Mixed trip Canoe/hiking

[tcreech]

Hi all, newbie here. Planning first trip to IR (late July or early August). I'd like to combine canoe & backpacking. I'm 55, fit outdoorsman, with 3 daughters (23,18,15) also very fit.
Does this sound reasonable?
Dropped off at Malone Bay, we canoe to Lake Ritchie (2-3 days) . Leave canoes and small food cache, hike to
hatchet lake>minong mine>daisy farm> back to lake Ritchie (4-5 days). then canoe back to Malone Bay.
My first concern would be having enough time after dropoff to make it to Siskiwit/Wood Lake camp.

Feedback appreciated,

Tom

[MikeT]

Welcome!
- Guessing based on your plan, you are taking the Voyageur to Malone?? If so, you will arrive at Malone @11am so, there is plenty of time to make Wood Lake IF Siskiwit Lake conditions are good. Big IF, this is a lake that can be impossible to paddle sometimes, especially in a canoe.
- As far as the rest, I'm guessing you would be going through Intermediate Lake to Lake Richie which is very doable in one day.
- Not sure about leaving canoe at Richie with stuff, but do not think it would be a problem.
- Hatchet Lake is a long ways and I am not sure it would be worth it? I would do McCargoe instead then cut down to Daisy via East Chickenbone trail. The girls might like Daisy for the activities. It is a bit busier, but still beautiful
- From there to Moskey, spectacular campground
- then over to Richie.

Couple of thoughts...

[Ingo]

Hey Tom, a few thoughts:
- Like Mike said, I'm not sure how the park service feels about leaving the canoes/cache. But if you do, I would hang the food in a bear barrel, or it is likely to be eaten by squirrels (hence the barrel), or dragged off by foxes (hence the hanging).
- Malone to Lake Richie is not bad to do in a day with good weather via Intermediate. So 2-3 days should be fine--but take the opportunity to paddle Siskiwit when the weather allows. It may not be exactly when you planned.
- Stop at Ryan's Island in Siskiwit: Largest island on the largest lake on the largest island on the largest lake in the world! Just to say you've been there.
- The Wood Lake -> Lake Whittlesey -> Chippewa Harbor -> Lake Richie route is very scenic. More portaging than going through Intermediate, but worth it.
- if you're not aware, you don't have start and end at the same place. I would consider leaving from Chippewa Harbor--it takes out some question about paddling on Siskiwit to get back to Malone in time.

[Gimp]

I'd like to emphasize what MikeT said about "IF Siskiwit Lake conditions are good" and agree with Ingo's suggestion of starting from Chippewa Harbor. Late last July I paddled my canoe from Wood Lake over to Malone. Siskiwit Lake was in a good mood for my journey. The next morning I was minutes into my paddle back when conditions turned with high wind, waves sloshing into my canoe and whitecaps visible out in the middle of the lake. I never paddled so hard, non-stop in my life. The only secure area to rest was behind a couple of islands and landing on the shoreline was out of the question. I had previously read in this forum that Siskiwit could get rough, but now have first hand experience. Needless to say, I skipped my planned stop at Ryan Island. With the time you allowed to get from Malone to Lake Richie you could just as easily take a loop from Chippewa through Whittlesey, Wood Lake etc. You would only have a short section of Siskiwit and there are islands to hide behind if necessary.

[tcreech]

Thanks for the replies! Yes, I'm thinking Chippewa would be a better starting point, removing the Siskiwit variable. A little more portaging, though. Not a big fan of portaging. So Chippewa>Whittlesey>Wood> Intermediate>Ritchie in: then hike; then reverse out.
Another option would be to portage up to Ritchie, hike, then paddle the big loop back. We could then take our time on the lakes, and no backtracking. Not too excited about a mile+ uphill portage, though.

Hey! Maybe someone who reads this will want to do the first half, paddle up to Ritchie, and leave the boats for me to paddle back!

I'm also considering the idea of nixing Hatchet Lake and going to McCargoe instead. Might make that decision after we get
to Lake Ritchie, as we'll have a better idea idea of how much time we'd like to spend on the trail.

Looks like I've got some more head scratchin' to do. Thanks for the ideas, keep 'em coming!

One more question. The other day I stumbled upon a web page with a chart of hiking distances between campsites, but I forgot to bookmark it and now I can't find it. Can anyone help?

Thanks again,

Tom

[tcreech]

Ok, I answered one question already. The distance charts are in Mike's book.

Now another question: I think I read somewhere (I've gotta do a better job bookmarking this stuff!) that camping along the lakeshore of inland lakes is permitted, that you don't have to stay at a campground. Is this correct?

Thanks<

Tom

[Tom]

You would need a backcountry permit to NOT camp at designated sites, and you have to be a fair distance from the water. If this is your first trip, I'd recommend sticking to designated sites. They're nothing special, but they are flat and clear enough to pitch a tent, which is more than I can say for the rest of the Isle... especially around lake margins.

You didn't indicate if you're coming from Minn or Mich (which ferry) but another option, that's a little less "canoe, then hike, then canoe" and more "canoe and hiking":
Start (either via ferry or water taxi) at McCargoe. You could stay there, and hike up to the mines and ridges. Portage to Chickenbone W. Camp. Leave the canoe, hike to Hatchet and camp, if you really want.. The view on the Greenstone getting to Hatchet is nice, but there is nothing spectacular about the campsite itself... Although a pretty protected place to ride out a wind storm...
Hike back, portage Lasage/Livermore/Richie. Camp at Ritchie. (I'd take the canoe site over the hiker site.)
Hike to Moskey. Maybe a night there. Maybe even to Daisy. You could loop back via the Greenstone if you wanted, to Ritchie.
Portage thru Intermediate (you could opt for a night there) and definitely camp at Wood. If Siskiwit is being nice, you'd have a good shot at Ryan Island.
Portage Whittlesey, camp at Chippewa. Explore the trails up toward Ritchie, and over to Mason. Arrange for your pickup from Chippewa.

[tree rattt]

I gotta give all of you credit for portaging canoes around those trails! Not my cup of tea! If my boat can't get there under its own floatation I'll be darned if I will carry it on those trails! I don't know about some of those shorter portages , but a few of those are kind of nasty. All I can picture is carring my 17 ft grumman through that and all I can say is.............hats off to ya and have fun