July 31-August 6, 2009 trip #2....TRIP REPORT****

Reports or links to reports on trips.

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colvinch
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July 31-August 6, 2009 trip #2....TRIP REPORT****

Post by colvinch »

Well I just booked passage from CH to RH for August 3-9
Also booked my water taxi from RH to Chippewa Harbor for same day....fyi the rate we got is for 4 people and 2 canoes $191

We have some flexibility but here is our ideas so far, comments or other ideas are appreciated.

Day1 CH to RH
RH to Chippewa via water taxi
camp on Lake Whitlesey
Day2 LW to Lake Richey
Day3 Lake Richey

Day4 this is what we don't know yet
Can stay at Chickenbone
Can stay at McCargoe (did this last year, would rather skip it)
Can stay at Birch Island
I guess this all depends on weather, if its good we may even continue on to Pickeral
Day5 Depends on Day 4
Day6 Lane cove
Day7 Lane cove to RH
RH to CH

Couple questions we did the second half of this last year but I can't remember how long it took us to get from Lane to RH
Do you guys think its risky to stay that far away on the departure day?

I can't wait!!!!

Chris
Last edited by colvinch on Mon Aug 17, 2009 11:02 am, edited 2 times in total.
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Re: August 3-9 2009 trip #2

Post by Ingo »

colvinch wrote: Couple questions we did the second half of this last year but I can't remember how long it took us to get from Lane to RH
Do you guys think its risky to stay that far away on the departure day?
My "casual effort", but "no major hangup" estimate is 6 1/4 hrs. That's averaging 2.2 mph paddling and .5 mph portaging (assumes 2 trips across so 3 times the distance). Also added an extra hour to rest on the Duncan/Tobin portage. My estimates have been pretty accurate for family trips and "old-man" trips, but you certainly can do better (the "he-man" trips :) )
22: BI-PC-BI-RH, 21: RH-ML-DF-MB-DF, 18: MC-PC-BI-DB-RH-DF, 17: WI-IM-SB-FL-WC, 16: RH-CI-TI-RH, 14: BI-ML-CI-CH-MB, 13: RH-PI, 12: MC-CB-HL-TH, 11: WC-HC-WC, 09: MC-BI-DN-RH, 05: MI-CI-MB-DF-RH-TM-RH, 02: MC-LR-WL-CH, 01: BI-DB-RH, 79: worked RH
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Re: August 3-9 2009 trip #2

Post by colvinch »

Just got our tickets for the queen in the mail....wooohoooo
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Re: August 3-9 2009 trip #2

Post by colvinch »

dates have changed once again now we are going July 31-August 6, wouldn't be a trip unless we changed the dates multiple times
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Re: July 31-August 6, 2009 trip #2

Post by Kevinl »

My preference for Day 4 is Chickenbone. If you're fishing with a boat it can be great fun. The other two spots could be fun as well, but McCargoe gets crowded and by the time you get to Birch it could be taken and you would have to backtrack. You can't go wrong with any of them.

Have fun.
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Re: July 31-August 6, 2009 trip #2

Post by colvinch »

In one week I will be in copper harbor not sleeping.

We still haven't figured out where we are going yet on half of the days, so it will be a real adventure
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Re: August 3-9 2009 trip #2

Post by Buckwheat »

colvinch wrote:dates have changed once again now we are going July 31-August 6, wouldn't be a trip unless we changed the dates multiple times
Chris,

We are doing about half of your trip in the opposite direction. We are taking the water taxi to McCargoe Cove on Aug 2 and then through the lakes to Chippewa Harbor. If you see two couples in cedar strip canoes heading in the opposite direction of yourself, say hello.

Do you really get tickets for the Queen in the mail? I made reservations in January and have receipts, but no tickets.

Bill
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Re: July 31-August 6, 2009 trip #2

Post by colvinch »

will do, have fun on your trip, we will probably cross paths between richey and mccargo.

I got a reciept mailed to me from the ferry service that shows 2 adults and 1 canoe on it. I think you check in at the store in the morning and you will be all set....this is from the Queen in copper harbor
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Re: July 31-August 6, 2009 trip #2....TRIP REPORT****

Post by colvinch »

Made it to Isle Royale via the Queen IV from Copper Harbor July 31, nice calm morning (next day was 6-10 footers, even the crew was puking)

