.
[0:56:26 – 0:56:27] Adam: Yeah.
[0:56:27 – 0:56:28] Adam: Yeah.
[0:56:28 – 0:56:34] Adam: And Natalie said like, for us, it was like shin deep mud maybe, but for her, she was like up to her knees in mud the whole way.
[0:56:35 – 0:56:36] Adam: Yeah.
[0:56:36 – 0:56:41] Adam: And just a real maddening 28 rod portage or whatever it is.
[0:56:41 – 0:56:41] Adam: Yeah.
[0:56:41 – 0:56:45] Adam: I have it down as bit to other man, but other man to bit, same diff.
[0:56:45 – 0:56:46] Erik: Same diff.
[0:56:47 – 0:56:48] Adam: It’s not good one way or the other.
[0:56:48 – 0:56:49] Adam: It’s just bad in every direction.
[0:56:49 – 0:56:49] Adam: Yeah.
[0:56:49 – 0:56:51] Adam: And it’s like the shortest, worst portage.
[0:56:52 – 0:56:53] Adam: What was going on there?
[0:56:53 – 0:56:54] Adam: What happened?
[0:56:54 – 0:57:16] Erik: i think it’s just always there i don’t know if there’s anything that they can do about it it’s the shortest point between those two lakes and you because you’re on those lakes you’re on like bell slate bisque or whatever and it’s kind of like it’s just mucky and brown and then you get over to other man and it’s just like yeah it’s the filter yeah it’s the filter basically you portage through a filter all the grime out of the man chain yeah
[0:57:17 – 0:57:19] Adam: Wow, you are like covered in glitter right now.
[0:57:19 – 0:57:23] Erik: Well, yeah, thanks for… You’re going to have a bunch of glitter on your floor.
[0:57:23 – 0:57:23] Adam: Oh, great.
[0:57:24 – 0:57:25] Adam: Yeah.
[0:57:25 – 0:57:27] Adam: Studio K, forever bedazzled.
[0:57:27 – 0:57:29] Adam: Forever bedazzled.
[0:57:30 – 0:57:31] Adam: Yeah, that one was a bad one.
[0:57:31 – 0:57:33] Adam: I’m glad that it got brought up.
[0:57:33 – 0:57:35] Adam: It was going to get brought up one way or the other.
[0:57:35 – 0:57:37] Adam: That one’s on the list for sure.
[0:57:38 – 0:57:43] Adam: I’ll throw one out there that is not long per se, but it’s just…
[0:57:43 – 0:57:46] Adam: I’ve mentioned it before, so I want to mention this one.
[0:57:47 – 0:57:54] Adam: I want to give a special shout out and a special FU to the Meads to Pompler Portage.
[0:57:55 – 0:57:56] Erik: I knew you were going to talk about that one.
[0:57:56 – 0:57:56] Adam: I hate this portage.
[0:57:56 – 0:57:59] Adam: Yeah, let’s get it out of the way because everybody knows I’m bringing this one up.
[0:57:59 – 0:58:02] Adam: Nat Geo has it at a mere 243.
[0:58:03 – 0:58:05] Adam: Fisher has it at a 320.
[0:58:06 – 0:58:09] Adam: The Danielson scale has it at a red 590.
[0:58:09 – 0:58:12] Adam: That’s why I’m going to give it a red 590.
[0:58:12 – 0:58:12] Adam: Red 590.
[0:58:13 – 0:58:15] Adam: It’s just a hair under 6.
[0:58:16 – 0:58:27] Adam: Yeah, I don’t know why, but that one is much farther and a lot more baloney than you would ever imagine based on the topography.
[0:58:27 – 0:58:29] Adam: and the listed distances there.
[0:58:30 – 0:58:41] Adam: It crosses the Band of Dad at some point, and you cross it, and it shows you, if you’re going from Poplar to Meads, it shows that when you cross the Band of Dad, you’re like three-fourths of the way.
[0:58:42 – 0:58:48] Adam: But somehow you go through a time paradox in which then the next fourth takes six-fourths more time
[0:58:49 – 0:58:53] Adam: I hate that portage, and I almost fell and, like, broke my leg on it, like, twice.
[0:58:54 – 0:58:54] Adam: Somehow didn’t.
[0:58:54 – 0:58:55] Adam: On the map, it is.
[0:58:55 – 0:58:58] Adam: There’s, like, slippery, crazy rocks everywhere.
[0:58:58 – 0:59:00] Erik: Only a mile, though, right, is what the map says.
[0:59:00 – 0:59:03] Adam: 320 for Fisher says it’s a mile, yeah.
[0:59:04 – 0:59:05] Adam: There’s no way.
[0:59:05 – 0:59:08] Adam: It’s two miles easy, and you’ll never convince me otherwise.
[0:59:08 – 0:59:12] Adam: I’ve never had a good time on that portage, and I will never, ever go back.
[0:59:12 – 0:59:14] Erik: Well, maybe I’ll take a paddle over there and walk it with the GPS.
[0:59:15 – 0:59:16] Erik: Yeah, do that on your solo trip.
[0:59:16 – 0:59:18] Erik: I’m going to get a Meade’s entry permit.
[0:59:18 – 0:59:18] Erik: It’s fine.
[0:59:18 – 0:59:19] Erik: You can go wherever you want.
[0:59:19 – 0:59:20] Erik: I don’t know what you’re complaining about.
[0:59:20 – 0:59:21] Adam: What are you going in at Meade’s?
[0:59:21 – 0:59:23] Adam: There’s blueberries everywhere and unicorns.
[0:59:24 – 0:59:25] Adam: So I don’t know why.
[0:59:25 – 0:59:31] Adam: It was just one that I did a couple times, and then just every time you go through, you’re like, it can’t be as bad as I remember it.
[0:59:32 – 0:59:35] Adam: No, actually, it’s somehow worse, much, much worse.
