Date sent: Tue, 19 Mar 1996 08:52:03 -0500
From: Wayne Pennington <wayne@MTU.EDU>
Subject: Isle Royale Group Camping
For anyone interested in going to Isle Royale National Park (in Lake Superior) this summer: be advised that the National Park Service has instituted a new *reservation* system for groups, and that this system will be enforced. The intention is to make the wilderness experience a better one both for groups, such as Boy Scouts, and for the others who visit this paradise. I think the idea is a good one.
A group is defined from 7 people to 10 people. Up through six people, and you don't need to make advance reservations. From seven through ten, you need to call 906-482-0984 or write to Group Camping Reservations, Isle Royale National Park, 800 East Lakeshore Drive, Houghton, MI 49931. If your group is more than 10 people, you *must* break into two smaller groups, each with its own distinct and non-overlapping itinerary. Under no circumstances will the Park permit reservations to be made for a group of more than 20, no matter how you try to break into smaller-sized units. (This makes sense -- there simply are not enough different trails and group campsites to manage three fully independent "groups" from one single institution, such as a Scout troop.)
We all know that BSA regulations require two adults for every group of Boys, and that group-size limits are sometimes difficult for troops to fit into. But we also all know that Boy Scout groups sometimes get themselves bad reputations by being too large and unruly a group where wilderness experiences are expected by the other backpackers in the area. I think that the solution that the Isle Royale people have come up with is an excellent one, and hope that they don't get flamed over this.
A few suggestions: Think about how to deal with the group sizes before you call. These rules are not flexible, and no amount of pleading for a special case will get you anywhere. Think about what sort of experience you expect to have on Isle Royale, and how the experience, for the Scouts, should be a reward, not a right. Then, if the group size needs to be made smaller, work with your troop leaders (the Scouts) to determine a mechanism to decide who gets to go (rank, leadership, team and Scout spirit).
Then call. The Isle Royale people will work with you to help decide on an appropriate itinerary, and will provide you with information that will help you be better prepared for your trip. (If you really think that you absolutely have to have a larger group size, then Isle Royale is the wrong place to go.)
I can provide more detailed information by direct e-mail for anyone who wishes to have it. But I am not a member of the Park Service, and cannot replace a call to the number listed above.
Wayne D. Pennington
e-mail: wayne@mtu.edu Scoutmaster,
Troop 208, Houghton, Michigan in the beautiful Upper Peninsula
From: rhaar@rcsuna.gmr.com (Bob Haar)
Subject: trip report - Isle Royale Nat. Park
Date: 20 Jul 1994 18:24:11 GMT
I recently returned from an 8 day backpacking trip on Isle Royale National Park (IRNP). Since, several people have been asking about Isle, Royale, I put together this article with some general information based on my observations. I won't claim to be an expert so treat this as a single point of data. I will also post a second part dealing with the particulars of group camping to the rec.scouting news group.
General: Isle Royale is an "island wilderness' in Lake Superior, about 45 miles long with many nearby islands within canoeing distance. It can be reached only by boat or sea plane. We went by ferry from Copper Harbor, Michigan (a 4 ½ hour trip each way). There are other ferries from Houghton, Michigan and Grand Portage, Minnesota. The sea plane trips are faster, but their schedules can be interrupted by weather. The ferries are often filled to capacity, so you should make reservations in advance.
The island is made up of a series of parallel ridges running roughly southwest to northeast. It is not as overwhelmingly spectacular as the Tetons or Yosemite, but it has a rugged, quiet beauty that is the essence of the north wood lake country. It is the largest island in the largest fresh water lake in the world and includes the largest island in a lake that is one an island in a lake (how far can this go?).
The entry points are Windigo on the southwest end and Rock Harbor at the northeast. Rock Harbor is larger and more often visited, with a lodge, restaurant, camp store, showers ($2.50!!), and a Laundromat. Windigo has a small store, but no lodging.
Some people take the ferry over, stay a few hours and return the same day, but this seems like a total waste to me. More often, visitors stay at the lodge or go backcountry camping. The average stay is four days, so many people do take the time to see a bit of the island.
