BWCA Portage 175 (Poe to Louse)

This portage is all the way at the west end of Poe. When it comes to footing, this was hands down the worst portage I encountered on the whole Louse River route. The worst footing is at the east end with a lousy landing made up of giant sharply inclined boulders that seem to go on for at least the first 1/3 of the portage. Once the boulders stopped, I came to a muddy channel filled with shin deep water for probably 30 yards. I made the mistake of bushwhacking to the side up a steep cliff to avoid walking in the channel, but that was absolutely a mistake, because the cliff was steep and the brush was terrible. On my second pass I walked the muddy channel and things went much better. Plenty of vegetation on the west end, but much easier walking that leads to a picture perfect grassy landing. Take a snack break here and enjoy the view, you’ve earned it.

One of the most inconvenient rock gardens I've run across serves as the eastern landing. This also makes one second guess if you're actually at the beginning of the portage. These trails are lightly used so they can be overgrown as well.

be extremely cautious on this portage! there are lots jagged rocks and tricky foot maneuvers that might end up with an injury if not careful. Closer to louse the vegetation gets much thicker. very difficult, take it slow

Worst portage ever. On the east end you had to walk across a boulder field and the other end was like walking through a jungle.