The Grand Portage–Walking Into the Past
Standing at Fort Charlotte one is struck by the spaciousness of the campsites, the sound of the falls in the background, but not especially by the narrow grassy trail and the small wood sign indicating the start of the Grand Portage. Such an epic event, actually doing the Grand Portage, actually carrying canoes and packs all the way to Lake Superior, should begin with a groomed boulevard, a commemorative arch, the “Chariots of Fire” theme on repeat in the background—something to indicate how grand this portage is going to be! That is the conundrum of the Grand Portage: at 8.5 miles it is the token hardest portage out there, but it is not graced with epic summits or treacherous muskeg. It simply happens to be the longest purposeful walk between two historic points.
These three features however, its length, its purpose, and its history have earned its renown regardless of the uneventful beginnings. The “trail head” is a relative term anyway. For many hikers and tourists, the trail begins at Grand Portage National Monument on Lake Superior, a reconstruction of the North West Company’s headquarters that stood in the same location from 1784 to 1803. Founded as a meeting place between the inland lakes and the grand waterways to the Atlantic, Grand Portage was where animal pelts (mostly beaver on its way to becoming a top hat) were traded for European goods. At least as early as the 1730s, trappers and traders used the Grand Portage trail to bypass the falls and rapids of the Pigeon River’s lower reaches, including High Falls, the highest waterfall in Minnesota at 120 feet. Today visitors can wander through the replica of the trading post, hoping to be invited to the dinner that is set in the Great Hall or investigating the birch bark canoes being built in the Canoe Warehouse.
Grand Portage Map
At least as early as the 1730s trappers and traders used the Grand Portage trail to bypass the falls and rapids of the Pigeon River’s lower reaches, including High Falls, the highest waterfall in Minnesota at 120 feet.
Photo: Laura Puckett
The Grand Portage is not a product of one country or another, but rather it is a remnant of a time before borders, fulfilling its Ojibwe name, Kitchi Onigaming, “the Great Carrying Place”—a trail that leads from one place to another, carrying us back into the past.
The Grand Portage is a unique experience because of the way this history is melded into the modern day experience. More than a hike, a portage is a matter of necessity, a sometimes daunting means of getting from one place to another. Such a long one is an event in and of itself, but here each step also recalls the Voyageurs who set the trail so long ago.
Tips of the Trail
Today the path is well-trod, with boardwalks over boggy patches and usually enough space to flip down your canoe on the sides. There is only one real up-hill at about mile 6 (the whole trail descends 720 feet), and though not that steep, fatigue makes the incline noticeable. This hill rises up from the trail’s only major stream crossing, which leads us to water.
The trail’s greatest challenge is staying hydrated. Many groups fill any convenient vessel with water and carry the reserves. If you decide to fill up along the way, there are only 2 places the trail crosses substantial water. After 2 miles there is a beaver dam (a Giardia red-flag) and then at about mile 5.5 there is a stream. Although the stream is a legitimate water source, accessing it requires descending from the boardwalk into the small ravine. Regardless of how you get your water, it is important first, to ration your water, but secondly to not to let your fatigue dampen your efforts to stay hydrated. Sometimes when we’re tired it’s easy to feel like stopping will just slow you down, but such basics—like eating and drinking—in the end will help you to accomplish the Grand Portage faster, stronger, and happier.
Besides the water crossings the major landmarks are roads. At about the half-way point, before the stream, the Grand Portage crosses Old Highway 61. As you approach the end you start to hear the cars on the highway—let them encourage you—but don’t be fooled, you still have a ways to go. When you cross new Highway 61 you are on the homestretch, with just about a mile to go. One more road-crossing and the Monument is right there, gray and weathered, but beautiful, with the Great Lake beckoning beyond.
The Pigeon River
All of this is dependent upon actually arriving at Fort Charlotte safe and sound. Coming from South Fowl Lake, the portage to the Pigeon River is clearly where it is marked on maps, but it is in rough shape. Right away the trail ascends a steep hill and at the top, the trail forks into 3 paths. The trail to the right will lead to the river, eventually. Unfortunately, you begin to wind through dead-fall. After about a mile of bushwhacking, the water is a welcome sight.
The Pigeon presents various challenges depending on your style of canoeing, your experience level, the water level, and the kind of canoes you are using. The first part descends through a series of rapids, which could be shootable in high water and with white-water canoes. For inexperienced paddlers, or fragile canoes (wood canvas, cedar strip), these rapids can be a rocky mine-field, especially in low water. There are a couple of portages around these rapids marked on various maps, but none seem to correspond with reality. Generally the rapids are slow or shallow enough you can walk your canoes through them until you can paddle again. Regardless of what kind of canoe you use, how you treat it, or your comfort in moving water, the hazards will depend on water levels, and what may have been swift flow in spring could be dry rocks in August. Your best judgement is usually a better guide than your map, so stay alert and gauge your passage appropriately.
Partridge Falls requires a portage and thus has a good trail on the right bank. As you approach the Falls there is a cabin in an open field on your right. The Falls, though not yet visible, are actually just around the corner and the best landing is before the cabin. There is a road that leads into the woods, but the portage follows the river before it forks a couple times. The forks in the path are irregular, but the portage is well-trod and not particularly long, so follow your nose straight on to the river. After another short paddle Fort Charlotte will be on your right. Although there is no easy or obvious landing place, you can hear the big rapids that are just downstream of it and discern a few openings in the trees.
Tucked between the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness to the west and the National Monument on Lake Superior to the east, the Grand Portage lies within the Grand Portage Indian Reservation in the States but exists to skirt the Pigeon River that forms the Canada-U.S. Border. This territory is in a way no man’s land and everyone’s land all at the same time. The Grand Portage is not a product of one country or another, but rather it is a remnant of a time before borders, fulfilling its Ojibwe name, Kitchi Onigaming, “the Great Carrying Place”—a trail that leads from one place to another, carrying us back into the past.
