Someone who hiked the Greenstone recently might have more memory of smaller streams you may cross on the path--but water isn't all around right on the trail. Since it follows the ridge, your guaranteed water spots will have to come from the campsite areas off the trail--Island Mine, Lake Desor, Hatc...

I've used the gear swap forum on backpackinglight.com with much success. It'd be nice to have one on here to have more exchanges with people from the area...

... http://www.geargrams.com/list?id=5878 My main multi-use items are my trekking poles as tent poles... Not too much else. I see you use both parts of the Dri-Ducks set. I've been afraid to use the pants. Am I worrying too much? Also wondering if that nickname is a Squidbillies reference... When I...

+1000000 for creating a spreadsheet. The biggest thing it makes you do is weigh everything. I stumbled across this site a few months ago and have since converted my excel sheet/gDocs to it. http://www.geargrams.com/ Its free and simple to sign up, and it keeps track of your gear for you. Many people...

@ Ingo - I picked up that Exped Air Pillow last year and love it. I'll take the 3 oz extra to get better sleep at night than resting my head on my pack or clothes...

I'm looking to grab a Patagonia 3 top or maybe a Therm-a-rest Z-lite myself...

Last year was my first time to IR, and we decided to thru-hike from RH to Windigo to try to see as much as we could during our visit. Here’s the report if you are extremely bored… http://isleroyaleforums.com/viewtopic.php?f=8&t=1641 Here are a few decisions we made that might help you out… We tr...

Last year was my first trip to IR, and we decided to utilize the Seaplane in order to save time. We were driving in from Detroit, so we didn't want to spend 2 travel days getting to the island and 2 in order to get off the island. On the way there, we had a 2:00 flight, and when we got to the Hought...

Better late than never, eh? Thanks to everyone on the forum providing lots of help and wisdom in our planning. Much of what we did was because of the lessons we learned from everyone on here. Planned and Actual Itinerary: Saturday, Aug 27: Fly from Houghton to Rock Harbor, Hike to Daisy Farm Sunday...

Same here!

I've heard good things about the NeoAir, but even better things about the Exped. I guess the NeoAir sounds like a ruffled bag of potato chips when you move, but I've never slept on one before... On the bright side, I haven't heard of any issues of people struggling to inflate them or that they leak....

Isle Royale is one of the few wilderness areas you can indulge in smoked salmon, bacon, etc, without worrying about sharing your sleeping bag with a bear. Last summer, I was hiking in the Smokie Mountains with a few friends and stopped on Andrew's Bald to enjoy the view for lunch. A friend of mine ...

Thanks for the help. I have a wish list of about 3-4 tents that I'm keeping my eye out for on the the forums. I'll let you know which one pops up first.

Also, I'll probably grab a few of those stakes.

That MSR Carbon Reflex tent looks amazing (especially at $250). I've heard people say that Henry from Tarptent is a really good guy to work with. The best part of the Tarptents is their price in comparison to the Carbon Reflexes and the Hubbas. If a few more people chime in with some firsthand exper...

This season, I am trying to reevaluate my gear and slowly shift to ultralight/lightweight. I know the transition will not happen instantly, but I'm hoping to upgrade my tent this year. I am currently using a Zepher II that weighs in around 4 lbs 12 oz. http://www.amazon.com/ALPS-Mountaineering-Zephy...

I'm not real big on the Mountain House meals, so I try to make my own. For breakfast I stick to Oatmeal and Couscous with fruit in it (although I have done pancakes and shelf stable bacon). Lunches are generally no cook with tortillas and flavored tuna packages. Dinner is where I usually go all out ...