Triple Carry Portage techniques

[Boreal Birch]

Forgotten in this discussion is the “hot grannie” component. They are wonderful companions, make great cookies & cake in the reflector oven and on really cold rainy nights or those late or early snow storms on the shoulder season trips, they can provide you with a warm extra, hand made (not maiden) down quilt. Not to mention a nice mug of hot buttered rum, that only my grannie knows the secret recipe for it’s contents.
Thread drift be darned, it’s a big component to the joy we all (most all that is) get from this forum.

 

[Jim Dodd]

Start with a Kevlar copy of your favorite canoe. See my last build thread .

Then take a few College boys, and one College girl !
The Boys will be trying so hard to impress the girl ! You may not have to carry anything !

Faking an old Football injury might also help !

I've been three tripping for a few years ! It's easier, when you go by yourself. No one to make fun of you.
You can also carry on a great conversation with yourself, or a Canadian Jay.

 

[gumpus]

Since you're looking for a strategy I'll just mention that if you're cute and enthusiastic you don't need to do a darn thing other than enjoy the ride.

 

[memaquay]

Lol, I haven't been cute or enthusiastic for 60 years.

 

[jdeerfoot]

We did triple portaging last year on a long portage in NW Ontario and one of the guys introduced a nice innovation - in about the middle of it he broke out a few camp chairs and laid out a bottle of bourbon. Made for a real nice rest stop.

 

[soloskip]

Start with a Kevlar copy of your favorite canoe. See my last build thread .

Then take a few College boys, and one College girl !
The Boys will be trying so hard to impress the girl ! You may not have to carry anything !

Faking an old Football injury might also help !

I've been three tripping for a few years ! It's easier, when you go by yourself. No one to make fun of you.
You can also carry on a great conversation with yourself, or a Canadian Jay.

Sometimes I just need to tip my hat and acknowledge those who are wiser than I. “Then take a few College boys, and one College girl. The Boys will be trying so hard to impress the girl You may not have to carry anything!”

 

[recped]

I'm late to this party but I have come up with a solution to the TCPM issue..........

I utilize the QCPM system (Quintuple Carry Portage Method), 4 loads of gear and one for the boat.

Used in conjunction with highly selective route choosing and flexible scheduling makes an effective method of (usually) completing long trips.

Solo Route selection in order of priority:

1 - Routes with no portages
2 - Routes with few portages, none long
3 - Routes with few portages, longer ones near the end of the route
4 - Routes with "many" portages but all very short/easy
5 - Routes with portages that have camping potential (at least one spot where a 2 person tent can be placed)

Group Route selection

1 - Ensure companions fully understand that they WILL be carrying at least some of my "stuff" on some of the portages and/or be prepared to be waiting for me to finish my carries.

 

[Erica]

I'm late to this party but I have come up with a solution to the TCPM issue..........

I utilize the QCPM system (Quintuple Carry Portage Method), 4 loads of gear and one for the boat.

Used in conjunction with highly selective route choosing and flexible scheduling makes an effective method of (usually) completing long trips.

Solo Route selection in order of priority:

1 - Routes with no portages
2 - Routes with few portages, none long
3 - Routes with few portages, longer ones near the end of the route
4 - Routes with "many" portages but all very short/easy
5 - Routes with portages that have camping potential (at least one spot where a 2 person tent can be placed)

Group Route selection

1 - Ensure companions fully understand that they WILL be carrying at least some of my "stuff" on some of the portages and/or be prepared to be waiting for me to finish my carries.

For this summer, I was going to try to get it down to three portages for gear and one for the canoe. Even with a relatively short portage I could see that taking all day. Years ago I did a long portage in the Little Tupper Lake to Lila route - actually there are two long portages. It took me all day for the first and I camped in the middle of the second.

 

[Gamma1214]

That's the beauty of (and why I'm looking forward to) being retired. Without any schedule constraints, who cares if it takes all day?

I like the idea of being able to camp mid-portage if necessary. One of the routes that I've recently added to my bucket list may very well require that. (also another reason to stay on crown land instead of the PPs or most of the US parks. Far more flexibility when use of designated campsites is not required)

@recped, I noticed that you were making multiple trips during your ice-out trip. Still far better than I've managed this year (and the likelihood of making any trips in 2025 is starting to get dubious at this point)

 

[TrailBlaser]

At 71, my 32 lb. Sawyer Autumn Mist now feels like a 64 lb. canoe. I'm going to have use the cart with it or go with my 18 lb. Hornbeck. I also have to be more disciplined about conditioning (especially the core) because I don't want to go without my "luxury" items: a chair, a book to read, my photo/video and field recording gear, fishing gear, not to mention everything I need to be warm, dry and bug-free. This is necessitating more base-camping trips (with exploratory day paddles) rather than trips with a lot of long carries.

 

[Erica]

I've found the canoe easier to carry than a pack of equivalent weight - unless I have the pack packed properly and all the straps and belts, etc. adjusted just right. In the past, when portaging, I could be sloppy at just grabbing the pack and get walking. Now I spend more time adjusting. Unless the portage is very short.

 

[Alan Gage]

 

[memaquay]

Lol, this image conjured up thoughts of Alan manically scouring the internet for the last few weeks looking for a goat in a canoe. You can't just post this pic without an explanation....did the guy read this thread and think it was a good idea? He kind of looks like a meatier version of Les Stroud, who would probably see the sense in travelling with a mobile food supply. Come on Alan, some details please!

 

[Alan Gage]

Come on Alan, some details please!

That's me and my buddy Roscoe out for our first test paddle. Once he's a bit more used to the canoe, and has put on some fat, we're going make a paddling pilgrimage north to visit the TCPM guru and learn his ways.

Alan