[0:59:36 – 0:59:41] Adam: So, you know, go suck on an apple, Meade’s.
[0:59:41 – 0:59:42] Erik: Sure.
[0:59:42 – 0:59:45] Erik: Yeah, there’s nothing to see in there.
[0:59:45 – 0:59:46] Erik: And there’s easier ways in.
[0:59:48 – 0:59:49] Erik: I’ve got Worst Landing.
[0:59:50 – 0:59:51] Adam: Oh, what do you got for Worst Landing?
[0:59:51 – 1:00:04] Erik: Well, there’s a lot of bad landings out there, but depending on who you’re with and the kind of trip that you’re running, I mean, if it’s just me and you, we kind of can manage.
[1:00:04 – 1:00:14] Erik: But I could not imagine trying to deal with this landing with a group any larger than two who had any, just the basest semblance of what to do.
[1:00:14 – 1:00:19] Erik: Could you imagine coming over this landing with like a group of nine?
[1:00:20 – 1:00:24] Erik: And it’s that from gutter to flying.
[1:00:24 – 1:00:25] Erik: Oh, the stairs?
[1:00:25 – 1:00:27] Erik: The stairs that just go into the water.
[1:00:27 – 1:00:29] Adam: Yeah, I know exactly what you’re saying.
[1:00:29 – 1:00:31] Adam: That would be a real process.
[1:00:31 – 1:00:35] Adam: You’d have to have some sort of project manager in there.
[1:00:36 – 1:00:37] Adam: Somebody get in charge.
[1:00:37 – 1:00:42] Adam: Somebody get a hard hat and somebody with a clipboard to organize how we’re going to load this thing.
[1:00:42 – 1:00:43] Erik: Got a group of nine going over that thing?
[1:00:43 – 1:00:47] Adam: Would you rather go down the stairs into the lake or trying to get everybody up the stairs out?
[1:00:47 – 1:00:49] Adam: That would take literally two hours.
[1:00:49 – 1:00:50] Adam: It would take a long time.
[1:00:50 – 1:00:50] Adam: If you had a group of nine.
[1:00:51 – 1:01:01] Erik: And if you have, if you’re not aware and if you’re not, if you don’t know where it is, it is, it is literally a staircase that comes, it’s, I think it’s listed on the maps as 13 rods.
[1:01:01 – 1:01:01] Erik: Yeah.
[1:01:02 – 1:01:06] Erik: But it’s, but half of it is a staircase that just goes right into the water.
[1:01:06 – 1:01:07] Adam: 17 rods of stairs.
[1:01:07 – 1:01:07] Adam: Yeah.
[1:01:08 – 1:01:13] Erik: And where the stairs go into the water, it’s not like, oh, it’s a nice beach.
[1:01:14 – 1:01:15] Erik: It’s just right into the deep water.
[1:01:15 – 1:01:19] Adam: If you step off the stair, you’re into a snapping turtle’s nest.
[1:01:20 – 1:01:21] Adam: And their eggs are hatching right now.
[1:01:22 – 1:01:22] Adam: They will eat you.
[1:01:23 – 1:01:23] Erik: Yeah.
[1:01:23 – 1:01:28] Erik: And then, yeah, going either way, it’s just a slow logistical nightmare.
[1:01:28 – 1:01:30] Erik: I believe that’s flying to Goddard.
[1:01:30 – 1:01:31] Erik: Yeah, flying.
[1:01:32 – 1:01:35] Erik: The lake that the stairs end at is flying.
[1:01:36 – 1:01:40] Erik: And then that port is just on its own is like no picnic because there’s…
[1:01:40 – 1:01:49] Erik: Because Goddard has been either flooded or drained so many times that there’s three or four different spiderweb networks of trails people have taken.
[1:01:50 – 1:01:59] Erik: You can take it so that it’s a short portage, but it’s very easy to take the wrong way and go the long route.
[1:02:00 – 1:02:04] Erik: And then still, Goddard is just a muck lake with a bunch of deadheads.
[1:02:04 – 1:02:06] Adam: It’s troubling in there.
[1:02:06 – 1:02:06] Erik: Yeah.
[1:02:07 – 1:02:08] Erik: Oh, boy.
[1:02:08 – 1:02:08] Erik: Okay.
[1:02:09 – 1:02:10] Adam: Yeah, I don’t know.
[1:02:10 – 1:02:19] Adam: That one, I remember we did it, and then a couple months after we went through there, I saw somebody posted a picture of those stairs on Instagram.
[1:02:20 – 1:02:26] Adam: It was like, guess the portage, and I immediately typed out Flying Goddard and then just cried in the corner for 15 minutes.
[1:02:26 – 1:02:27] Erik: No.
[1:02:27 – 1:02:28] Erik: No, I didn’t.
[1:02:28 – 1:02:31] Adam: I didn’t cry, but I did scream when I saw the picture.
[1:02:31 – 1:02:32] Erik: Yeah.
[1:02:32 – 1:02:33] Erik: That thing.
[1:02:34 – 1:02:35] Erik: Yeah, there’s nothing else like it.
[1:02:35 – 1:02:37] Erik: I’ve never seen anything else like it.
[1:02:37 – 1:02:41] Adam: Well, can you imagine the amount of time and effort that were poured into those beautiful stairs?
[1:02:42 – 1:02:49] Adam: I mean, you imagine the stairs on the Rose Falls Portage or whatever, and then they just end into the lake, though.
[1:02:49 – 1:02:54] Erik: Yeah, and it’s like they’re not nearly as well built as the stairway portage.
[1:02:54 – 1:02:56] Adam: I assume you’ve never been through there in the winter.
[1:02:56 – 1:02:56] Adam: No.
[1:02:57 – 1:02:57] Adam: That would be insane.
[1:02:58 – 1:02:58] Adam: No, God, no.
[1:02:58 – 1:02:59] Adam: Trying to ski that.
