BWCA Portage 636 (Clear to Eskwagama)

This portage was pretty horrible this day in early may. The first 250-300 yards were flooded with upwards of knee deep water then it was on to the shin-deep snowpack with a very slippery steep section in the middle. Things finished up with a mudpit on the Clear end. To make matters worse, Clear was iced up and we were turned back to repeat our mud, snow, and flood. The Eskwagama end is in a swamp and likely always a little mushy, but spring makes this portage extra special.

We decided to exit Clear Lake to South Kawishiwi by way of Eskwagama after experiencing a ton of mud on the eastern portage out of Clear. Our hope was this route would be better. This portage wasn't bad. A little narrow and up and down, but nothing crazy. The Eskwagama end was soft, and would have probably been more difficult if not for the dry conditions of 2021. As it was, it didn't give us any trouble. However, if you are reading this with similar plans, be sure to read up on the southern portage out of Eskwagama!

For the most part the trail is decent walk through the woods - although there are a few elevation changes. The 15-20 rods from the Eskwagama end are a bog walk. It was mushy but passable when we were there. There have been some sticks & logs thrown down to aide the traverse, but i would imagine the difficulty could change dependent on recent rains etc. FYI there IS a 4* campsite on Eskwagama - located at about 4 o'clock on the lake. Also, agree with previous post about location on Esakwagana end.

Entry from Eskwagama lake doesn't feel quite as far right as marked on the map... sort of more right-of-center at the top of the lake. Wet spongy mess for the first third of the portage. If water levels were higher, we could probably float in; if water levels were lower, it might have been dry. As it was, it was perhaps the worst portage I've seen in the park.