Camping: There are 35 campsites, about half of them along the shore. The shore sites are used by both hikers and boaters (canoes, kayaks, and power boats), and have screened in shelters for individuals and small groups of up to six people, as well as tent sites. All the shelters and tent sites are first-come-first-serve so you should plan to arrive at camp by about 3 pm. All the sites have pit toilets.
17 of the campsites have group sites for groups of 7 to 10. These are reserved, but were only half full when we were there.
The campsites we visited were all well laid out, with reasonable access to water and scenic views. The only one I would avoid is East Chickenbone Lake. My favorites were Moskey Basin, Hatchet Lake and McCargo Cove.
Backcountry camping permits are required. You cannot reserve sites or get a permit before you are actually on the island. But there is quite a bit of latitude for itinerary changes for individuals. Groups are a different matter. We made a slight change in the middle because we had some sick kids and had to explain it to the rangers at the end.
The camping is low-impact at all sites. Fires are allowed in only a couple of the sites and then only in a council ring where the rangers run various programs. All trash must be carried out (and off the island if possible).
Trails: There are about 160 miles of trails on IRNP. For the most part, they are in good shape and easy to follow. Near the Rock Harbor lodge, they look better than some of the streets around here, but once you get more than 2 miles away, they start to get rugged.
IRNP doesn't have a lot a altitude (varies from 600' to 1394' at Mount Desor). The trail surfaces seemed made up of equal parts rock, mud and tree roots. But some of them are deceptively difficult. Particularly the crossways trails go up and down the ridges like walking and a giant washboard.
The Greenstone Ridge Trail is the main end-to-end route, but even there, we say maybe two or three other parties each day. The Minong ridge along the "upper" side of the island is the most rugged area.
There is a nice topo maps from USGS on waterproof material that shows the trails well. But there have been some recent changes that were not on our maps. The Minong Ridge Trail between McCargo Cove and Todd Harbor is closed because of nesting eagles and may be re-routed in the future. The East Feldtman Trail is closed and the Feldtman Lake Trail re-routed southwest of Windigo.
Routes: We had to change our planned route considerably once we got on the island, because of trail closures and campsite limitations. Our plans were also too ambitious. We wanted to make a loop from Rock Harbor to Windigo on the Greenstone and then back on the Minong Ridge. We listened to the rangers recommendations to tone this down and they were right. Depending on the trail, six to eight miles per day was about right. And a couple of easier days when we could explore and enjoy the area were nice.
Our final route was Rock Harbor, Daisy Farm, Lake Richie, West Chickenbone Lake, Hatchet Lake (2 nights), McCargo Cove, Daisy Farm, Three Mile (via Mount Ojibway and Mount Franklin) and back to Rock Harbor via the Tobin Cove Trail.
If were we to do it again, I would consider catching a boat to Windigo and hiking along the Greenstone to Rock Harbor in about five days or doing the Feldtman Loop in three or four days.
At Rock Harbor, there are "water taxis" that will drop hikers off at some of the shore campsites. I might use that service to see some of the more remote parts of the island without backtracking.
Water: Water is everywhere, but drinking water is not. The park information says that there is no giardia, but there are various bacteria and parasites. A particular problem is tapeworm eggs that are in all the water sources. The official recommendation is to either boil or filter the water (pore size no more the 0.4 microns). Chemical treatments such as iodine are not effective. The inland lakes are warmer than Superior, but still pretty cold.
There is quite a bit of tannin and particulate matter in the water.
Everyone that we talked with who had been out for a extended period had trouble with their water filters, either clogging up entirely or getting sluggish. We had two filters, a First Need that needed a new cartridge after about 5 days even with a pre-filter, and a MSR waterworks that I had to clean about every other day. We were trying to get a clear as water as possible, using a water bag to scoop up water out as far as we could get and letting the water set for a while before filtering, but still had problems.
When to go: We were there July 8 to 16. I would recommend this timing for anyone else going there. The fly season was pretty much over, and the mosquitoes were not too bad. The peak tourist season is from the middle of July through August, and we did observe that the campsites were getting fuller near the end of our visit. It is more foggy and rainy during the first half of the summer, but the weather is so variable that you shouldn't let that discourage you.