[1:03:00 – 1:03:00] Adam: Yikes.
[1:03:01 – 1:03:22] Adam: yeah that one’s that one is the one landing that always sticks out and there’s bad landings out there there are real bad ones well that’s yeah that’s a bad man-made landing that’s worse of them all yeah uh next up uh i’ll highlight the this is another one that natalie had uh nominated was just morgan lake
[1:03:23 – 1:03:24] Adam: The Morgan Lake entry.
[1:03:24 – 1:03:25] Adam: Yeah.
[1:03:25 – 1:03:27] Adam: I didn’t write this one down.
[1:03:27 – 1:03:29] Adam: I think it’s 345 on the Fisher.
[1:03:29 – 1:03:30] Erik: It’s way longer than that.
[1:03:30 – 1:03:30] Adam: Yeah, but it’s longer.
[1:03:31 – 1:03:40] Adam: Again, these are the ones, if it’s longer than listed and you know it in your heart and in your feet, then that makes it so much worse.
[1:03:40 – 1:03:45] Adam: Like if they’re listing one at 500 and you’re thinking it’s 500 and then you go through it and you’re like, I don’t know.
[1:03:45 – 1:03:46] Adam: It was like 400.
[1:03:47 – 1:03:47] Adam: Not bad.
[1:03:48 – 1:03:48] Erik: Yeah.
[1:03:48 – 1:03:49] Adam: That’s a whole different thing.
[1:03:49 – 1:03:52] Adam: But when they say it’s 345 and then it feels like 555.
[1:03:54 – 1:03:56] Adam: Oh, baby, that’s a real barn burner.
[1:03:57 – 1:03:59] Adam: And that one’s like up and down the whole way.
[1:03:59 – 1:04:02] Erik: Well, and it only gets used once a day, twice a day at most.
[1:04:02 – 1:04:03] Adam: It’s rough, yeah.
[1:04:03 – 1:04:07] Adam: Natalie had said there’s so many downed trees on it when she did it.
[1:04:08 – 1:04:09] Adam: So you can’t get a momentum going.
[1:04:10 – 1:04:10] Erik: Right.
[1:04:10 – 1:04:13] Adam: And then that was one, took a fall.
[1:04:15 – 1:04:17] Adam: That’s an easy one to hate.
[1:04:17 – 1:04:19] Adam: And it’s right in our backyard.
[1:04:19 – 1:04:21] Adam: I mean, I don’t know how many people really have done that one.
[1:04:21 – 1:04:23] Adam: That’s another one where I’ve done it a few times.
[1:04:24 – 1:04:28] Adam: I really don’t see a reason I’d go in there again just because that portage is so ridiculous.
[1:04:28 – 1:04:29] Adam: There’s so many better places to go.
[1:04:30 – 1:04:33] Adam: But the thing with Morgan is you can always get a Morgan Lake permit.
[1:04:34 – 1:04:37] Adam: And how many times have you ever wanted to stay on Lux or Carl?
[1:04:38 – 1:04:38] Erik: Well, not this year.
[1:04:38 – 1:04:39] Adam: We’re going to do it.
[1:04:39 – 1:04:40] Adam: We’re going to go and stay on both.
[1:04:41 – 1:04:44] Adam: Do a three-night trip just on the Lux-Carl loop.
[1:04:44 – 1:04:48] Adam: You’re going to want to put a lot of time in between that long portage in and out.
[1:04:48 – 1:04:50] Adam: That’s another one where it’s going to be a little in and out.
[1:04:51 – 1:04:52] Adam: I’m not going out through Vista, Eric.
[1:04:52 – 1:04:54] Erik: I’d rather go hike the Superior.
[1:04:54 – 1:04:55] Erik: Paddle straight to Trail Center.
[1:04:55 – 1:04:56] Erik: Hiking trail for a week.
[1:04:58 – 1:05:02] Adam: So that’s on the list, but that was more of a Natalie selection.
[1:05:04 – 1:05:10] Adam: I’ll throw, can I give you my first ever portage I did and why I hated it so much?
[1:05:10 – 1:05:11] Erik: First ever?
[1:05:11 – 1:05:11] Adam: Yeah.
[1:05:12 – 1:05:17] Erik: Yeah, I think we’ve all heard about my first portage ever where I said, I don’t ever want to do this again.
[1:05:17 – 1:05:17] Erik: I didn’t say that.
[1:05:17 – 1:05:19] Adam: I don’t know if I’ve ever heard yours.
[1:05:19 – 1:05:20] Adam: All right, so picture this.
[1:05:20 – 1:05:21] Adam: It’s May 2001.
[1:05:21 – 1:05:22] Adam: Okay.
[1:05:23 – 1:05:25] Adam: I’ve never portaged a canoe in my life.
[1:05:26 – 1:05:29] Adam: This is young angst teen Mela.
[1:05:30 – 1:05:30] Erik: Okay.
[1:05:31 – 1:05:31] Adam: I’m on.
[1:05:31 – 1:05:32] Erik: Just older now.
[1:05:32 – 1:05:33] Erik: Still angsty.
[1:05:33 – 1:05:33] Adam: Same one.
[1:05:34 – 1:05:34] Adam: Yeah.
[1:05:34 – 1:05:35] Adam: Just same amount.
[1:05:35 – 1:05:36] Adam: Just now I’m old.
[1:05:36 – 1:05:37] Adam: Yeah.
[1:05:37 – 1:05:42] Adam: This is when I was young and I had a huge like grum and aluminum canoe.
[1:05:42 – 1:05:43] Adam: Never portage in my life.
[1:05:44 – 1:05:48] Adam: I think I was wearing Birkenstock sandals for some reason in May.
[1:05:49 – 1:05:50] Adam: Going from Clearwater to Caribou.
[1:05:52 – 1:05:55] Adam: Bob Marciano had told me the not go left.
