Sounds like you had a great trip! I am planning to camp at Malone Bay, via canoe, next summer. I saw a pine martin chasing a rabbit once, and as you said the rabbit was flying through. The pine martin checked up and sized us up then took off after the rabbit again. At the time I did not know what it...

Re: double fuel for boiling drinking water, they would benefit from a good-size cooking pot too. I once busted my water filter and used boiling for a couple days to finish my trip. Boiling four liters or so of water in a 600ml cook pot takes way longer than I wanted to spend on it!

Nice time to camp at Island Mine!

Yeah, I carry a bag of odds and ends of hot drink mixes, teabags, etc. I gave him all the coffee singles, and offered him some teabags too in case he needed more caffeine. It was a dad with two kids, a full days paddle from an entry point- his first night, our last night. I like to think the caffein...

Yay!

Years ago, when I was dating a coffee-drinker, I kept Maxwell House singles around, which were accepted ok by my boyfriend who was pretty picky about a lot of things. Incidentally, I gave the last of them away to a guy who had forgotten to bring anything caffeinated on a Boundary Waters trip and con...

If anyone does decide to leave food and fuel, please give it to the rangers so it can be stored properly. Abandoned food in the shelters will just attract nuisance wildlife and make them even more human-dependent than they would be. My last year’s trip, my last night, at RH, I found 2 fuel canisters...

The old Feldtman East trail was officially abandoned about 1990. My first trip to that part of the island in 1996, the trail was still on the map, and the unmaintained boardwalks were still there but decaying, and the trail junctions were still very obvious leading to the occasional hiker mistakenly...

yah, Torp is an English professor or something like that, she knows her grammar and would not make that mistake by accident..........

I can address some of your questions. Camping at Copper Harbor - Ft. Wilkins State Park is close by. There is a municipal campground in Houghton/Hancock that I have stayed at when taking the Ranger III from Houghton. Plus Houghton/Hancock has a lot of churches. With a group permit, your campsites ar...

W. Chickenbone to Moskey = straightforward. Moskey -Daisy Farm is an unexpectedly rough 3.5 miles or so, up and down off rock outcroppings, little shade, etc. This will be at the end of your day. As long as you know that, and manage your energy accordingly. I've met many hikers who are exhausted and...

Everclear, some dried fruit, and Gatorade Fruit punch flavor mix=Quite a cocktail!

Yup, I had to make a trip to a neighboring state to buy 190-proof Everclear to take on a ferry that does not allow flammable liquids or gasses, to visit Dry Tortugas National Park and camp overnight. They encourage campers to bring charcoal for cooking and allow consumable alcohol of any kind and qu...

Another possibility, and this will likely be my next backpacking trip, is to go Windigo-Feldtman Lake your first day, then overnights at Siskiwit Bay, South Desor, Hatchet Lake, North Desor and Windigo. This uses the Hatchet Lake Cut-Off trail to hike the western part of the Minong, while hiking the...

Lol. Our faculty meetings have been, and will continue to be, virtual. Flapping arms might not even be seen, as our platform seems to work best with video off for all but the meeting chair, if there’s more than about 4 people in the meeting.