Weather: The weather is dominated by Lake Superior. Since Superior's waters are always cold (38 degrees F when we were there), it never gets really hot. We saw temps typically ranging from 45 to 70 and reach extremes of 40 and 75. The park information says that freezing temperatures have occurred all through the summer historically. We had fog every morning as soon as the sun warmed up the air above the cold lake water. Of the eight days, we had rain on three of them and felt luck that there were no long stretches of rainy weather. Even when it didn't rain, the vegetation was dripping wet every morning and got all over us when we were hiking (gators and rain pants helped a lot).
Plants and animals: The island is primarily northern forest with birch, poplar and many coniferous trees. Some of the bogs had gorgeous displays of wild irises. We found ripe blueberries and wild strawberries on some of the higher ridges with southern exposures.
A big attraction on IRNP is the moose and wolf population. There are about 1800 moose on the island and they are everywhere. They seem to pretty much ignore people so backcountry campers see moose frequently. There are an estimated 15 wolves on IRNP. Wolf sightings are rare, but we did hear wolves howling one night - chilling sound! One surprise was that there are no bear, raccoons or skunks on the island. But there were foxes on the lookout for any food left accessible and some people had problems with mice chewing into their packs.
General comments:
Robert Haar InterNet : rhaar@gmr.com
(or) rhaar@aol.com
Computer Science Dept., G.M. Research and Environmental
Staff
DISCLAIMER: Unless indicated otherwise, everything in this note
is personal opinion, not an official statement of General Motors
Corp.
From: rhaar@gmr.com (Bob Haar)
Subject: Isle Royale trip report - part 2
Date: 22 Jul 1994 16:52:09 GMT
In an earlier article, I reported on a backpacking trip to Isle Royale National Park. Here, I will comment on some aspects of taking a youth group on such a trip.
We had a total of seventeen people, twelve scouts and five adults; divided into two "crews" because IRNP restricts groups to a maximum of ten people. The scouts ranged in age from 13 to 17. About half had been to Philmont two years ago.
Our troop has an active camping program and runs a High Adventure trip every summer, which usually consists of backpacking trip of 7 to 10 days. This gives us a core of experienced scouts and leaders as well the knowledge of how to put together such a trip. Despite this, IRNP presented a challenge because of its remoteness and rugged trails. But this kind of trip can be very rewarding - both in the personal experiences and in what it brings to the troop as a whole. I credit our camping program for large number of active scouts and parents that we have and with a big part of our ability to keep scouts interested right through high school.
We started planing the trip last fall. The troop leadership council (SPL, ASPL, PL's, APL's and troop Guide's) suggested several High Adventure trips. We eventually narrowed the list down to one. The preparations began in earnest in January as we started to make reservations (the ferry turned out to be the most constraining factor) and getting initial commitments from the people going. Responsibility for planning and preparation was divided between the scouts and the adult leaders. The Scouts set the general direction of things like food planning and itineraries while the adults actually made the reservations, bought the food, and fine tuned some of the decisions. Each crew had a scout as the crew leader, who ran the daily activities, assigned work duties, oversaw camp set up and the daily hiking.
We had two training hikes, one a regular troop camp out and another for just the high adventure crew that was to be a full-dressed rehearsal with all the equipment we would be using. In retrospect, we should have insisted on participation on these, as there were a few problems later that we might have avoided. One of the adults was physically unready for the trip and a couple of the scouts had some marginal equipment.
Because of the remoteness of IRNP, the trip presented a number logistic challenges.
Transportation: We drove from Rochester, Michigan (north of Detroit) to Cooper Harbor, MI with one overnight stay at a motel each way. We used the Cooper Harbor ferry because it was a short trip (4 ½ hours vs. 6 hrs from Houghton) and it's schedule meet our needs better. The ride can be quite rough, so it is a good idea to have Dramamine available and check the weather before you start the trip.
