It cost twelve hours' labor, relaying the loads, to make the portage, and then they launched upon another lake.

After two more days they left the canoes, covered with fir-branches, on a beach, and pushed inland.

A narrow trail led them across a high divide, seamed by deep gullies, where stunted pines and juniper grew among the rocks, and they portaged the loads by stages, carrying part for an hour or two, and then going back.

Agatha was surprised to see how much a man could carry with the help of properly adjusted straps.
When the divide was crossed they found two canoes by the bank of a small creek, down which they drifted with the swift current.

Then there was a chain of lakes, veiled in mist and rain, and after making a portage they reached a wider stream.