when crossing the back of a feeder creek for a small pond, a couple of our party members became stuck in the deep mud. The hiking staff helped me pull them out by various means.


Yikes! The application soft-pedalled the quagmire aspect of the project. Now I'm looking forward to the ladle ...

Thanks, that's superhelpful! I'm already looking forward to the bucket/ladle shower.

I'm also curious about your preference for a walking staff. Is part of it that then you have a hand free for navigational aids?

My Moosewatch application was accepted! (The admissions committee must have let their guard down.) It's for trip #1, which means I'll be on the first boat over to IR from Grand Portage. I'm hoping to keep a trip journal (without too much moose gore on it) to post here afterward.

In the meantime ...

I’ve applied! The application asks for a *detailed* account of a recent backpacking trip—my answer included a link to one of my trip reports here!

I'm afraid this isn't a recipe but a question: the dutch ovens I know---large ceramic pots appropriate both for stovetop and oven---aren't exactly ultralight. Is there an outdoorsy version of dutch oven, or are you waaaaaay more committed to eating well on IR trips than I am?

Name: Laura
Email: message me here!
Hometown: Ann Arbor
Arrival Date: mid-May
Departure Date: a week later
Coming From/Via: Copper Harbor
Itinerary: under construction, but the organizing principle will be campgrounds I haven't stayed at yet
Notes/Other: it's been a few years since I've had a proper ...

FKTs come and go, but making it to the grill in time for a burger is forever!

I know you’re running now, but I’m curious whether 3) came through for you. (It’s the one I would have expected to.) It’s a very brief detour from there, one I invariably take by accident, to Chickenbone Lake.

How did the run go??

Also, it’s wouldn’t be weird if the wolves found them somewhat off-putting!

That sounds amazing! Do you reckon it was the SAME beaver who swam by once a day, or do you think they were working in shifts? (The night I spent at Feldtmann Lake, I had a similar question about the moose.)

Does anyone know whether previous generations of IR wolves raided the garbage? I also wonder whether bear canisters are going to join the list of approved storage methods. (There’s apparently a bear in the NE part of Yosemite who’s figured out how to get into a bear canister. But since her method ...

If you do make it S Desor the first night, consider W Chickenbone for the second, then 3 mile (via the Greenstone Ridge) for the third. Two advantages:

-the stretch of the GRT between the Daisy Farm and Mt Franklin junctions is outstanding—-you’re really up on an open ridge (that said, the shore ...

Awesome! (Except the apocalyptic black fly hatch, of course.). What kind of packraft were you using, and how did it handle in the Superior waters??

How flexible are your dates and your budget? There's a lodge in Rock Harbor you could stay in for one of the nights---pending availability. Only it shutters itself for the season on September 10. If you moved your dates up to Sept 7-9, that might be an option, though.

Sticking with the same dates ...

I've signed up!