Water Taxi from Malone Bay?

[srparr]

Hello everyone, I need to pick your brains regarding the water taxi ...

Given that the seaplane service is an unknown so far for 2009, my pals and I are planning on riding the Queen in & out of RH. So far so good, but the vote is still to do the Feldtmann loop, which raises the question of how to return to RH within a week (not enough vacation days to stay longer, sadly).

The plan so far is shaping up to look like:

Sat: ride Queen -> RH
Sun: ride Voyageur -> Wendigo
Mon: hike -> Feldtmann
Tue: hike -> Siskiwit
Wed: hike -> SLD
Thu: hike -> Malone
Fri (am): ride water taxi from Malone -> RH
Fri (pm): ride Queen -> Cu Harbor

It's that last day that is the issue. Does anyone know:
- how early the water taxi can pick us up?
- how long the trip takes?
- is it realistic to make it back for the 2:45 pm departure of the Queen, or should we plan on riding the Queen on the following day?

I've shot these questions to the lodge, but if anyone has done the Malone water taxi I'd be interested in your experiences. I understand that it might be canceled if the weather is pretty bad.

Thanks for any information,
Steve

[Tom]

I'm afraid I can't answer your question regarding the water taxi, but might offer up an alternative... You don't mention when about you plan to go, but I'll presume "summer" when the days are typically longer. I noticed you have a few days where you're essentially killing time waiting for transit. Maybe you like that, or maybe it's just how it worked out. However, have you considered:

Sat: ride Queen -> RH
Sun: ride Voyageur -> Windigo. Days are long. Hike to Feldtman. You'll have plenty of time.
Mon: Feldtman->Siskiwit.
Tues: Siskiwit to Windigo. (Thus completing the true Feldtman Loop)
Wed: hop on Voyageur for North side transit. Not only is it far less likely to get delayed because of weather, and not only is the owner Don a nice guy, but I looked up prices for Water Taxi from Malone to RH. YIKES! Inter-island rates on the VoyII would be cheaper! You could go direct to RH and find another camp for a day or two, or have them drop you at McCargoe. If McCargoe, then:
Thu: McCargoe -> Daisy Farm
Fri: Daisy Farm -> RH. I know when I've broke camp fairly early, I've made it from DF to RH BEFORE the Queen arrives. You'd be safe for a departure, for sure...

[srparr]

Thanks Tom! That's a great idea!

I'll propose it to my pals, and it may come down to a vote ... one guy REALLY wants to visit Malone, and the other one is a McCargo fiend ... who will insist on a night there if he hears it's doable!

Thanks for the insight, I will propose it to them. I like the cost savings!

FYI, we were thinking of visiting Huginnin that first afternoon at Wendigo ... or getting a couple canoes and paddling out to Grace Island (weather permitting).

(note: edited for typo)

[srparr]

Actually the cost savings are not as much you'd think when first looking at it. This is because of some information I didn't share earlier ... there are 5 of us traveling together.

So when the water taxi fee of $313 is split up, it is roughly $63 each (don't know if rates are going to change for 2009).

This is not that much more than the $54 each to ride the Voyager from Wendigo to Rock Harbor.

I still like the idea, and will suggest it as an alternative. Since 2 out of the 5 of us have never been to the island, this will let them climb the Feldtmann tower and the Ojibway tower.

[Keweenaw]

another crazy possibility - it would add maybe 5-6 hours to your drive time to leave from Grand Portage, MN

Bob

[srparr]

I hadn't thought of driving to Grand Portage ... thanks for the suggestion.

I do want to see that end of the operation, but for this year's trip it looks like we can't start the drive until Friday after work. We were already planning on driving all night to Copper Harbor, which is doable but a pain. A few extra hours to Grand Portage makes it "iffy" if there are any delays (unless we can leave earlier).

Let's see, from Plymouth MI to Grand Portage is just under 14.5 hours (as per Google). I thought it was longer than that, but assuming Google is correct, the Voyageur leaves at 8 am CDT, so there is time to do this route if we don't dawdle along the way.

Does anyone know if this drive time is accurate? It seems a little low to me.

[Tom]

Did Google route you around the North side of Superior, or South dropping around Lake Michigan and over through Wisconsin and Minnesota? You're probably looking at around 12 hours or so from Chicago. Most of the route would be well travelled and maintained Interstate, and so you'd average a pretty good rate of speed. North of Duluth on 61 you'll need to slow down a little, especially in the dark. Tough call...

[srparr]

Google recommended going up 75 thru Sault Ste. Marie, and around the north side of Superior.

Playing with this a bit I just found a cool feature in Google maps ... you can drag the route around a bit around to force it to use different roads!

So it looks like the ride from Plymouth MI to Grand Portage will be one of these:
- via Canada thru Sault Ste. Marie (14 hrs, 22 minute estimate)
- thru Chicago (15 hrs, 49 minute estimate)
- via the UP thru Escanaba (16 hrs, 1 minute estimate)

That's a lot of driving after work, but so is 10 hrs 49 minutes to Copper Harbor! One advantage to going thru Chicago would be that we have two guys in Lansing that were going to have to drive over to meet us ... and the rest of us can pick them up faster than they can get out of work and drive to Plymouth.

I still want to find out about the Malone taxi ride, but you guys have given me some good alternatives. Thanks again!

[Ingo]

If you decide to go out of G.P. I'd do a Superior circle tour.... Do the UP, Wis, Min, route one way and the Canadian route the other. Both are pretty and rewarding drives. From limited experience, it's quick and easy going into Canada and much slower and more scrutiny coming back into the states.

[srparr]

I just heard back from the Rock Harbor Lodge people about the water taxi:
- the Malone Bay taxi is 2 hrs each way ... so it is a half-day trip for the taxi
- they recommend not depending on getting back to RH before the Queen leaves, but plan to ferry out the next day

I'm assuming that if they have someone coming in on the Queen with Malone Bay as a destination that they would prefer to wait and take them along, then take us back (getting paid both ways). Also the weather can certainly play a part with the scheduling.

[Capt Don]

The only concern I would have is weather, the taxi service is halted for fog. I have seen several day delays for fog.
If you do consider visiting us in Grand Portage, the Wenonah will be running to and from Windigo this year, so that could possibly help in your plans. We are still working on the schedule with the park, but it will be running 5 days a week, not sure which ones yet.