BWCA Portage 86 (Missing Link to Snipe)

This portage sure got the best of me. Why was I on a solo trip with an alumacraft anyways!?! After camping on Snipe the night before, I was working on being efficient on my trip out. It was going to be a heavier portage than I was hoping for with my full pack (weighted down by extra garbage I had found the day before) and the 75 pound aluminum. I made it ten feet from the water when I fell. Now, I have guided plenty of trips and been blessed with plenty of personal trips besides, falls do not happen often. When they do, they're usually embarrassing. There was no one there to chuckle with me at my fall, but I should have taken the warning. I picked myself back up and continued double packing through the portage. About halfway through, my foot caught a root. The entire combined weight of the pack and canoe essentially pile-drove my knee right down into this perfectly pyramidal rock right underneath my knee cap. The pain was sharp and instantaneous. I knew from experience that this type of shot to the joint would be one that would get worse before it got better as it would probably really tighten up before the car. So, I checked it over quick (instant bloody, bruised mess), picked up a pack (I'll come back for the canoe) and hobbled across the remainder of the portage. I went back for the canoe and could tell my knee was already swelling up and getting harder and harder to bend. I did what I could to pile in the canoe and make good time across Missing Link. The portage on the other side has a small step up to the portage. I knew that step up would hurt one way or another so I took a moment to grimace beforehand. Just then, this brand new outfitted group came around the corner. They were noticeably inexperienced and were hauling a big heavy royalex. They saw me grimace and offered to help. Now asking for help would have been smart, but the guide in me couldn't surrender my pride. I graciously declined, but inside I was growling "no, just get out of my way so I can finish this." I made it halfway across with my canoe when I saw a big rolled up sleeping pad sitting in the middle of the trail. After finishing the portage, I went back for the pad and my pack. By the time I had hobbled back through, they were gone. Shucks, no giving their sleeping pad back. I argued between leaving it or returning it to the outfitter they had come from (I ended up choosing the latter.) I crossed the last portage and finished the trip. Every time I have crossed this portage since, I have made a point of kicking the little pyramidal rock that so perfectly pummeled my patella. The memories that stick with you....

This was my second time across this portage. The FS or someone cleared a path around "the step". Mostly downhill from Missing Link to Snipe. When it's dry it's not bad.

Aside from the steep little section mentioned. This is a really rolling, undulating path. Nothing too steep or long climbs, just a fairly steady diet of minor up & down conditions. But, the trail is in good condition & IMHO is quite scenic.

Not a big fan. We made it through single protaging, and only had to set packs down to lift over the 8 ft cliff. See picture on Map. Decent climb out of Snipe