[1:05:56 – 1:06:21] Adam: for one oh yeah he was always a big proponent of going right down that go right and go in like you’re almost a deer then go down that steep crazy hill going down there i don’t know why it’s way longer i think he was just messing with me in hindsight little bobble like to play tricks yeah i should start doing that yeah just tell people go right just go right yeah now the trail’s gonna look like you’re gonna want to go left but go right anyways yeah just to mess with you
[1:06:22 – 1:06:24] Adam: I don’t know if he was messing with me or if he really thought it was better.
[1:06:24 – 1:06:25] Adam: I still don’t know to this day.
[1:06:26 – 1:06:28] Erik: I think it is slightly better in terms of conditions.
[1:06:28 – 1:06:29] Erik: Well, it’s flat.
[1:06:29 – 1:06:30] Adam: But it’s way longer.
[1:06:31 – 1:06:32] Adam: It’s quite a bit longer.
[1:06:32 – 1:06:33] Adam: And I had never portaged before.
[1:06:33 – 1:06:36] Adam: In hindsight, I’d much rather deal with the tricky footing.
[1:06:37 – 1:06:38] Adam: But that was the other part that got me.
[1:06:38 – 1:06:39] Adam: It was so muddy.
[1:06:41 – 1:06:43] Adam: The landing’s not great on that.
[1:06:43 – 1:06:46] Adam: The whole first part of it is mud, mud and more muddy.
[1:06:47 – 1:06:49] Adam: It’s like just unsure footing.
[1:06:49 – 1:06:53] Adam: I literally dropped the canoe at one point and got stuck and almost like I basically fell in the mud puddle.
[1:06:55 – 1:06:56] Adam: The whole time, I was uncomfortable.
[1:06:56 – 1:06:57] Adam: I didn’t know what I was doing.
[1:06:58 – 1:07:00] Adam: And I got to caribou, and I didn’t catch any fish.
[1:07:00 – 1:07:02] Adam: And I was like, well, what the heck was that about?
[1:07:03 – 1:07:04] Adam: That’s what portaging is?
[1:07:04 – 1:07:06] Adam: That was my introduction to portaging.
[1:07:06 – 1:07:07] Adam: What the heck was that about?
[1:07:07 – 1:07:14] Adam: I’ve done a lot of portages in my life, and that one still to this day was like the roughest condition a portage has been in, just for its length.
[1:07:15 – 1:07:15] Adam: I mean…
[1:07:15 – 1:07:19] Adam: It was a lot of mud and just like you can’t see what you’re stepping into.
[1:07:19 – 1:07:19] Adam: Yeah.
[1:07:19 – 1:07:20] Adam: I didn’t know what I was doing.
[1:07:20 – 1:07:25] Adam: Plus, like I said, I think this is, you know, you shouldn’t be wearing Birkenstocks in May.
[1:07:26 – 1:07:26] Erik: No.
[1:07:27 – 1:07:32] Adam: And I had like a full canoe and a pack and like all my fishing gear trying to single portage it.
[1:07:33 – 1:07:34] Adam: It’s just stupid.
[1:07:34 – 1:07:38] Adam: So that one, in hindsight, it’s like I’m pretty happy I kept trying.
[1:07:39 – 1:07:40] Erik: It was still a day trip though?
[1:07:40 – 1:07:41] Erik: Yeah.
[1:07:41 – 1:07:43] Adam: I was just going on my day off trying to do a little fishing.
[1:07:44 – 1:07:49] Adam: But that one is listed as a 210 at the Fisher if you go left.
[1:07:50 – 1:07:50] Adam: Yes.
[1:07:50 – 1:07:51] Adam: I don’t know.
[1:07:51 – 1:07:53] Adam: It lists, you know, going to Deere is 320.
[1:07:53 – 1:07:55] Adam: It’s pretty close to a mile if you go right.
[1:07:55 – 1:07:58] Adam: But it’s just an old railroad grade, so flat then.
[1:07:58 – 1:08:02] Erik: It is flat and gradually downhill, but it’s still like 80 to 90 miles longer.
[1:08:02 – 1:08:06] Adam: And then going the left route on the Nat Geo is a 206, it says.
[1:08:06 – 1:08:06] Adam: Yeah.
[1:08:06 – 1:08:06] Erik: Yeah.
[1:08:08 – 1:08:08] Adam: I don’t know.
[1:08:08 – 1:08:15] Adam: That one definitely came to mind when we were discussing this episode just because, I don’t know, there was something about it being your first struggle on a portage.
[1:08:15 – 1:08:20] Erik: The first struggle is always one of the most memorable struggles.
[1:08:20 – 1:08:31] Adam: Yeah, the fact that it was my first portage ever, I had no idea what I was doing, and I was doing it solo with a two-person aluminum canoe and all the gear.
[1:08:31 – 1:08:32] Adam: You were alone.
[1:08:32 – 1:08:33] Adam: Whatever, why?
[1:08:33 – 1:08:34] Adam: I should have double portaged.
[1:08:34 – 1:08:37] Adam: Yeah, I was just going out for a solo day of fishing.
[1:08:37 – 1:08:39] Erik: That was the staff canoe back then?
[1:08:39 – 1:08:41] Adam: Yeah, that was the one we were allowed to use.
[1:08:43 – 1:08:45] Adam: It only had several dents.
[1:08:46 – 1:08:48] Adam: It’s probably still being sent out on day trips.
[1:08:48 – 1:08:48] Erik: Yeah.
[1:08:49 – 1:08:50] Erik: Oh, those things are rugged.
[1:08:51 – 1:08:51] Erik: Yep.
[1:08:51 – 1:08:56] Adam: But yeah, I kept trying after that and they did get better.
[1:08:56 – 1:08:58] Adam: So there’s a lesson in there somewhere.
[1:08:59 – 1:09:02] Erik: Somewhere there’s a lesson, but I think it’s lost at this point.
