RedLeg wrote: ↑Tue May 30, 2023 7:06 pm That's a beautiful picture

Thanks -- he marched back and forth so much that I had time to practice.

Yep, seriously. Two young bulls were walking up and down the beach and through the campsites morning and evening. We thought of you guys! It's the only place we saw any moose on our trip.

Sounds like we just missed out on some fun times at Siskiwit. I second/third the feeling of there being more inexperienced hikers on the island. I commented to my wife that going this early, you usually meet people who know what they are getting into... Later I had to edit: Or, you met those who hav...

Looks like our paths never crossed, dcclark. Maybe another time. I'm pretty sure we spent a very pleasant evening telling stories around the fire pit at Siskiwit! I just didn't put two and two together until later. Oh my gosh! That was you and your wife? So, I guess we did cross paths! How awesome ...

Backpacker534 wrote: ↑Tue May 30, 2023 5:31 pm Looks like our paths never crossed, dcclark. Maybe another time.

I'm pretty sure we spent a very pleasant evening telling stories around the fire pit at Siskiwit! I just didn't put two and two together until later.

I checked out that powder house on my trip as well. Spectacular ruins, and I'm glad to see some preservation too. I've seen successful mines on the mainland with smaller powder houses -- I wonder what possessed them to make such a large structure.

Island Mine water was definitely tea colored as of a week ago. I enjoy the fresh astringency and mild bouquet of an upland stream.

Just got back from 7 days on the west end. I'll post a trip report later, for now I thought you all might appreciate a status report. This covers the Feldtmann and Huginnin loops and Windigo as of about Memorial day 2023. General status: We had a stretch of remarkable weather. After one day of rain ...

Thanks for the trip report! I just got back from the west end too (don't think we saw each other). I second the odd amount of false info -- we heard it too. The rangers at Windigo seemed brand new this year too. I'll post some logs and notes on that later.

Yes, we've had some interesting orangish-sunlight here in lower Michigan. No smell of smoke though. I'd imagine the island has the same thing.

According to the Current Conditions page, water is on at both Rock Harbor and Windigo. Bathrooms are open too. (We head out in 4 days, so this is a pleasant surprise.)

OK! About water: Generally there are not good water sources up on the ridges (e.g. Greenstone and Minong), so you'll need to plan to carry your full water needs those days. But whenever you're near Lake Superior, you'll have no trouble getting water if you need it. That said, for the long sections, ...

Those are some very long days. I would not attempt that kind of mileage myself. Do you all have experience backpacking that kind of distance, with that much weight, on this type of terrain? (Compare it to the north shore of Minnesota, or the Porcupine Mountains.) I would strongly recommend a shorter...

Just one more voice to say: You're absolutely right that bushwhacking in that situation is a bad idea, and have identified the key reasons. If you need one more, I bushwhacked for about 1 mile south of Moskey Basin at around the same time of year -- just to get to an interesting looking spit of rock...

Be sure to say hi! I'll be carrying a bright red SWD (Superior Wilderness Designs) pack. There will be two, my wife (purple pack) and me.