Food: We had to carry eight days of food. There are small camp stores at Rock Harbor and Windigo, but you cannot count on what will be available. We couldn't figure out a way to cache food without forcing major backtracking. We went the freeze-dried route to keep weight down. We used the Richmoor brand with various 4-person dinner packages (selectively supplemented for the 9 person crew). These were OK, but boring. Everyone came to appreciate the "spice wheel" that we took along. The deserts in these meals were uniformly disgusting, but we were always hungry so we ate everything.
For breakfast, we took instant oatmeal, cream of wheat, etc. This made for a fast start in the mornings with almost no clean up. In doing it again, I might have planned some more elaborate breakfasts on days with light hiking.
Lunches were crackers and cheese or meat spreadables, with a snack (beef jerky or power bars or pemmican bars) that each person could eat whenever he felt like it.
Anyone who wanted coffee or tea carried their one supply. We did take 3 servings of hot chocolate per person per day. This was a big hit and we would have consumed even more if we had it.
Water: This is a big problem. As I said before, there was water nearby ever campsite, but it had to be purified before use. The information from the park service said that chemical treatments would not be effective against the tapeworm eggs. We decided to use water filters because we didn't want to carry the extra fuel for boiling the water.
Each crew took two filters. Ours had a MSR Waterworks and a First Need, the other had two First Need filters. We also took the MSR repair kit and extra First Need filter cartridges. We ended up using everything we had. All the filters became sluggish after four or five days. At the end of the trip, the other crew was down to one filter that worked. I had to clean the MSR several times. And we replaced the First Needs cartridge on the next to last day. The other crew was filtering water directly from the lakes, but we used a nylon bag to scoop up a couple of gallons at a time and let the sediment settle before filtering from it.
We talked to several other groups and families. They all experienced problems with their filters. One group had to cut short their plans because they had only one filter and it stopped completely.
We figure that we used about five quarts of water per person each day. This made for quite a bit of filter pumping.
Personal gear: We gave everyone a list of required and optional equipment. We talked about, but did not list things to not bring along. We had a pack check-in the night before leaving where we checked that each person had all the required equipment.
Another time, I would have each pack unloaded completely and send home unneeded items and request replacement of unsuitable items. A few scouts brought plastic rainsuits that didn't hold up. One had pack that was just too small to carry his share crew gear and food. He was one of the people to miss the training hikes, but we thought he knew what he was doing because he had been to Philmont.
Most people used standard external frame packs. Each crew had a couple of internal frame packs (I used one). All did well, except for one adult who was using a borrowed pack that didn't fit him. He eventually swapped packs with one of the other people to get a pack with more adjustment range.
Crew Gear: We used Eureka TL-4 tents - a bit heavy, but these are our regular troop tents. You can fit three people into them if you don't take packs in with you.
We took two water filters and two stoves per crew. The stoves were a variety of white gas backpacking styles. No problems with any of them. Most of the time, we used only one, except for a couple days when we hiked later and were in a hurry to get some hot drinks as well as to get dinner started. We used about six pints of fuel in each crew.
Each crew carried a small nylon dining fly that proved useful in the couple of rainy evenings.
One of the adults in each crew carried a repair kit. I got out the sewing stuff twice for minor repairs, used some duct tape on a tent rip. What surprised me is that we went through quite a bit of pack hardware - about a dozen split rings and several pins.
Altogether, this caused some heavy loads. Everyone carried their own gear plus some of the shared stuff. We tried to give the smaller guys lighter packs. The initial pack weights varied from about 35 to 55 pounds. They did get lighter as we used food and fuel, but other things picked up moisture and dirt. I swear that my pack actually got heavier all along until the next to last day.
Medical: Emergency medical treatment was one area of concern. We were often several days away from either of the permanent ranger stations and contact with the rangers was unpredictable at the backcountry sites. There are no provisions for medical care on the island. Any serious medical problem would have involved transportation to the mainland. Both crews carried an extensive first aid kit and we all had first aid training. Beyond that, several of the leaders have had advanced training - the other adult in my group is a volunteer fireman with EMT specialization. We didn't have any serious problems, but if one had occurred. we would have had to evacuate the victim to the nearest major shore campsite, where power boats frequently put in.