Day 1:CH-RH-CH-Lake Whit
Beautiful morning inRock Harbor, just enough time to move stuff from one dock to the next to catch the water taxi.
A nice 45 minute ride down to Chippewa Harbor, as we entered the Harbor a eagle was perched on it's next in the biggest tree on our right. Unload once again and reload the canoes. Decided to take a little stroll down the harbor to the old school house (***very nice job on the construction work***). Very neat little building. After getting our gear packed up we decided to head over to Lake Whitlessy. Very tough paddle on Chippewa Harbor a bit of wind leads to slow paddling. Made our way across to our first portage....0.6 miles a little rough for the first one and my pack weighed 55lbs. Short 1.5 mile paddle turned long with all the wind to the Lake Whit campground. Beautiful spot we got the middle one in the birch grove. Set up camp and made 1st dinner. After dinner and water duty we headed out on the lake. I ended up with 9 walleye, I used the ole jig-curlytail-tipped with a minnow (I used Berkley fake minnows, they work great and only came off 1 time). Biggest walleye was 17 1/2" and was caught on a Rapala X-rap. Cleaned these guys up and had 2nd dinner...yumm.
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Day 2:Lake Whit to Intermediate
Wife woke me up at about 6:30 telling me we needed to get out of the tent. Just then a nice size branch smacked the top of the tent and then I was really awake, got out the rain gear and got out of the birch grove. The fog and rain disappeared after about an hour and things dried up and warmed up a bit, quick trip for walleye breakfast left us empty handed and eating oatmeal.
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Packed up and started heading for our next destination of Intermidate Lake. Fairly easy paddle into the wind and very nice portage. Got to Wood Lake and then the wind picked up and our easy paddle turned very difficult. We ended up at the opening of the channell between Wood Lake and Siskwit and decided it was too rought to try at the moment. We had lunch a pitched some lures and had a nice afternoon sitting in the sun....then we decided to "go for it", this was a fairly bad decision, once we got the point of no return we found out why it can be tough to cross Siskwit. We had 2 and 3 footers to deal with. Not horrible but made a tough paddle. Our friends got pushed into shore and hung up for about 3 hours before it calmed down enough for them to make the rest of the paddle. While waiting for them we got to see our first and second moose of the trip. A cow moose and calf crossed from the island we were on to the main land where are frineds were at they crossed within 20 feet of where they were sitting. We made it though after a long day of stress and hard work. Dinner in the tent at 10pm, however our friends could only get to the portage on Intermediate we would meet up the next morning.
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Day 3:Intermidiate Lake to Lake Richey

To be continued
Last edited by colvinch on Tue Aug 18, 2009 9:51 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: July 31-August 6, 2009 trip #2....TRIP REPORT****

Post by colvinch »

Day 3: Intermediate to Richey
Short and sweet paddle from the campground to the portage (campground is nice, small and not easy to get in and out)
Portage was a bit difficult, kind of long with a lot of ups and downs (and over a tree). Make it to beautiful Lake Richey and it's just a short paddle with the wind on our backs to the canoe campground....very nice area here. We were in the one all the way to the left (south side I think) with a nice access to the lake. I really like this lake, the loons, ducks, eagles and otters have it made here. We set up camp and then went out fishing for pike. As soon as I get the pole in the rod holder it gets bent in half, pow 1st pike to the boat. Get him off and put it back in the holder....pow pike number 2. I ended up with 7 or 8 and we cleaned 4 for dinner. New regs on pike.....30" and over throw back...no minimum size for keepers....we ate well.
Absolutely beautiful to listen to the loons protect their territory while the full moon rose over the lake...that one will stick with me for some time. Off to bed early because we have a long day ahead to get to.....hmmmm
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****For those that were wondering about bugs...I bought a thermocell before the trip and I will be the first to say that I'm a believer, this campsite was loaded with skeeters and once we got the Thermocell out they went bye-bye. I went to get something out of my pack which was about 20 feet away and I got mugged, got back in the circle of death and no bugs...I'm a believer and this happend at 3 different campsites.

Day 4: Lake Richey to Pickeral Cove
So we still hadn't made up our minds on where night 4 was going to be, best case scenario we make it to Pickeral Cove, worst case, McCargo. We started out about 9am (a little late not due to me, but some people decided as we were leaving they needed to pump 4 liters of water) So I fished and caught a nice pike.
The portaging went very nice and got the most thimbleberries of the trip between one of those lakes (LaSage and Livermore I think). That is where we ran into a guy without boots on I asked you are going to do this portage bare feet???? He said he didn't have a choice he lost his boots...wow and they were planning on making it to Caribou (started at Pickeral). Picked up one 29" pike in Chickenbone and made it all the way up to Birch Island, no shelter and the lake was calm so we decided it was best to keep paddling and make it to Pickeral Cove. Nice paddle in the big lake and we made it just in time for dinner (pike and Spaghetti. Very beautiful sunset with a nice seagull keeping us compandy then a nice 3some of loons came in to say hi for a minute. The best sunset I think I hve ever enjoyed, the sounds of the birds mixed with the waves, very calming...I slept well that night until my wife woke me up and made check on the canoes, she heard some waves and figured they were going out to sea with our ride...no Chance.
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Day 5: Pickeral Cove to Belle Isle
Last edited by colvinch on Tue Aug 18, 2009 9:53 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: August 3-9 2009 trip #2

