I found one of the discussions about leaving and re-entering. BillConner, it was you that said it is possible to cross the corridors. This is not technically a corridor, but I would guess it is permissible as long as you do not stop anywhere. You can call the ranger office to make sure.

In my travels, over the years I've ran across a few USFS rangers and have asked them about this type of thing.  The 'general' response I've gotten is this:  Typically they are not going to get too concerned, save for those who are almost certainly trying to avoid tough portages to get to a destination much quicker/easier than if they had used the EP on their permit.

For example, someone with a Daniels permit going to Stairway Portage waterfall area by entering at Duncan and avoid undertaking the Long Portage (Daniels ~ Rose).

In the case that is proposed here - having a Clearwater permit....  Since there are a couple of other portages that provide direct access to Pine lake from that EP; and the portage you suggest entering from is perhaps the most challenging.  (If, by some miracle, they even actually see you making the incredibly brief exit) I don't believe you would raise their hackles by doing so.  But, that is just my opinion and not official policy.

Edited by user Thursday, December 23, 2021 4:56:55 PM(UTC)  | Reason: Not specified

My wife, dog, and I did the Clearwater Loop going counter-clockwise from Pine to McFarland to John lakes and got stopped by a 40ish year old ranger in a canoe right before the portage leading in to John Lake. The forest ranger was headed to John Lake for a noise complaint in the a.m. Sept of 2020. He obviously knew we didn't enter in at McFarland because that's where he entered, plus we looked like we'd been in the wilderness for a while (wet gear). Long story short, he was going to make us exit at McFarland because he said we left the park when we exited Pine Lake. We explained to him that it'd be a 3 hour round -trip drive for someone from Clearwater to pick us up, as we were at the furthest point away from there on our loop that is recommended on their website! We talked calmly and respectfully for about 15 minutes. My argument with him was that I thought once you set foot on land at the E.P.....that's when your permit is finished. He ended up taking down our info and said he was just going to mail us a warning, but that never came. I'm guessing he talked to some of his fellow rangers and they probably told him that we hadn't broken any rules. It ended up being a fun story, because the 3 humans and dog remained respectful and calm to each other as we talked. Although, it was a stressful 15 minutes and we both took a nip of brandy after he was out of sight! We heard from some guys fishing on John Lake that the loud partiers had the audacity to go around the campsites the night prior and throw beer cans in others camps while people were asleep. Not cool. I hope the ranger got them.