johnhens wrote:Heard but not seen, sandhill cranes in the swampy areas.

We saw a pair of sandhills on the Greenstone ridge near Mt Siskiwit last summer.

colvinch wrote:had to add mine

Which reminds me of another hazard: gear/boat rolling/sliding into Duncan Bay
I see your canoe is nicely set between the trees

Then heading down to Chippewa harbor!!! The last night I was debating on trying to access the camp site at Lake Whittlesey....but is that not possible by foot? Maybe we will just day hike over there? Looks like you could maybe follow the shoreline and take the portage? Also...what time would we be ...

Ditto what Tom said . I may more strongly suggest the westward day hike out of W. Chickenbone because it gets you up on the ridge with panoramic views (assuming the weather cooperates). I'm pretty sure that's Chickenbone in the background to give you an idea.

... they hadnt gotten to the main switchback yet, to watch Dad run into the cliff wall with the nose of the canoe, and thereby expand their vocabulary, as far as 4-letter words go! We had 2 brand new never used kevlar rental canoes, so "NO" I didn't do that on this trip. But plenty of oth...

I haven't seen that sign before, it's great! I told them that the portage would make them wish they'd die and they'd hate me for the rest of my life for making them do it, etc, etc. But when we were done they said "That wasn't SO bad, Dad." (so my psychology worked!) Of course after portag...

The National Geographic Trails Illustrated topo map is probably the best one available. You can buy one here . Remove the "probably" from Tampico's response :D ! I do like to encourage folks to order from http://irkpa.org (Isle Royale & Keweenaw Parks Association), however, since the ...

Last thing I want is to be exhausted/overwhelmed out there on the trail.... Exactly! which ferry is recomended for getting to Rock Harbor? Everyone has their preference. The Voyageur II out of G.P. circles the island in 2 days and provides more route options since you don't have to start and end at...

Would love to plan a backpacking trip from the west side of the island to the east... 5-6 days? Welcome to the forum and I'm know you'll get plenty of suggestions. 5-6 days is probably fairly typical for an end to end trip and plenty of time for experienced backpackers. But I'd consider a shorter d...

I dug these up and scanned them from a 2001 family trip. That's my 16 yr old daughter under the #4 Duluth pack. She's 5'1", was maybe 95 lbs dripping wet, and had multiple ortho surgeries on her legs growing up. I'm still proud of her! I always think of this pic when folks talk about "can ...

Chickenbone dawn: Greenstone ridge a couple miles out of Chickenbone:

Todd Harbor: Todd Harbor:

I didn't know if maybe I should think of doing my plan in reverse and go counter-clockwise...I could start out at Three-Mile and then head to Lane Cove for two days...then work towards McCargoe Cove via East/West Chickenbone...two days at McCargoe, then head over to Moskey Bay for two days. I'd sti...

Pictures! Any post with PICTURES!

I used to carry mine, but quit bringing it because reception was so unreliable. As Tom says being up high helps but I'm usually paddling. The 2 U.S. transmitters you may get are in Grand Marais and Copper Harbor. The coverage map for MI only shows a sliver of I.R. but shows at least some of south sh...