Post by colvinch »

Buckwheat wrote:
colvinch wrote:dates have changed once again now we are going July 31-August 6, wouldn't be a trip unless we changed the dates multiple times
Chris,

We are doing about half of your trip in the opposite direction. We are taking the water taxi to McCargoe Cove on Aug 2 and then through the lakes to Chippewa Harbor. If you see two couples in cedar strip canoes heading in the opposite direction of yourself, say hello.

Do you really get tickets for the Queen in the mail? I made reservations in January and have receipts, but no tickets.

Bill

Bill I did see you...dang it, I thought you were a solo canoe...couldn't remember. I was one of the couples (metal canoe) at the Chickenbone portage that commented on your beautiful canoe.
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Re: July 31-August 6, 2009 trip #2....TRIP REPORT****

Post by colvinch »

Day 5: Pickeral Cove to Belle Isle
Nice easy paddle with some good wind on our backs again. Made a short paddle really short. Got in to Belle about noon, got a shelter in the back and set up shop...wooohoooo. Lunch at a picnic table....what the???? Spent all day kicking around the harbor and fishing off the point. Turned in early and got some reading done...which made me make a decision about our last day 2 days on IR. We were nearing the end of our food, just enought for breakfast, lunch and dinner and fuel was very low...eventhough our friends had us covered we were still not too comfortable with exactly enough food to get us through. So camp one more night in Duncan Harbor or go on?????
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Day 6: Belle Isle to
Woke up at 6am, just enough time to bust on over to the bluff and watch the sunrise.....BEAUTIFUL. I have seen the sun rise many many times but this has to be the best I have ever seen.
So I talk to my wife about what to do today, I give her the options and then I have to go and ask our friends. All I had to do was mention cheeseburgers and everyone is on board...we are heading to rock Harbor.
Make our way over all the portages, spot a group of 11 loons hanging out...I found this very odd, 2 or three I have seen but never 11.
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We do the "crazy" portage Duncan to Tobin...piece of cake and then we are back to Rock Harbor, steal a shelter and sit back and start to take it all in. From Belle to Roch Harbor it only took us 4 hrs and that is taking our time with wind at our backs.
Get a nice shower and then we are off to the Cafe for cheeseburgers and Bells beer....YUMMMMMMMM.
went to the ranger show that nice and then off to find moose (2 sets of twins in Rock Harbor area) we didn't see any. But in the process of looking we saw a rainbow, the sunset and the moon rise. What a complete day and it all started at 6am with the sunrise.
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Last edited by colvinch on Tue Aug 18, 2009 9:56 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: July 31-August 6, 2009 trip #2....TRIP REPORT****

Post by colvinch »

Day 7: Rock Harbor
Started the morning off with proper coffee and a nice omelette. Got around and headed up to Scoville Point to break up the day. Great, easy hike, we saw a lot of beautiful flowers and wildlife and had a nice time watching an otter play in the water and then clean him self, only to go back in the water and do it all over again. Made our way back after taking nearly 100 pictures and got our gear around just in time to board the Queen IV and head back to the mainland. On our way back down from Copper harbor we call the Ambassador bar and ordered 2 pizzas for take out....BRILLIANT
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All around this was an amazing trip and I will repeat this loop again next year, only difference is I will skip the tough water and wait it out. I wish I was back there right now instead of sitting infront of this computer, it was really nice to unplug for a week. Take Care

Chris

Will post pics as soon as I can get them up on photobucket
Last edited by colvinch on Tue Aug 18, 2009 9:58 pm, edited 2 times in total.
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Re: July 31-August 6, 2009 trip #2....TRIP REPORT****

Post by moss13 »

Nice report. Sounds like a great trip. You put on some miles on that route. So it sounds like you have been caught by the cry of the loon. My favorite sound to hear at night on canoe trips. Sounds like you hit the jackpot on Whittlesey with the walleyes. That is great.

So I am trying to figure out how that guy lost his boots! That is crazy. I know the foxes on the island can be bold who knows.

Strong winds always add "excitement" to any canoe trip.

Look forward to the pictures. Thanks for sharing.
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Re: July 31-August 6, 2009 trip #2....TRIP REPORT****

Post by DonNewcomb »

moss13 wrote:So I am trying to figure out how that guy lost his boots! That is crazy. I know the foxes on the island can be bold who knows.
The story implied that he was traveling by boat. It's possible that they went overboard somehow.
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