Isle Royale Forums

First time to Isle Royale and hoping to get some help with our route. We'll be on island for 5 days/4 nights. Hiking Windigo to Rock Harbor. I've heard Moskey Basin and McCargoe Cove are two of the favorite camps so would like to hit those sites ... but this introduces long hikes the first and/or last day(s). I'm wondering how doable that would be. A bit about us: We're still relatively new to backpacking - only three trips under our belts. We spent a week backpacking Roosevelt National Forest in Colorado last summer - we did fine from elevations between 8000ft - 12000ft, including a tough day that involved a few climbs of 2000ft in the space of a mile (up, down, up, down). Admittedly that was tough but we didn't struggle too badly. We averaged about 6 miles a day, with a long between 8-9 miles. So, with all that in mind, we feel pretty confident that Isle Royale is more than within our abilities. However, we are looking at a couple of ambitious days and I'd like to get the take of people that have been there to see if we are overly-ambitious.

Day 1 - Arrive at Windigo 11am (EST) via Royale Air
Hike Windigo to Hatchet Lake via Greenstone (overnight at Hatchet Lake)
Day 2 - Hike Hatchet Lake to McCargoe Cove via Minong (overnight at McCargoe)
Day 3 - Hike McCargoe Cove to Moskey Basin (overnight at Moskey)
Day 4 - Hike Moskey Basin to Rock Harbor (overnight at Three Mile or Rock Harbor)
Day 5 - Hike to Rock Harbor - Depart at 11am (EST) via Royale Air

So, my questions regarding the above itinerary:
1. Is Day 1 too ambitious given the trail difficulty and limited time (arriving later in the morning)? It looks like about 15 miles which is, admittedly, pretty ambitious on limited daylight.
2. Given the somewhat early departure on Day 5, is it recommended to stay at the Rock Harbor camp the last night? Or could we stay at Three Mile and still realistically have enough time to make the scheduled departure? The distance doesn't seem to be a problem but I wonder about possible trail difficulty and trail conditions.
3. Would love any other recommendations for alterations to this possible route, including whether to reverse the start/end points. I hear that may be a bit easier hiking.

We are going in late May/early June so I really want to get this nailed down. Thanks in advance for any info you can provide. Would love to hear from people that have knowledge of the trails. Really open to any route that runs Windigo to Rock Harbor in 5days/4nights. Also open to suggestions for good camps!

Hello HexFletch,

In order to make the last night at or near Rock Harbor your present route has problems. You have a mileage discrepancy to reconsider. Windigo to Hatchet is actually about 19 miles, not 15. Maybe you meant Lake Desor South which is about 12 miles. Even so, day 2 to McCargoe Cove would then be about 18 miles from Lake Desor. Either way, Windigo to McCargoe Cove is a 3 day trek (12 m + 8 m + 11 m).

Consider other possibilities;

On day 2 instead of stopping after 8 miles at Hatchet Lake, make it 12 miles to Todd Harbor. Then on day 3 make it to Moskey Basin with a pass through McCargoe Cove (although a 15 mile day).

Another suggestion would be to skip McCargoe Cove this trip and make day 3 Hatchet Lake to Moskey (13.4 miles).

Lastly, consider adding a day to your trip. I like the last two options as I'm typically not the type that likes to push hard.

There are two trails from Three Mile to Rock Harbor. The southern one along the shore is more rocky and up and down (similar to the Moskey - Daisy Farm trail). The northern route (called Tobin Harbor trail) is easier, especially considering you are under a departure deadline.

If your heart is not set on traversing the length, consider arriving and departing from Rock Harbor. You could then fairly reliably plan on staying at both McCargoe Cove and Moskey Basin.

~Ed

Windigo to Hatchet Lake is more like 19 miles:

http://isleroyaleforums.com/files/mileage_hiking.pdf

If you are able to average around 2 mph (including rest stops) that will be a 9 hour hike and is doable if you are young and don't mind pain/exhaustion. That will get you to camp by 8pm. Sunset is around 9:40 at the end of May.

Your second and third days are fine. The fourth day will be tough on the feet as the trail from Moskey to Threemile is pretty rocky/rooty. Yes, staying at Threemile is fine - if you take the Tobin Harbor Trail to RH you should get there in less than 2 hours.

Bob

Thanks very much to both of you for the info. Indeed, I was quite off in my mileage. I just received Jim DuFresne's book over the weekend so prior to that I was really guesstimating on mileage from the map. Wish I had known about the mileage chart Keeweenaw attached prior to my initial plan!

With all the information provided, we are going to revise our route, as suggested by Midwest Ed. We, unfortunately, can't add a day to our hike given the limitations of Royale Air. So I think we will skip McCargoe Cove this trip and attempt the following route:

Day 1 - Arrive at Windigo 11am (EST) via Royale Air
Hike Windigo to South Lake Desor (12 miles)
Day 2 - Hike South Lake Desor to Hatchet Lake (Option to continue on to Todd Harbor if all goes well: 8-12 miles)
Day 3 - Hike Hatchet Lake to Moskey Basin (13.5 miles)
Day 4 - Hike Moskey Basin to Three Mile (Option to continue on to Rock Harbor: 7-9 miles)
Day 5 - Hike to Rock Harbor - Depart at 11am (EST) via Royale Air (0-2 miles)

When we initially hatched our plan to make a visit to Isle Royale, we honestly thought we'd just be there this one time ... thought we'd just try to catch as much of it as we could. But just the planning alone has convinced me that this won't be our one and only visit. Too much to see and do. I think next time we'll aim for the Feldtmann circuit route.

Thanks again for all the information. It's very much appreciated!

Happy Trails!
HexFletch

It's hard to only go there once!