BWCA Portage 635 (Kelly)

Pretty sure the boards have been replaced; they seemed to be relatively new in June 2024. Buggy but not a bad trail! Didn't realize I was as far as I was on my route, and forgot to look for the mine. Oh well, I snagged the 4star site on South Temperance only 20 mins ahead of a group that came looking for it so I'm kinda glad I didn't linger!

Easy portage but the boards are in very rough condition. The mine is the highlight, bring a spotlight if you have one to get a better look cell phone lights don't do much to penetrate the darkness. There was still a bunch of ice in there at the end of May.

Boards are in pretty poor shape. Take your time on them. The flex, are broken, or are missing. Otherwise, a very easy portage. 3/10

Nice flat portage. Great landing on the Kelly lake side (nice wide area for staging) The boards going over the swamp on this portage are in rough shape. A couple are very lose - another is mostly missing - and one broke while walking on it.

Like already said, flat, nice portage. A trail to the west close to Jack leads to an abandoned, shallow gold mine. Neat little adventure. We were able to take the rapids back to our campsite on Kelly.

Thanks to TuscaroraBorealis for the tip about the gold mine. The mine is only a stone's throw off the landing. If you are in the area, make time to check it out and be glad they didn't strike it rich and ruin the area you are enjoying! The portage itself is flat and easy.

Kelly end starts out as a rocky jumble, but the rocks soon give way to a very nice trail including a substantial length of boardwalk near the Jack Lake end. If you have time check out the old mine just west of the Jack lake landing