There were some minor first aid incidents - a few small cuts, one boy picked up a leach wading in a lake, etc. There were very few foot problems, so our training hikes did some good. One boy had a slightly sprained ankle.
We did have four people (out of the whole group) who got sick with intestinal problems - throwing up and diarrhea. They were basically miserable for one evening and quite weak the next day. I don't what caused this, whether we had a shared "bug" or if it was a reaction to the unusual food and physical effort, or if we got contaminated water somehow. The incidents happened at different locations and several days apart.
Itinerary: We had a planned itinerary before we got to the island, but found that we could not use it. One crucial trail section was closed and some of the sites where we planned to camp were closed to groups. Also the rangers advised us that our plans were too ambitious (and they were right). So we developed two new routes. Then when we were hiking, we had to make some more changes because of sick people.
Our crew followed this path:
The other crew visited all the same sites in a different order except that they went to Moskey Basin rather than Daisy Farm in one direction.
This was just about the right amount of hiking. We had a couple of long days (10+ miles) in the middle and some short days at the end.
I would recommend a trip like this to any unit that wants a wilderness backpacking experience. But please start planning and preparations early enough, and build in some flexibility for dealing with sickness or weather problems.
I would be happy to discuss any of this further, either in this group or via e-mail.
Bob Haar
Chartered Organization Representative, Troop and Pack 188
BSA, Clinton Valley Council, Pontiac, Michigan, USA.
Chippewa Lodge #29, WWW
email: rhaar@gmr.com (InterNet)
rhaar@aol.com (America OnLine)
From: rhaar@gmr.com (Bob Haar)
Subject: Isle Royale Nat. Park trip - clothing
Date: 22 Jul 1994 12:48:18 GMT
I have gotten several mail questions about clothing for IRNP so I am posting this as a follow on. Conditions on the island vary enough that you should be prepared for some extremes of weather that you might not actually experience.
I hiked about half the time in shorts and half in long pants. The weather was usually quite cool in the mornings and sometimes down right cold at night. Also, everything is wet from dew in the mornings even if it doesn't ran.
But if you get out on the sunny ridges with little wind, it can feel quite hot and muggy.
What I took was:
I found that I was constantly changing my outfit during the day to keep up with changing conditions. I often wore the rain suit pants over shorts during the mornings. On cooler or rainy days, I wore the long pants with the rain pants. By about 10:00, I was down to just a T-shirt and pants or shorts. As soon as we stopped hiking, we would get chilly, so more clothes came back out - often the fleece pullover. Some of the nights were cold enough that I wore the pullover and long johns inside my sleeping bag ( a light, three-season, synthetic).
I wore the aqua-sox around camp on some days, but other sites were too rocky for me to be comfortable in them. But some of the other people had sandals, which worked out well.
Another combination to consider is gators instead of the rain pants, either with a rain jacket or a poncho. Several people wore gators with shorts whenever we were hiking and this did work out.
The ferry ride was quite chilly out on deck or if the doors were open. On the way over to IRNP, I just took my rain jacket to act as a wind breaker, but that wasn't enough. On the trip back. I also wore the fleece pullover. But the cabin got hot and stuffy if the doors were kept closed.
One side note. I took along a mosquito net head cover, but never used it. The bugs just weren't bad enough for me to get it out. But it was probably worthwhile insurance as I hear that they can be terrible at certain times.
Good luck on your trip and enjoy.
Bob
---
Robert Haar InterNet : rhaar@gmr.com
Computer Science Dept., G.M. R & D Center
DISCLAIMER: Unless indicated otherwise, everything in this note
is personal opinion, not an official statement of General Motors
Corp.
From: ruff_l@defiance.hsc.colorado.edu (Laura Ruff)
Subject: Re: trip report - Isle Royale Nat. Park
Date: Thu, 21 Jul 1994 08:40:54 -0700
In article <30jq4b$l8p@rcsuna.gmr.com>,
rhaar@rcsuna.gmr.com (Bob Haar) wrote:
>
I recently returned from an 8 day backpacking trip on Isle Royale
National Park (IRNP). Since, several people have been asking
about Isle, Royale, I put together this article with some general
information based on my observations. I won't claim to be an expert
so treat this as a single point of data. I will also post a
second part dealing with the particulars of group camping
to the rec.scouting news group.