[1:09:03 – 1:09:11] Erik: I’m going to run through just a couple more of mine before I get to some honorable mentions and then just most memorable ones.
[1:09:13 – 1:09:19] Erik: So the weirdest hardest, you’ve got longest, shortest, worst, weirdest.
[1:09:20 – 1:09:25] Erik: The weirdest hardest is the Edomup Portage between Tanner Lake and the Darkwater River.
[1:09:26 – 1:09:28] Adam: I have not enjoyed that one.
[1:09:28 – 1:09:30] Erik: Yeah, just anybody that’s done that one knows.
[1:09:30 – 1:09:34] Erik: I mean, it’s got the name for the reason, for a reason.
[1:09:35 – 1:09:36] Erik: And yeah, it’s just weird.
[1:09:37 – 1:09:40] Erik: I don’t know what it is, why it’s hard, but I remember at the time hating it.
[1:09:40 – 1:09:45] Erik: And then the most boring longest is the Basswood Falls Portage.
[1:09:45 – 1:09:47] Adam: Oh, I’m glad you brought this one up.
[1:09:47 – 1:09:50] Erik: Which is a mile of just like a dirt sidewalk.
[1:09:50 – 1:09:51] Adam: I think it’s more than a mile.
[1:09:52 – 1:09:53] Erik: There’s no hills.
[1:09:54 – 1:09:55] Erik: There’s nothing to see.
[1:09:56 – 1:09:57] Erik: It’s just a slog.
[1:09:57 – 1:09:59] Adam: That’s the one that would have a rest stop on it.
[1:09:59 – 1:09:59] Adam: Yeah.
[1:09:59 – 1:10:01] Adam: That one is boring and long.
[1:10:01 – 1:10:04] Adam: It’s like an interstate through the middle of Nebraska.
[1:10:04 – 1:10:04] Erik: Yeah.
[1:10:04 – 1:10:05] Adam: No offense.
[1:10:05 – 1:10:06] Erik: Packed dirt.
[1:10:07 – 1:10:10] Adam: You know, especially at night or something where…
[1:10:11 – 1:10:13] Adam: You just can’t see anything in any direction.
[1:10:13 – 1:10:13] Adam: There’s no lights.
[1:10:13 – 1:10:15] Adam: You’re just flat, going straight.
[1:10:15 – 1:10:16] Adam: Am I moving?
[1:10:17 – 1:10:22] Adam: Yeah, you should be required to listen to Coast to Coast AM with George Neary on that portage.
[1:10:22 – 1:10:23] Erik: Yeah, yeah.
[1:10:24 – 1:10:25] Adam: You got to do it in the night.
[1:10:25 – 1:10:29] Erik: And then I have the stupidest, which is Trant to Kasha Peewee.
[1:10:30 – 1:10:32] Erik: I feel like there’s no easy way into Kasha Peewee.
[1:10:32 – 1:10:34] Adam: Kashupiwi is protected on all sides.
[1:10:35 – 1:10:35] Adam: Yeah.
[1:10:35 – 1:10:40] Erik: That one, we had like a beaver dam had blown out and we had to cut.
[1:10:41 – 1:10:48] Erik: It was like one of the worst portages because I physically had to create it by cutting trees down to get canoes through.
[1:10:48 – 1:10:48] Erik: Yeah.
[1:10:49 – 1:10:49] Erik: And…
[1:10:50 – 1:10:52] Adam: I’ve never been a part of something like that.
[1:10:52 – 1:10:58] Adam: It was like the lesser and greater cherries where we went through there after that crazy ice storm in the end of winter.
[1:10:58 – 1:11:01] Adam: We were the first ones through in the spring and there’s just…
[1:11:01 – 1:11:03] Adam: Just a bazookas.
[1:11:03 – 1:11:05] Erik: Yeah, it looked like a mini blowdown.
[1:11:05 – 1:11:06] Erik: They called it the snowdown.
[1:11:07 – 1:11:08] Adam: They did.
[1:11:08 – 1:11:11] Erik: Well, the Forest Service called that, which…
[1:11:11 – 1:11:11] Adam: Very clever.
[1:11:12 – 1:11:13] Adam: Forest Service, you guys are so clever.
[1:11:13 – 1:11:15] Adam: Very.
[1:11:15 – 1:11:17] Erik: But yeah, that was one of those like…
[1:11:17 – 1:11:28] Erik: It’s kind of comparable to that grassy lake portage between Brule and the Cliff Winchell area where Beaver Dam just blew out and now there’s just kind of this side portage, but…
[1:11:29 – 1:11:36] Erik: The difference between that grassy lake portage and that Trant Lake one is the side of the pond, you can walk along.
[1:11:37 – 1:11:44] Erik: The side of the pond in Trant is just like densely packed spruce trees with eye-gouging branches.
[1:11:44 – 1:11:45] Adam: Yeah, no fun.
[1:11:46 – 1:11:46] Erik: No.
[1:11:48 – 1:11:50] Adam: I got another mental tough one.
[1:11:51 – 1:11:55] Adam: And this one, Natalie and I both agreed on this one when we were talking about this.
[1:11:55 – 1:11:56] Adam: It was Silver Falls.
[1:11:57 – 1:11:57] Erik: Oh, yeah.
[1:11:57 – 1:12:00] Adam: Both of us on our first time through, it was very mentally tough.
[1:12:01 – 1:12:01] Erik: Yeah.
[1:12:01 – 1:12:03] Adam: You had psyched me out going in on our trip.
[1:12:03 – 1:12:06] Adam: Like, every portage in Quetico was going to be a viper’s nest.
[1:12:07 – 1:12:11] Erik: Well, aggro crag, that Silver Falls portage starts right away.
[1:12:11 – 1:12:18] Adam: You’re going in there with your packs are as heavy as they’re going to be, and you’ve got to go up and over these crazy leg lifts.
