Cloud's Rest from the Tioga Pass road climbs about 1800 feet, sometimes over very rough trail, over 7 miles, one way. If you can dayhike that without plunging irrevocably into despair (or Tenaya canyon), you should be able to manage any of the individual days on your itinerary, provided your pack ...

Monument Rock that is correct! It's along the trail up to Lookout Louise from Hidden Lake Dock. My first inkling of its existence came from a framed olde tyme ferry service advertisement that was hanging in the Rock Harbor Lodge common area. When I saw it with my own eyes, I found it less imposing ...

This very low-quality image is from this past July:

@Kelly: ooooo---I don't think I've seen or heard tell of those. I'd say that I was stumped, only all the trees in the picture are intact. So: I'm going to guess in the vicinity of Daisy Farm, just because there seems to be a lot of vestigial infrastructure there. It's not a great guess though: the ...

this is a guess---I haven't been exactly there, just there-ish. Is it the powderhouse at Senter Point?

+1 for seeing at night!

"thorough hike" is WAAAAAY better than what I was about to suggest: A Minong Omnium --- or a Minongium for short (not that shortening anything is a desideratum!).

Thanks for the report on what sounds like a very soothing visit! Just reading about it lowered my blood pressure. Until I got to this, which sent my heart racing with excitement: There is a brick oven type structure at that shelter. Could Belle Isle be the location of my oft-fantasized IR pop up ...

my linguistic intuitions resemble dcclark's: thru hikes are continuous routes, with canonical acronyms; when they traverse wilderness areas, they're often criss-crossed by "lesser" trails; thru-hikes are the interstates and the 'lesser" trails are the blue highways. On IR, it's all blue highway!

fantastic! Even without the white-collared mother and calf (whom the NPS evidently detailed to shadow you), a trip rich in wildlife. I was curious about the cooperative merganser fishing effort: did they share the fish they caught, or was it every duck for itself?

Thanks for the fantastic report---it seems like that might be about as good as a trip with more syringe sightings than moose sightings can be! My usual pattern is to visit before things ramp up in May, but you've got me considering September as another option. I'm probably not the only reader keen ...

What a fantastic write-up! Not only did I relish following along, I learned a lot. E.g., I’d never processed before that the ridges on IR slope south. Thanks from another bro-weary alum of campsite #3 at Feldtmann Lake!

it looks great! I find the MCC-CH walk, which traverses the length of the Indian Portage Trail, particularly satisfying. If you do spend a layover day at MCC, and have energy after exploring the mine, I bet you'd enjoying venturing far enough down the Minong Ridge trail to get a taste of the rhythms ...

four+ other ways to see that end of the Greenstone: -water taxi to Hidden Lake, walk back to RH -Sandy tour to HL, walk back to RH -canoe to HL, out-and-back to Lane Cove junction -(if a collaborator can be found) hitch a ride to HL on a canoe someone else is paddling back to RH, walk back to RH ...

Portages too, Kelly? That complicates the logistics considerably---but maybe if you recruit companions who are paddlers, you can hitch (and help with portaging!) for part of their trips. I didn't even know there were passage island trails---I guess I've never fully unfolded the NatGeo map. A very ...