IncaRoads wrote: ↑Wed Aug 23, 2023 8:36 am Nice itinerary!

Thanks! After this trip, we'll have covered most of the trails on the island. Only a couple of little sections of the Greenstone left, like between Island Mine and Windigo and from Franklin to Hidden Lake. I guess we'll have to schedule another trip to finish it up..

Maybe!

We're flying into Rock Harbor on Monday and taking a water taxi to Malone Bay. From there we're going to hatchet on Tuesday, Little Todd on Wednesday, North Desore on Thursday, Hugginin Cove on Friday and flying out of Windigo on Saturday.

Have a great trip!

Black flies usually subside in early august, and mosquitos subside toward the end of august. They are still around, but not bad. I'm heading to the island next week and will still carry deet and a bug net. I haven't used either on my last 2 trips around Labor Day.

I wouldn't skip Lane Cove. I'd stay there instead of Rock Harbor on the last night. You can easily make an 11am seaplane from there, unless your group has late sleepers or slow hikers. If you are on the trail by 7am, you should make rock harbor by 9:30am. The trail is steep up to Mt. Franklin, but n...

I'd recommend an early start when leaving Lane Cove to increase your chances of snagging a shelter at McCargo. It gets very busy there, especially at 1pm when the Voyager drops passengers. Double check the water conditions at chickenbone, an algae bloom makes for a long dry hike from LC-MCC. If you ...

Another option if you are arriving on the Voyageur II would be to take the boat on to McCargoe Cove and hike back on the Minong. You'd be on trail at 1pm Central. You could camp the first night at Todd Harbor, then choose your stops from Little Todd, North Desor and Huginnin going back. Nothing wron...

FYI, it appears this is available on Amazon Prime video.

The seaplane company will make every attempt to get you to and from the island. They don't get paid unless they do, so they'll try hard. We got delayed by fog on the water in Houghton/Hancock in 2021. It burnt off and we went about an hour late. After taking the Queen for 4 trips, it was a great to ...

Certainly doable. Just make sure you are conditioning for the trip. The hike to Daisy is very rocky/rooted, so it will work muscles that don't get worked on flat ground. You can reduce the stress by hiking out of Rock Harbor on the Tobin Harbor trail. The Hike from Daisy to McCargoe is hot and dry i...

In regard to question #2... my buddies and I both wondered the same thing. After several minutes of discussion and brainstorming, we came up with the idea that maybe it was built so railway tracks could be laid on top during the copper mining days. That would provide a stable and elevated route for...

McCargo Cove from the dock, just before sunrise on July 18, 2018

I was quite unsure about the first day especially since we'll be getting off the ferry around noon with very little sleep and possibly seasick so this is super helpful, thank you. In 4 round trips on the Queen, we only had one time when any passengers got sick. Maybe we have been lucky? The one tim...

Day 1 is a much harder hike than it looks on paper. The Rock Harbor trail is extremely rooted and rocky. It works muscles that don't get conditioned in normal hiking. You can save some wear by hiking out on the Tobin Harbor trail, it's very smooth in comparison. After 3.3 miles you'll be right back ...

Another vote for Altra trail runners. I wore a pair of Altra TIMP v1 on two trips to the island. I'd like to wear the same pair this year, but the tread is nearly smooth! I replaced them with a pair of Altra Olympus v4. I use a pair of superfeet inserts to increase the sole stiffness. The only gripe...

I'll actually be boiling 3x a day (breakfast, coffee, dinner), with 7 full days, 1 day with just dinner, and 1 day with just breakfast and coffee, so need 24 boils, which an 8oz canister might fall short of. However I just called the Rock Harbor Lodge and they said even though the Windigo Store isn...