>
I enjoyed reading your report on Isle Royale. I also went to the island on a backpacking trip this summer, and thought my trip experience would add to your report. My trip was from June 12-16. We left from Grand Portage, MN, and took the ferry. There were only 15 people on the trip. It was a 3 hr. boat ride, and the captain showed us some sights on the way, and did a nice job of explaining the history of the area. Grand Portage is basically an Indian Reservation. There is a fort, which is a Nat'l Monument, and offers tours, although we did not spend much time there. Off the shore of Isle Royale, the captain showed us a submerged ship that wrecked off the shoreline. This was a neat site.
We docked at Windigo. While there is no lodge like Rock Harbor, there is a Ranger Station, a store (the only thing I would have liked, but they didn't have, was some ice cream), showers, laundromat, restrooms and a purified water source. In the ranger's station, they have a veritable natural museum with pictures of life on the island (there used to be mining colony there), skeletal remains of animals, lots of info on the wildlife. There is also the original light for the Rock of Ages lighthouse, which is off the East are of the island on Lake Superior. Also there is a campground (Washington Campground) with a good # of shelters that is only ¼ mile from the ranger station/store/showers/dock area.
We did the Feldtman Lake loop. We started the loop by going to the Greenstone Ridge, and spent the first night at a lovely campground, about 6 miles from Windigo. For the life of me, I can't remember the name of it. The weather was gorgeous on Sunday. We saw a beaver in his pond on the way. The hike wasn't bad. The elevation gain was about 500 ft. The trail was fairly well maintained, not too rocky and nice soft ground.
The next day we had a 4.5 mile hike down to Siskiwit Bay. Along the way, we passed an old mining site. There was some old equipment still there, and we stopped to explore. The trail this day was fairly easy. Basically it follows an old road that was used to travel between the town that used to be near Siskiwit and the mine site. We had a lovely lunch on the shore of Lake Superior, and hiked on to Siskiwit Bay. I saw my first moose in the wild on this day. A young one, but big, nonetheless. Siskiwit Bay was a lovely campground. There is a dock there, and nice red rocks on the shore. And besides us two, there were only 2 other people there. We spent the night in one of the shelters, and listened to the moose walk in through the brush around us at night.
The next day we had rain in the morning, and started on our hike about 10:30am. We were taking the Feldtman Ridge trail (Siskiwit Bay to Feldtman Lake). This is 10 miles or so. Not too difficult of a hike. Lots of thigh-high ferns (which were wet, so waterproof gear was key) were at the first part, with a gentle upslope. This ended with a steep hill (but I wouldn't say difficult) to climb to the ridge. We stopped for lunch near the old burned down fire tower. It was windy, but the sun was breaking through. Not far from there is the new Feldtman Lookout Tower (this is 1/2 way between Siskiwit and Feldtman Lake). Well worth the climb up the stairs, this will give you a love view of the island. There is a nice waterfall on about 1-1/2 miles or so from the tower. When you get to the other end of the ridge, you can look down on Feldtman lake and see MANY moose lounging in the lake. I don't know what they do in the lake, but there were 8-10 of them down there. You make a steep, short descent towards Feldtman lake, then a gentle downslope. The trail at this point was somewhat more rocky (about 1.8 miles total). We opted to stay at Rainbow Cove that night, not the lake. The lake campsites are all tent sites, no shelters.
We had a beautiful sunset on the lake and could see Rock of Ages Lighthouse from the cove. It rained a little late that night. And there were moose walking around outside the tent. The next day was the 9.8 mile hike from Rainbow Cove back to Windigo. The mosquitoes were a more annoying today than before. The hike was a long one- fairly flat most of the way. The trail had a lot of tree roots at this point. Of course there were foot bridges over most of the marshy areas. You do, however, have to climb up and down a ridge about 2-1/2 miles from Windigo. This is about 600 ft. climb. It was a nice view at the top. This is the most serious of climbs on this part of the trail. It rained on us a little bit that afternoon.
