BWCA Portage 187 (Boze)

Most maps show these two portages out of Boze as one. Right now there is a beaver pond in the middle, so it is now two portages. There may be a trail around the beaver pond that I tried to follow, but it seemed to peter out, so I paddled across the pond. The longer portage closer to Boze seems to have three landings on the beaver pond. The first is near some deadfall before the rapids. The second bypasses the deadfall. The third goes above the beaver dam so you do not have to lift over it. The path shown on Paddle Planner shows the third landing.

This is a hike, then a significant beaver swamp paddle, then another hike. Once you reach the swamp, follow its natural course to the west. I ran through one small beaver dam in here, and then picked up the portage again to the right of larger, louder rapids with a large deadfall across the swamp. The landing for this portion is next to several large boulders just past a sheer rock face. Very tricky exiting and unloading on those boulders. From this point, it’s longer hike than the first portion, and it’s very beautiful, with the rapids raging far below. It was also a tricky landing on the Boze end with deep water and two trees restricting water access for the canoe.