Quetico Portage 5534 (Kahshahpiwi to Yum Yum)

We did this in on a cold, rainy and windy day in May. It has everything - a couple of mucky spots to suck down a leg, steep slickrock, climbs, descents, views....even had about 200 meters of running, ice-cold water in the portage trail and a small waterfall, though that was likely not a permanent feature. This one has a reputation, and it is deserved. I would think on a warm, dry day in late August it could be a pleasant challenge. It was not exactly pleasant for us.

This is a difficult portage. It is long, has a great climb on the southern end, and has just about everything- steep climbs, flat spots, boulders, boggy spots, bugs, good views, etc. However, it is manageable and not the worst I have done. One strategy I found was "shuffling" gear across. Taking your "break" when you walk back for more can be more effective than trying to do your trip in a single "go"

This is tough portage. Going from North to South, you seem to climb for a long way that constantly goes up. At that top, it opens into a wonderful view and you think you are at the end but you are just starting your downward trek.

I took the McNiece portage in 2015, and Yum Yum was much easier by comparison. Yum Yum was well maintained, didn't have overgrown new growth like the McNiece portage. Sure, Yum Yum is still more difficult than the vast majority of Quetico portages - it's long, it has several good climbs, some mud in short sections, and then obviously the rock ledge that requires removing the canoe for a bit. But it's not so hard as wanting to avoid this portage. There's even a rare viewpoint about 1/3 of the way across the portage (coming from the Yum Yum side) that's a nice break point to take the canoe off and soak in the view.

When a portage trail has a name, it is assumed it will be a difficult trail. Yet, Yum Yum wasn't outrageously difficult compared to the trail from Sultry into Silence, or the last two portages into Trant, or the portages from Trant into Kahshahpiwi, or the portage from Gray into upper Dell. Yes, Yum Yum was long, and it had a couple of technical sections, but by and large it did not present the difficulty level of other portages we made.

Like previous commenter, we lost trail a few dozen rods short of Yum Yum Lake at the north end. Backtracked/bushwhacked to trail. Some mucky spots on north 1/3. Challenging but rewarding to finish! A swim in Yum Yum Lake is your reward.

We somehow managed to get lost on this portage, not quite sure where, but likely over one of the smooth rock expanses. We had to backtrack and bushwhack a bit to get back on the portage trail not far from the small pond and marsh near the north end.