We were going to stay at Hunginin Cove that night, but did not have the energy to make it that far. Instead we stayed in a shelter at Washington Campground. We took showers that night-it was nice to get the DEET off, and stopped by the store for a soda. These are the little things that seem very luxurious after backpacking. We had a camp fox come through that evening, and a huge moose. It rained that night and most of the morning on Thursday. There are some pretty fantastic thunderstorms on that island. We left Thursday afternoon. And all though it was cloudy, it didn't rain the whole day.
The weather on the trip was for the most part good. Pleasant days, cool evenings-good hiking weather.
The bugs weren't too bad. The ranger said the mosquitoes had just started coming out. They only got really annoying that last day of hiking. No black flies when we were there.
Human contact was minimal too.
My animal count was: 1 beaver, many moose, 1 fox, 1 squirrel, and 2 frogs.
I went to see if I could get any sight/sound/tracks of wolves. Unfortunately, we didn't get any sign. I am very jealous of your trip and hearing wolves howling at night. But we were on part of the island were the wolf pack numbers 2.
I will definitely plan a future trip there! We had an excellent trip.
I too recommend the island for a trip. I didn't think that the "challenging" parts of the hike were overwhelming. Definitely challenging for a novice backpacker (I don't claim to be an expert, and I did it fine), but not insurmountable. It was a nice change from backpacking here in Colorado, where ridges can be >1000 ft above you, and you climb it for miles. The nice soft ground made the trails very pleasant, even if there are roots and rocks. The foliage was lush and green.
From: kwjung@vela.acs.oakland.edu (Kurt Jung)
Subject: Re: trip report - Isle Royale Nat. Park
Date: 21 Jul 94 17:21:44 GMT
Robert Haar includes the following in his enjoyable summary of a recent trip to Isle Royale:
>But there have been some recent changes that were not on our maps. The
>Minong Ridge Trail between McCargo Cove and Todd Harbor is closed because
>of nesting eagles and may be re-routed in the future.
Last September I participated in a Sierra Club / Park Service volunteer service trip in which we worked on this portion of the Minong. It is a very attractive part of the island, and I am pleased that the eagles find it so, too. We saw eagles in the vicinity but never came across nesting sites. Hikers detouring this part of the Minong could use the Greenstone Ridge trail and cut over to Todd Harbor.
Robert, many thanks for a great post.
Kurt Jung
kwjung@vela.acs.oakland.edu
** New 3/6/97**
Subject: Re: Isle Royal?
From: Warren Pomphrey <atfan@injersey.com>
Date: 1996/12/02
Newsgroups: rec.backcountry
Dan Ferrell! wrote:
> hey all,
> any of been to Isle royal... i am planning trip there for
this
> summer and i am just curious to see if i couldget some info
on the place
> before i start to make my plans...
> dan
--
I visited Isle Royale this past August for 5 days and had a great time.Try to avoid the east end of the island (Rock Harbor) as much as possible...crowded! Also , try to plan your camps at campsites away from the shore - there is too much competition from boaters for the available sites.(Daisy Farm,Moskey basin,Three Mile,and Rock Harbor ,especially).I was somewhat disapointed with the presence of so many power boats, especially at night. The NPS is now considering whether the sale of gas should be discontinued on the island. I guess they have to balance the loss of revenue against the quality of the wilderness experience for all visitors .Be sure to get book by Jim Dufresne "Isle Royale".Disregard his favorable comments regarding the merchandise available at the camp store at Rock Harbor , however.(it's bad) OBTW , "Royale" is pronounced as in "royal highness" , not "fudge royale"
I took the 6.5 hour boat ride from Houghton , Mi.--(Ranger
III) $84.00 round trip for adults.The ride was smooth on the way
out but the return was quite rough (6 foot seas ) ...it's a great
part of the trip. The informational programs on board by NPS
personnel were great! They clearly love the island and are truly
concerned with making your visit a success....A great change from
the usual Park Svc. people who only know how to say NO!
