Lynx Lake loop Trail is a canoe route in the Nancy Lake Recreation Area about 70 miles north of Anchorage. It's an eight mile loop with about 9 lakes connected with short well maintained portages. There are a limited number of remote campsites but it is short enough to do as a day trip. I wanted to get some portaging in to improve my conditioning and to work out any bugs in my system.
My plan was to single carry my 55 lb Malicite with a daypack. It worked well and I didn't much notice the weight of the approx. 15 lb pack pack. There are a couple changes I need to make. One is if it's warm summer weather I need to wear shorts. Long pants with my rubber boots overheats my legs and they get weak. The other change is to my yoke. I use paddles for the carry and the holes I drilled years ago for the bungies are too wide apart for comfort. I recently changed out the bungies and they are preventing me from getting comfortable. The old bungies were worn out and loose allowing me to squeeze the paddle blades closer to my neck.
When I started out I didn't know I was going to attempt do the whole loop or just do some exploring and fishing. I was four portages in and almost half way and decided to to finish the loop. I also decided to do some fishing on this lake. On my first cast I saw what looked like a two foot northern pike hit my spinner then come off. This surprised me as these lakes used to be trout lakes with only one lake that had pike. I had never caught a pike before and was motivated to get one. I tried to get another one for a few minutes with no luck. Not having a lot of time to finish the loop I switched to a Rapala type jerk bait for trolling. I made it to the next portage in about 15 minutes with no action. Before getting out of the boat I took some casts and hooked up with a keeper. Now that I had a fish to bring back I decided to go out the way I come in. It was a pain in the butt carrying that fish out of there but I didn't have far to go. I plan to eat him today, so I hope it was worth it.
It was a good trip that checked a lot of boxes. I saw some wildlife, caught a nice fish and what I felt best about at the end of the day was the great exercise. Portaging does more for my cardio than anything else I've ever done. I also got some good photos.


This is my setup for carrying. With the bungie on my bow seat I don't need to tie any knots. I just slip the paddle grip through that loop. This also allows me to pull the paddle free from my seat when I get back in the boat after forgetting about it beforehand. I also leave the spare paddle where it is between portages and still am able to access it if needed. I can also put my PFD under the bungie on the bow seat, which is a bonus.




Some samples of the scenery.

Busted, I was a little close for comfort when this guy finally saw me. Practice those silent stroke guys.


I felt bad about disturbing him after seeing the open wound on his leg, from mosquitoes that were swarming him I assume.



A couple more shots that made this a great trip.


I also noticed these very small Lillies I had never seen before. The flower was smaller then the size of a quarter.
My plan was to single carry my 55 lb Malicite with a daypack. It worked well and I didn't much notice the weight of the approx. 15 lb pack pack. There are a couple changes I need to make. One is if it's warm summer weather I need to wear shorts. Long pants with my rubber boots overheats my legs and they get weak. The other change is to my yoke. I use paddles for the carry and the holes I drilled years ago for the bungies are too wide apart for comfort. I recently changed out the bungies and they are preventing me from getting comfortable. The old bungies were worn out and loose allowing me to squeeze the paddle blades closer to my neck.
When I started out I didn't know I was going to attempt do the whole loop or just do some exploring and fishing. I was four portages in and almost half way and decided to to finish the loop. I also decided to do some fishing on this lake. On my first cast I saw what looked like a two foot northern pike hit my spinner then come off. This surprised me as these lakes used to be trout lakes with only one lake that had pike. I had never caught a pike before and was motivated to get one. I tried to get another one for a few minutes with no luck. Not having a lot of time to finish the loop I switched to a Rapala type jerk bait for trolling. I made it to the next portage in about 15 minutes with no action. Before getting out of the boat I took some casts and hooked up with a keeper. Now that I had a fish to bring back I decided to go out the way I come in. It was a pain in the butt carrying that fish out of there but I didn't have far to go. I plan to eat him today, so I hope it was worth it.
It was a good trip that checked a lot of boxes. I saw some wildlife, caught a nice fish and what I felt best about at the end of the day was the great exercise. Portaging does more for my cardio than anything else I've ever done. I also got some good photos.


This is my setup for carrying. With the bungie on my bow seat I don't need to tie any knots. I just slip the paddle grip through that loop. This also allows me to pull the paddle free from my seat when I get back in the boat after forgetting about it beforehand. I also leave the spare paddle where it is between portages and still am able to access it if needed. I can also put my PFD under the bungie on the bow seat, which is a bonus.




Some samples of the scenery.

Busted, I was a little close for comfort when this guy finally saw me. Practice those silent stroke guys.


I felt bad about disturbing him after seeing the open wound on his leg, from mosquitoes that were swarming him I assume.



A couple more shots that made this a great trip.


I also noticed these very small Lillies I had never seen before. The flower was smaller then the size of a quarter.