[1:12:18 – 1:12:19] Adam: Yeah.
[1:12:19 – 1:12:20] Adam: It’s not stairs.
[1:12:21 – 1:12:21] Adam: I don’t know what that is.
[1:12:22 – 1:12:22] Adam: It is aggro crags.
[1:12:22 – 1:12:23] Erik: Beyond stairs.
[1:12:23 – 1:12:25] Adam: Yeah, that’s real nasty.
[1:12:25 – 1:12:27] Erik: As far as your leg can stretch with weight on it?
[1:12:28 – 1:12:28] Adam: Mm-hmm.
[1:12:29 – 1:12:30] Adam: Next to a raging river?
[1:12:30 – 1:12:33] Adam: Try not to blow something out on that one.
[1:12:33 – 1:12:34] Adam: God help you if it’s a little bit wet.
[1:12:35 – 1:12:36] Adam: It is.
[1:12:36 – 1:12:38] Adam: That one’s just tough.
[1:12:38 – 1:12:40] Adam: It’s like 110 or whatever.
[1:12:41 – 1:12:41] Adam: But it’s tough.
[1:12:42 – 1:12:44] Adam: At least at first, it’s real tough.
[1:12:44 – 1:12:46] Adam: And then, like I said, I think that one’s just always one where…
[1:12:47 – 1:12:50] Adam: You’re amped, but you also have the heaviest possible packs.
[1:12:50 – 1:12:57] Adam: So that one can be a little mentally defeating if you’re charging to go and then you… Oh, God.
[1:12:58 – 1:12:59] Adam: What am I getting myself into?
[1:12:59 – 1:13:00] Adam: They’re all going to be like this?
[1:13:01 – 1:13:01] Adam: No, they’re not.
[1:13:02 – 1:13:03] Erik: No, but that one does…
[1:13:03 – 1:13:06] Erik: I mean, it’s a weird juxtaposition of like…
[1:13:07 – 1:13:30] Erik: dulling the ampness but also still like being right next to such like kinetic energy yeah you can draw you’re like falls are right there so like it’s like yeah this is insane i’m physically being worn down but it’s the first day of the trip and then there’s also silver falls just directly adjacent you like you’re getting like borderline misted
[1:13:30 – 1:13:31] Erik: At the same time.
[1:13:31 – 1:13:39] Erik: But then you also kind of like get into the woods a little bit where then things calm down and then you like kind of come to terms with like… Oh, shoot.
[1:13:39 – 1:13:40] Erik: I’m still like…
[1:13:40 – 1:13:44] Adam: If you can just get through the first part of that one alive, then you’re golden.
[1:13:45 – 1:13:45] Erik: Yeah.
[1:13:46 – 1:13:46] Adam: Yeah.
[1:13:46 – 1:13:48] Adam: That one’s… That’s a nice one.
[1:13:49 – 1:13:51] Adam: I think the part of that one too is that you’re…
[1:13:52 – 1:13:56] Adam: It’s weird because you’re paddling at it for so long without having portaged.
[1:13:57 – 1:13:57] Erik: Yes.
[1:13:58 – 1:14:01] Adam: You got like canoe butt real bad, maybe a little too much canoe back.
[1:14:01 – 1:14:06] Adam: And then you’re expected to perform these miraculous feats to get up and out of that portage to start.
[1:14:06 – 1:14:07] Adam: And you’re just…
[1:14:08 – 1:14:12] Adam: You’re not ready for it where, you know, and a lot of times when you’re portaging, you’ve just done one recently.
[1:14:13 – 1:14:13] Adam: Yeah.
[1:14:13 – 1:14:14] Adam: So you’re kind of like ready to go.
[1:14:15 – 1:14:18] Adam: You’re hitting that thing like right out of the gate.
[1:14:18 – 1:14:19] Adam: You’re hitting this.
[1:14:19 – 1:14:22] Adam: This is your first big portage of the day and you got to go.
[1:14:23 – 1:14:25] Adam: Similarly, I had Kenny to McEwen.
[1:14:25 – 1:14:27] Adam: Remember that one?
[1:14:27 – 1:14:31] Erik: I looked at that one and the map and remembered back to it.
[1:14:31 – 1:14:33] Adam: That one was, again, like early in the trip.
[1:14:33 – 1:14:35] Adam: So packs were max heavy.
[1:14:36 – 1:14:38] Adam: And coming off of a pretty hard set of…
[1:14:39 – 1:14:40] Adam: Especially the day before, it was a hard day.
[1:14:40 – 1:14:43] Adam: Well, that was… And early in the trip.
[1:14:43 – 1:14:43] Adam: Yeah.
[1:14:44 – 1:14:45] Adam: Like, day three of the trip.
[1:14:45 – 1:14:47] Adam: Like, we just had a hard day.
[1:14:47 – 1:14:48] Adam: Like, we were just…
[1:14:48 – 1:14:50] Adam: I remember reading back on the journals.
[1:14:51 – 1:14:54] Adam: You know, back in the winter, we were doing those journal episodes.
[1:14:54 – 1:14:58] Adam: And I remember in there even I was mentioning, like, I’m very sore.
[1:14:59 – 1:15:02] Adam: And then we hit that thing first thing in the morning, and it was hot.
[1:15:02 – 1:15:04] Adam: It was unseasonably hot.
[1:15:05 – 1:15:12] Adam: And it was, according to the CRISPR, a 1270 meter, which is like not even a mile.
[1:15:12 – 1:15:15] Adam: It’s like a 250, 260 rod, something like that.
[1:15:16 – 1:15:17] Adam: It really isn’t that long.
[1:15:17 – 1:15:18] Erik: No, I remember it, though.
[1:15:18 – 1:15:20] Adam: It’s a gradual climb up through the woods.
