BWCA Portage 299 (Lunar to Cherry)

We paddled through the pond-swamp in the middle of the portage. It was a little bit of a maze but not too bad and added to our adventure. A giant snapping turtle swam under our canoe which was cool! There are a few tight spots and some steep places from Cherry to the pond. From the pond to Lunar, there is also an initial steep incline. Beautiful area and we were alone until arriving on Cherry.

The portage from Cherry leads directly into a beaver pond. It takes a little bushwacking to maneuver around the left side and avoid the water as much as possible. You have to either wade through the water for about 20 yards or show off your climbing skills to get to the Lunar half of the portage; would be tough to do with full gear.

I had to see LotC and that meant doing this portage. I knew to expect the beaver pond and some rough conditions, and I got what I was promised! When encountering the pond from the Cherry end, I could not find a trail, so walked through the pond hugging the left side, and eventually spotted the continuation of the portage. From what I could see on the way back, there was a trail, but it looked to be blocked by deadfall, though I didn't try finding the actual trail. No matter, the pond slog was a good time. There is a BIG step up once you get out of the pond though, which is tough with a canoe on your back with no hands to push/pull yourself up. A challenging but beautiful portage with lovely bluffs on the Lunar side. Cool lake for sure too!

This one is a bit rough, but not impossible. Entry is from a beaver dam on Lunar. (Beware poison ivy around this area.) Basically you follow a creek bed downhill to a small waterfall (more of a trickle). The footing can be difficult at time, but it isn't too steep. Midway through the portage you have to diagonal across the waterfall on a steep rocky section. This was the hardest part. We had been told from another group passing the opposite direction that this portage was a mess on the eastern end and nearly impossible to find. They talked of a sucking bog and leeches, etc. Visions of Rodents of Unusual Size...etc They must have missed the trail that skirts to the south of an old beaver pond here and wandered into the middle of the pond. If you follow the trail around the old swampy pond, it takes you to a short steep descent into Cherry.

I thought this was a fairly difficult portage and may have been the high water at the time... after a fairly rocky assent / climb you go back down into a beaver pond. You can tell that the tree line and portage are submerged waist deep. If facing the cattail pond from the portage the portage continues submerged to the right along the tree line. Careful not the trip over submerged logs. Once over and through the first few obstacles the portage becomes pretty rocky - careful not to slip if its recently rained. A stream runs under the under the rock into Cherry. This portage could be a an obstacle coarse on American Gladiator.

We were able to walk through the beaver pond to continue the portage, but it took a lot of scouting to figure out where the route went. We found it and eventually made it to Cherry. Too bad all the sites were full, but this route is really beautiful.

Short, but challenging. The Portage, starts out easy, but than you run into the Lake that Beavers have recently flooded and you have to float across it to get to the last part of the portage. There is a dry creek bed filled with rocks and very difficult to move the canoe down it.

There is a very small waterfall on Cherry near where this portage starts. A steep initial climb levels out to become a very nice trail. Then there's an old beaverpond. After crossing that the real fun begins. A fairly steep extremely rocky "gorge" with plenty of overhanging branches must be climbed before finally leveling out again near Lunar. There is an underground stream running below the "gorge".