Isle Royale Forums

Fingers crossed, restrictions will ease up in 8-12 weeks. We'll see.

I think that being spread out over the least visited national park is an excellent social distancing strategy.

The best advice I ever saw about camping with kids was to start off easy and go slow. Otherwise you risk making the whole experience miserable, and they may end up rejecting the idea altogether. This is a long-term investment: my son first went car camping as a baby, overnight backpacking when he wa...

I figured they rented a canoe in Rock Harbor when they took the water taxi down to Malone Bay, but couldn't figure out where they could find a ranger to "drive" them back to the lodge. Have some roads gone in lately?

I've been using a Coleman Peak 1 backpacking stove for the past six years. No problems. Not bad for about $20.

If I remember correctly, the wood planks are about a foot off the ground.

Only the campgrounds along the shore/with docks have outhouses that are stocked with TP (though they can run out).

The portage from Chippewa Harbor to Whittlesey isn't fun, but at least it's pretty short. The trail is filled with boulders that you need to snake around, while climbing and descending two small ridges -- not too much fun with a canoe on your shoulders. The Whittlesey to Wood Lake trail is mostly fl...

Thanks! So about how far is it from the dock to where we can put the canoe into Chickenbone Lake?

Has anyone been on the McCargoe Cove to Chickenbone Lake portage recently? I'm wondering if it is possible to paddle to the end of the cove and up the creek to the portage trail, or if we would be better off just carrying our canoe from the McCargoe Cove dock.

We stay at the Outpost Motel, about 10 minutes north of Grand Marais. Inexpensive (about $80 for a room with two twin beds), basic, and doesn't tend to fill up in the summer (but get a reservation).

Okay, we all share the goal of getting our gear to the least weight possible.

But if you could add one luxury item, weighing less than a pound or two, what would it be?

To start the ball rolling, mine is a Thermarest Trekker chair. 10 ounces of pure luxury for the backside.

Natrapel is our favorite bug spray -- works well and isn't oily like DEET. Haven't had a need for permethrin. We bring rain pants for rain, walking through wet vegetation, and to serve as a back-up pair of pants if our pants get soaked. I bring a fleece -- nice for cool/cold mornings (can be in high...

My experience: a 7-day trip for two, boiling water/cooking pasta for 2 meals a day, plus frying fish once or twice, uses just over one 8 ounce isobutane/propane canister of fuel. Best rule I've heard on this: If you take one canister, you'll run out of fuel. If you take two, you won;t need the second.

Ditto on Bear Track Outfitters in Grand Marais. We just rented a 42# kevlar canoe from them last week. Heavenly on the portages. And they'll fix you up with everything you need to carry it on top of your vehicle. Another (less expensive) option is to rent a heavy aluminum canoe (over 90#?) at the Gr...