[1:15:21 – 1:15:31] Adam: Yeah, it was so hot, and we were just loaded down, and we tried to do it as a single, and we ended up abandoning that and just dropping packs halfway across and then coming back for them.
[1:15:32 – 1:15:32] Adam: Yeah.
[1:15:32 – 1:15:33] Adam: Yeah.
[1:15:33 – 1:15:35] Adam: The reward on that one was fine, though.
[1:15:35 – 1:15:37] Adam: We did get to jump in at McEwen.
[1:15:37 – 1:15:39] Erik: It’s a beautiful sand beach landing.
[1:15:39 – 1:15:42] Adam: That was one where it had a, you know, a happy ending to it.
[1:15:42 – 1:15:43] Adam: Yes, very much so.
[1:15:43 – 1:15:45] Adam: But that one, I remember it to this day.
[1:15:45 – 1:15:49] Adam: Like that was one where talking about wheezing on a portage.
[1:15:49 – 1:15:49] Erik: Yeah.
[1:15:51 – 1:15:51] Adam: That one was tough.
[1:15:59 – 1:16:18] Erik: So there’s a conversation that we’re not necessarily going to go too far into at this point, but one that I thought of was just like, maybe not necessarily individual portages, but like a stretch of portages in like,
[1:16:19 – 1:16:26] Erik: one after the other, after the other, that can almost be just as hard, if not harder than one individual one.
[1:16:26 – 1:16:38] Erik: And when you were talking about the Kenny to McEwen, like that falls chain stretch, like no wonder you ended up writing in your journal that you were sore.
[1:16:38 – 1:16:43] Erik: Cause that’s a, that’s a stretch through there that will definitely chew you up for sure.
[1:16:44 – 1:16:52] Adam: Yeah, they’re all pretty good length back to back to back or whatever it ends up being, especially at the end of it going into Kenny.
[1:16:53 – 1:16:55] Adam: There’s like three in a row that are all decent.
[1:16:56 – 1:17:02] Adam: And there’s just a lot of tricky footing and a lot of like you’re loading and unloading the canoe almost in current.
[1:17:02 – 1:17:03] Adam: Yeah.
[1:17:03 – 1:17:05] Adam: So you’re just on edge the whole way.
[1:17:05 – 1:17:06] Adam: So that can be tough too.
[1:17:07 – 1:17:14] Erik: Yeah, especially that last one because it’s like there’s a low water landing and there’s like a high water landing.
[1:17:14 – 1:17:18] Erik: And then you can go a couple of different ways.
[1:17:18 – 1:17:20] Erik: None of them are really great.
[1:17:21 – 1:17:29] Erik: And you’re not 100% sure, well, should I take this shortcut just to like end up having to put in to like a raging rapid?
[1:17:29 – 1:17:30] Erik: Yeah.
[1:17:30 – 1:17:41] Erik: But not to get too far down the rabbit hole on a different concept of portaging, which is, you know, the rapid fire.
[1:17:42 – 1:17:48] Erik: I can’t think of a stretch too much more challenging than that falls chain up in Quetico, though.
[1:17:50 – 1:17:55] Erik: I’ve just got a couple of honorable mentions at this point.
[1:17:56 – 1:17:57] Erik: Tuscarora to Missing Link.
[1:17:58 – 1:17:59] Adam: Oh, for sure.
[1:18:00 – 1:18:00] Erik: Nothing to…
[1:18:01 – 1:18:02] Erik: Nothing to joke about.
[1:18:04 – 1:18:05] Erik: The, uh…
[1:18:07 – 1:18:10] Erik: the angle worm portage just from its, its length.
[1:18:11 – 1:18:20] Erik: And the time that I did it wasn’t in the nighttime, which there’s like a 10 foot boardwalk over the water, or at least that’s what it seemed like at the time.
[1:18:21 – 1:18:29] Erik: Uh, little trout to Misquah and grace to Beth, just some, uh, honorable mentions on my end.
[1:18:29 – 1:18:30] Erik: And then just memorable ones.
[1:18:31 – 1:18:32] Erik: Obviously we’ve talked about the grand portage.
[1:18:32 – 1:18:34] Erik: That’s a different animal altogether.
[1:18:35 – 1:18:36] Erik: Obviously, uh,
[1:18:37 – 1:18:46] Erik: Probably takes the cake for longest, hardest, worst, weirdest, boring, all that, but it’s also kind of not necessarily a Boundary Waters portage.
[1:18:46 – 1:18:48] Erik: I don’t know.
[1:18:48 – 1:18:53] Adam: I have one more, and it’s also not technically a Boundary Waters portage or a Quetico.
[1:18:53 – 1:18:54] Adam: It’s the Fowl portage.
[1:18:55 – 1:19:22] Adam: oh yeah geez i did not like the full portage at all yeah 300 rods according to fisher i don’t have any other maps that even show it like at least you know you can see just the edge of it on the nat geo but it doesn’t show the portage so and this map doesn’t have it in the studio i mean i have it drawn on the river almost there but yeah it’s listed at 300 or whatever but there’s just no way
[1:19:23 – 1:19:27] Adam: That one’s 500, and it hasn’t been maintained since at least 72.
[1:19:27 – 1:19:29] Erik: I was going to say, you can go back.
[1:19:29 – 1:19:44] Erik: If there’s any episode, field recording that we have where you can clearly sense, if not taste, the anger that we have, it’s that Grand Portage episode.
[1:19:44 – 1:19:45] Adam: And she loses a shoe.
[1:19:46 – 1:20:07] Erik: yes i’ve not lost my the chaco was destroyed destroyed a chaco i destroyed a chaco and all but uh i mean obviously mostly due to my own negligence in protecting my foot but still that thing destroyed a chaco right off my foot it just sucked it right off
[1:20:09 – 1:20:12] Adam: Yeah, I mean, you couldn’t even see your feet for most of that portage.
