Is this too ambitious?

[muddymoose]

I'm a first-timer to IR visiting May 25-28 (Fri-Mon). I'm going with a coworker; I'm 35, he's 40. We're in decent shape and hike 2-6 miles here and there when we can, but have never backpacked. We're getting new boots and backpacks Thursday, so we'll have about a month to break them in and do some walks/hikes with them.

We're shooting for the following itinerary:

Friday: Seaplane to RH at 10am. Water taxi to Hidden Lake Dock at 11am. Hike Hidden Lake to Lane Cove (6 miles?).
Saturday: Hike Lane Cove to Chickenbone West via Greenstone Ridge (13 miles).
Sunday: Hike Chickenbone West to Three Mile via the southern route past Richie and Moskey (13 miles?).
Monday: Three Mile to RH in time for 11am seaplane back to Houghton.

From reading about others' trips, the 13-mile days seem relatively ambitious. Is it too ambitious? We have no problem getting up at sunrise and putting in a long day, but are we going to kill ourselves?

Since we're sticking near the east end, we figure it'll give us the option to cut things down if we need to. Perhaps go Lane Cove to Moskey (11 miles), Moskey to Three Mile (8 miles), then Three Mile to RH (3 miles). I would really like to get to Chickenbone West if possible, because I've heard it's really nice. I also heard it's a great spot for moose. Is it worth the effort to get to Chickenbone West, or is Moskey as good/better?

Thanks in advance for any help.

[IncaRoads]

Welcome to the Isle Royale Forums.

Never backpacked. New shoes. New backpacks. Back to back 13+ mile days.

Quoted from the Rangers at Isle Royale National Park ... "Many people underestimate hiking travel times and overestimate their abilities. Plan shorter, realistic travel days; don’t turn your wilderness trek into a forced march. The average hiking distance per day is 6-8 miles for beginning backpackers and 8-10 miles for experienced backpackers."

Your second option with reduced miles may be a better choice. It also gives you more flexibility. On your second day (Lane Cove to Moskey Basin) you also have the option of staying at Daisy Farm if your endurance/equipment are not quite up to par. By the way, Moskey Basin is beautiful.

[alecto73]

My first IR trip:
day 1) Houghton/Ranger III to RH to Lane Cove (hot and sunny)
day 2) Lane Cove to McCargoe (hot and sunny)
day 3) McCargoe to Moskey (rain, cool)
day 4) Moskey to RH (rain, gale force winds, cool)
day 5) weather-related "bonus" day (gloomy, much cooler)
day 6) Ranger III to Houghton

I had planned on Chickenbone West but there was an algae bloom so in the name of filterable water I rerouted to McCargoe Cove. Had my only moose watching opportunity there so of course I'm happy the way it turned out. I was carrying much heavier gear back then and was by no means in "great" shape. It's not exactly the route you're looking at but it's similar and I found it very do-able. Moskey was by far my favorite place on the island by the way.

[Midwest Ed]

You have expressed a desire to cover quite a bit of territory in a fairly short time. Given your acknowledged circumstances IncaRoads’ cautions are warranted. Given your time constraints and your willingness to spend a little extra for a water taxi, I would suggest you consider paying a little more for the taxi so that it would take you further out on your first day.

This opens up many other possibilities but the price can escalate quite high if you take the taxi to its limits. But as a modest example, for another $55 per person you could ride all the way to Moskey Basin.

http://rockharborlodge.com/water-taxi

From there it’s 6.5 miles to West Chickenbone for Friday night. Then either on to Lane Cove if you’re still feeling ambitious or 8 miles to Daisy Farm. Daisy Farm can become crowded and is usually avoided by those trying to maximize the “seclusion factor”. On Sunday you can be back at Three Mile or Rock Harbor.

Or how about this? Water taxi to Moskey Basin for Friday Night. Leave your gear at Moskey and if you get to Moskey early enough, make a 13 mile round trip for the remainder of the day, out and back to Chickenbone West if your determined to at least check it out. This is still probably a little ambitious so maybe you only go to Lake Ritchie for a late lunch. Saturday, it’s only 11 miles to Lane Cove from Moskey. Sunday is still back to Three mile or RH.

Even though you must register your intended campgrounds when you arrive, you are free to change your itinerary as you go.

[backpackingZombie]

the mileage won't really hit you as long as you keep pushing, but the next morning you will be regretting your decision, and depending on the weather that's happening, your pack, boots, .... you may get some BAD chaffing

I would shoot for 6-8 mile days. If you end up going past that then great, but otherwise just enjoy the pace

[muddymoose]

Thanks for the input everyone. It definitely gives me a lot to mull over.

[muddymoose]

We ended up doing the following:

Day 1: Hidden Lake to Lane Cove (8.4 miles). The seaplane was delayed about four hours for wind, so we only had about five hours to do this before dark. Made it with time to spare, but it made us a little anxious.
Day 2: Lane Cove to Daisy Farm (6.9 miles) with about 2 miles of backpack-less hikes up the Daisy Farm Trail and back up the Mount Ojibway Trail to Ransom Hill
Day 3: Daisy Farm to Rock Harbor (7.7 miles). The Rock Harbor Trail sucked in the rain, so we crossed over to the Tobin Harbor Trail before Three Mile. Thanks to this forum for that tip.
After a rest we hiked to Scoville Point (4.2 miles)
Day 4: Poked around Rock Harbor. The seaplane was again delayed about four hours for fog, but we got to chat with a couple amusing Canadians who were portaging their kayaks from Rock Harbor to Tobin Harbor.

On day 2 we shortened the Chickenbone West objective to Moskey Basin, but with heavy rain in the forecast for day 3 we cut it short at Daisy Farm. I didn't really want to stay at a "popular" campground, but there were so few people on the island it was still pleasantly desolate. The same went for Rock Harbor on the following day. The wooden shelters at both sites were nice considering all the rain.

The less aggressive pace allowed us to enjoy the time more, and let us get in hikes to places like Scoville Point without the burden of our packs.

Although we fell short of our plans, it was still a great trip. I'm already eager to go back...there's still so much to see.

I'm working on trip reports on my blog:

Prologue
Day 1
Day 2
Days 3 and 4 to come