--
Thanx! , Have fun!
Warren Pomphrey (NJ) atfan@injersey.com
Subject: Re: Isle Royal?
From: J. Goldsborough <jgoldsbo@kear.tdsnet.com>
Date: 1996/12/01
Newsgroups: rec.backcountry
Dan:
I backpacked the island for 5 days about 7 summers ago. It is a
unique and wonderful place. Just a few of my experiences:
1) The boat ride out there is long and not cheap. But it is a
part of the experience that makes the trip worthwhile and
interesting.
2) Once there, a few important factors:
a) Take a water filter. Iodine does not kill some of the nasties
in the water. You must boil or filter.
b) The inland lakes and ponds are gorgeous but full of leaches.
People swim in them anyway (I did once) - if you do, get in and
out fast, keep moving and check yourself for leaches when you get
out.
c) Although not mountainous by any stretch of the imagination, I
found the hiking trails very rugged. The roots and rocks as well
as the constant up and down can really wear you out quicker than
you think.
I started at Rock Harbor and hiked the Greenstone Ridge. There was much of the island I didnt see, but everything I saw was spectacular. The moose sightings are VERY frequent. Dont expect to see wolves EVER, but if you are LUCKY, you may hear them at night. It can be crowded in certain places of the Island during the summer. I imagine its more crowded now than whenI was there.
Get Jim DuFresne's book on the park and study up. I also recommend reading any and all books on the history of the moose and wolf co-habitation. It is facinating. Have a great trip!
Subject: Re: Isle Royal?
From: biles@imtdev.enet.dec.com (Bob Biles)
Date: 1996/12/02
Newsgroups: rec.backcountry
I agree that this is a great trip. Make reservations for either boat or plane ride well in advance. The season is short & they fill up fast.
I took my son on his first (and second) backpacking trip there. We now live in Colorado, but he still wants to go back to Isle Royal. Good memories!
Subject: Re: Isle Royal?
From: cmorhiker@aol.com
Date: 1996/11/26
Newsgroups: rec.backcountry
Isle Royale is wonderful -- certainly among the best in the midwest. I have photos of the island and also of some of the moose on my website at http://members.aol.com/CMorHiker/backpack. I also have the phone numbers and addresses to contact for info on backpacking/canoeing the island and also getting to the island, as well as books related to backpacking the island. It is well worth your time to go there.
Happy trails!
Chuck's Backpacking Bonanza
http://members.aol.com/CMorHiker/backpack/
Subject: Re: Isle Royal?
From: burleson@rust.net
Date: 1996/12/03
Newsgroups: rec.backcountry
Warren Pomphrey <atfan@injersey.com> wrote:
snip>>>
>I took the 6.5 hour boat ride from Houghton , Mi.--(Ranger
III) $84.00
>round trip for adults.The ride was smooth on the way out but
the return
>was quite rough (6 foot seas ) ...it's a great part of the
trip.
If the return trip was rought on the Ranger III, I can't imaging the alternative, the Isle Royale Queen, we named it the "barf barge". The Ranger III is great, we flew over to the west end and took the Ranger III back.
Subject: Re: Isle Royal?
From: biles@imtdev.enet.dec.com (Bob Biles)
Date: 1996/12/05
Newsgroups: rec.backcountry
>I took the 65 foot boat from Copper Harbor in a September
gale back in '79 or 80.
>15 ft waves were tossing the boat while the passengers were
tossing
>their cookies. It was the worst day of my life. Take the
floatplane!
>
>Wayne
Done the boat, done the plane.
BOAT - Cheaper! Goes no matter what the weather (see above). Can be a great ride or a miserable one.
PLANE - $$! Goes only if weather is good (you may have to spend another day on the island - oh darn!- usually not, but be prepared) Much faster, IMHO much more fun. The guy who runs it is a real pro - don't try to help him out by 'catching' the wing as he approaches the dock. He may be a pilot, but he can sound like a sailor if you mess up his routine. Saw this once - quite entertaining.
Last edited: February 22, 2004
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