planning a trip and have questions about difficulty

Questions about trails and campsites on the island.

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huntertim214
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Re: planning a trip and have questions about difficulty

Post by huntertim214 »

Tom wrote: Mon Jun 19, 2017 8:55 am
sparklerbc wrote: Mon Jun 19, 2017 7:46 am re: ferry- one leaving 15 mins later and one leaving 15 minutes earlier is going to cause either of the operating companies issues?
Actually, I think it's all because there is only one official dock for ferries in Rock Harbor, and they have to share it. Therefore, they both can't be docked at the same time, so the NPS makes them have schedules that accommodate. No nefarious plot by the ferry concessionaires.
(Although in practice, the Voyageur II will often take a slip at the marina when available, but that's not it's official docking location as provided by the NPS.)
This is what I was thinking, the docking situation does not lend itself to both boats at the same time... and also, it would be significantly more than a 15 minute change to schedule. The time it would take for one boat come in, get docked and tied, unload all of the passengers and all of the gear, then passengers finding said gear and getting it on the other boat and loaded, etc... it would take awhile.
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Re: planning a trip and have questions about difficulty

Post by Midwest Ed »

There is also weather to account for that could disturb passenger's schedules and hopes. If the Queen actually built into their ticketing schedule to accept passengers arriving on the Voyageur, then what to do when the Voyageur is delayed? Wait for it? For how long? Sometimes their departure is hastened in order to beat approaching weather.
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Re: planning a trip and have questions about difficulty

Post by sparklerbc »

awesome, what i'm planning seems a lot more doable now. and I'm glad to hear the rangers didn't think the plan was nuts.

re: ferries. it appears to me they are in fact both in dock at very nearly the same time, just not in an order that makes sense.
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Re: planning a trip and have questions about difficulty

Post by TylerS »

sparklerbc wrote: Mon Jun 19, 2017 3:03 pm awesome, what i'm planning seems a lot more doable now. and I'm glad to hear the rangers didn't think the plan was nuts.
Glad to gear it helped, not sure why there aren't more trip reports like mine? Just remember every ranger could be different. If you have any questions for me, feel free to ask.
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Re: planning a trip and have questions about difficulty

Post by Base654 »

I agree with all of the notes above. I am in ok shape for 46. I did day 1,4,5,6 of your proposed trip about 8 years ago. When I was done I did stop and ask myself why. I find it to be too many miles for me to really enjoy the trip, but it's your trip, not mine. save injuries or terrible weather I think you can do it. If you see me on the trail flash your lights and I'll move to the slow lane. :-) have fun. They are correct about the dock and the timing. I have been there in the busy season and have seen all of the rental slips full. leaving the ferry dock the only place open.
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Re: planning a trip and have questions about difficulty

Post by sparklerbc »

haha more likely you'll pass me going at a moderate to slow pace sometime in the late morning and then around the time you're setting up camp and maybe getting ready to make dinner i'll come strolling by, say hello and keep going.

i'm by no means going to knock out 18 miles in 6 hours or something, its going to be an all day affair i'm sure.
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Re: planning a trip and have questions about difficulty

Post by sparklerbc »

well i'm back off the island. trip went beautifully and as planned, only slightly faster. weather was absolutely phenomenal. i only was preset for significant rainfall once, and that was at night!

naturally i have lots to say, but in the sake of keeping the thread on topic, i'll stick to the subject of difficulty of the trails for now.

on a scale of 1-5, i'd give it over all for the trails i hiked (mining, most of greenstone, all of rock harbor, and the trails for connecting them) a 3. so basically its pretty much like most other hiking you'd likely do.

at times it was a 2, especially the greenstone from windigo to island mine. it was never quite a 4, though there are a couple of very short spots, mostly on the trails going across the ridges, not following them, i.e., NOT the minong) where it was the sort of trail that would be a 4 if the difficult parts were more than 1/20 of a mile long and/or more frequent. to the poster who said all the ups and downs, though short, would feel like the whites, all i can say is that yes, at times, it came sort of, almost, but note quite to that level. but those times literally lasted for 3 minutes and then it was back to easy, and it was a LONG time before it got anywhere near that hard again.

as for the fabled minong ridge trail- i hate to say it, but in my book thats not a hard trail, thats a bad trail. it was mentally taxing trying to follow it and it got tedious and monotonous. up and over rocks slabs and boulders, down through a bog, up and over more, down and through another, repeat, repeat, repeat, repeat. its what i sometimes think of as a groundhog day trail- you keep going and going and seem to be passing the same point over and over and over and over. all the while, having to maintain razor sharp focus so that you don't suddenly stop and realize you have no idea where you are. it wasn't physically challenging and it wasn't fun and while it did have it's share of nice spots, i didn't think they were anything particularly better than the nicer spots on the greenstone. if i ever do get back to isle royale (i hope to, more to see for sure) i'll give it a wiiide berth. at least the section from hatchet lake to windigo (well, i'd go to little todd harbor maybe, but then id turn around and not go forward!)

it seems to be some sort of test of hiking toughness or skill or mettle in the minds of some folk (graffiti scrawled in the shelters at windigo, for instance, indicated this, things like "minong separates the men from the boys" or some such nonsense). to people who think that, and especially to people who write and say stuff like that i have this kind suggestion- get out more and see some other trails in other places that are actually hard (as in physically hard) and actually incredibly beautiful at the same time.

wow, that turned into a rant, sorry. that trail really inspired some feelings. the rest of the island was fabulous though.
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Re: planning a trip and have questions about difficulty

Post by HowardBates »

If you're looking for a technically difficult trail (pack off, toss it up to the top, then climb. Belly against cliffs while sidestepping on a lichen-covered shelf that's only 7" wide) with gorgeous views, then Lake Superior Provincial Park in Ontario is your huckleberry.
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Re: planning a trip and have questions about difficulty

Post by Montana »

Would love to hear what your final itinerary looked like...
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Re: planning a trip and have questions about difficulty

Post by sparklerbc »

day 1- 1:15 or so start, RH to mccargoe cove. finished about 8:15. poor planning of the trip to copper harbor resulted in a very tired, very hard hike which i nearly bailed on. hardest day by far, but only because of fatigue.

all other days started between 7-8 and ended between 5-6

day 2- macargoe to n desor with lengthy break at todd harbor

day 3- n desor to windigo, lengthy break, then on to island mine

day 4- island mine to w chicken bone. seriously thought about pushing on to lake ritchie, and could have, but saw no point in doing so. i was rewarded for my decision by a moose exiting the lake 10 feet from my tent sometime just after sunset. made quite the racket. i didnt see it though. if you've ever heard the sound of a medium sized boat being hauled out of the water, it was kind of like that. followed by a lot sticks breaking as it stomped off.

day 5- w chicken bone to rock harbor, decent sized breaks at moskey basin and daisy farm

day 6- took a ride on the sandy over to hidden lake and did the mile up to lookout louise and back. thought long and hard about attempting to hike back to RH in time for the 2:45 ferry (the sandy left RH for hidden lake at 9am). i probably could have made it, but with no ferry on wednesday the idea of either coughing up the money for a seaplane or sitting around for 2 days convinced me it wasn't worth attempting.
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