[1:20:12 – 1:20:19] Adam: I think that was, you know, part of the maintenance was that you couldn’t see, the underbrush was so thick that you couldn’t see your boot or foot or whatever.
[1:20:20 – 1:20:23] Adam: And then it was just way longer than it should have been.
[1:20:24 – 1:20:25] Erik: Downed trees every 10 yards.
[1:20:25 – 1:20:26] Adam: A lot of downed trees.
[1:20:26 – 1:20:29] Adam: You know, it was just, and we had read ahead that it was going to be rough.
[1:20:29 – 1:20:31] Adam: That was another one where it’s like, well, what did you expect?
[1:20:32 – 1:20:34] Adam: Everything I’d heard about it said it was going to be terrible.
[1:20:35 – 1:20:43] Adam: And, you know, it was pretty terrible, but wasn’t shocked, but it was, I guess it just did seem way longer than 300.
[1:20:43 – 1:20:45] Adam: It felt like we were on that thing for an hour.
[1:20:46 – 1:20:54] Erik: Yeah, and then there was that, whatever that weird mud silt at the end of it, it was like nothing I’ve ever stepped in before.
[1:20:54 – 1:20:56] Erik: It was so hard to get your foot back out of it.
[1:20:57 – 1:20:59] Erik: Yeah, I totally forgot about that.
[1:20:59 – 1:21:00] Erik: That one was way off my radar.
[1:21:01 – 1:21:07] Adam: Plus it was just funny because it was called the Fowl Portage as in the fowl chain, F-O-W-L. As in birds, yeah.
[1:21:07 – 1:21:11] Adam: Yeah, then we just started calling it fowl in the other sense of the word.
[1:21:11 – 1:21:13] Erik: Oh yeah, we cursed that thing out for sure.
[1:21:13 – 1:21:17] Adam: So that one had to make the show, at least on our end.
[1:21:17 – 1:21:19] Adam: I don’t know if anybody else will give that one a shout out.
[1:21:19 – 1:21:22] Adam: I’m pretty excited to see what people have to say next week.
[1:21:22 – 1:21:22] Adam: Deep cut.
[1:21:22 – 1:21:25] Adam: As far as where they’re coming from.
[1:21:25 – 1:21:28] Adam: I’m sure some of these ones we’ve mentioned will be mentioned.
[1:21:29 – 1:21:43] Adam: I hope to hear more of like the, not so much why the portage itself was bad, but what was the experience and like circumstances of the time and the day that you went through that made the portage so, so, so bad.
[1:21:43 – 1:21:48] Erik: So bad, yeah, but just to finish, it’s not a bad portage.
[1:21:49 – 1:21:57] Erik: It’s not tough or anything, but we can’t talk about portages unless we talk about the wildfire portage.
[1:21:57 – 1:22:11] Erik: We’ll just say if you haven’t listened to our journal readings on the McNeese to Kasha Peewee, Quetico basically portaging through an active wildfire portage
[1:22:12 – 1:22:16] Erik: That one’s the most memorable to me, still at the end of the day.
[1:22:17 – 1:22:19] Adam: Yeah, it wasn’t bad or tough, though.
[1:22:19 – 1:22:22] Adam: I mean, it was, but in great ways.
[1:22:22 – 1:22:23] Erik: Yeah, exactly.
[1:22:23 – 1:22:23] Erik: Yeah.
[1:22:24 – 1:22:25] Erik: So, um, I don’t know.
[1:22:26 – 1:22:27] Erik: We don’t have to get into it anymore.
[1:22:27 – 1:22:39] Erik: We’ve talked, I think we’ve said our piece on that one a number of times, but it is a, uh, one of the most memorable portages, if not days of traveling through the Boundary Waters in Quetico.
[1:22:39 – 1:22:44] Erik: And also just, if not in my entire life that, uh, that day was amazing.
[1:22:44 – 1:22:44] Erik: So, yeah.
[1:22:45 – 1:22:50] Erik: We both talk about it in our own words a couple months ago.
[1:22:50 – 1:22:55] Erik: I don’t know, five months ago now in our Aquatico journals.
[1:22:55 – 1:23:02] Erik: If you’ve not heard those, it was a great day on the water and on the flaming, flaming land.
[1:23:04 – 1:23:13] Erik: So, if we want to make this a four-hour podcast, we can read your responses, but we’re not going to do that.
[1:23:14 – 1:23:20] Erik: We’re going to come back next week slash tonight and read your portage responses.
[1:23:20 – 1:23:24] Erik: Worst in the wilderness.
[1:23:27 – 1:23:30] Erik: But it’s going to feel like a week to you.
[1:23:32 – 1:23:33] Erik: So good luck with all that.
[1:23:34 – 1:23:37] Erik: Good luck with the week out there in the world and whatever else happens.
[1:23:37 – 1:23:39] Erik: Do you have anything else to finish with?
[1:23:41 – 1:23:44] Adam: Just remember to keep a positive mental attitude on those portages.
[1:23:44 – 1:23:46] Adam: That’s the key to it all.
[1:23:46 – 1:23:52] Adam: Even the worst portage can’t really be that bad if you have a smile on your face.
[1:23:52 – 1:23:53] Erik: Sure.
[1:23:53 – 1:23:56] Erik: I thought you were just generally saying keep a positive attitude, which is good advice.
[1:23:56 – 1:23:58] Adam: Always, yeah, but especially when you’re portaging.
[1:23:59 – 1:23:59] Adam: Yeah.
[1:23:59 – 1:24:05] Adam: For episode 112 of Tumble Home, I have been Adam, coming to you live from Studio K with my good friend Eric.
[1:24:05 – 1:24:13] Adam: Thanks for being with us tonight, and as always, enjoy the rest of your Saturdays, and happy paddling.
[1:24:14 – 1:24:14] Adam: And portaging.
[1:24:15 – 1:24:16] Erik: Happy portaging.