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 ...

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 ...

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 ...

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.

i'm sure it is beautiful and i'm going to enjoy walking through so much of it.

i really don't hike fast at all. i just don't sit around because that isn't something i enjoy. i don't think spending more time moving rather than standing still precludes enjoying a beautiful place.

look at it this way ...

if i do the ridge trail on day 1 and then lane cove on the way back i'd be going back over ground already covered (perhaps only minority) wouldn't i?

not a huge deal but it strikes me as something maybe easily avoided. though making day 1 as easy as possible also seems wise.

i don't know if id ...

i'm sure IR has spectacular campsites. they might be the best campsites anywhere ever. i'm just not a camper.

speaking of camping... is there camping at windigo? i can't exactly tell from the info available on the website. for some reason it isn't listed on the mileage chart of campsites on the ...

a little more specific idea of a rough plan. thinking now of definitely going minong first

day 1 (ferry lands by noon, lets say hike starts at 1, leaving 8 hours hiking time with the late sunset)- 15.3 miles to mcargoe cove (question- thats via the shortest route, but any recommendations on best ...

thanks for the insights, especially the comparison to the whites, thats helpful to know.

my thoughts about doing greenstone first are mainly that there'd be an opportunity to bail via ferry while returning on minong if i was behind schedule. i'm not sure really how much help that would be though ...

hi all-

i'm planning a trip to isle royale to do some hiking and i'm a little confused about just how hard the hiking there is, and consequently, what i should plan for.

the NPS states "experienced backpackers should plan on 8-10 miles a day." I consider myself an experienced backpacker, having ...