Minong Trip June 2014

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JerryB
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Minong Trip June 2014

Post by JerryB »

We set out for Grand Portage on June 20, for a June 21 departure to McCargo Cove and the Minong Ridge. Don and Paul (my son) joined me. It is uncanny how it ALWAYS rains when I drive up to Grand Portage. Maybe it’s me.

Our plan was to camp at McCargo, then, Todd, Little Todd, North Lake Desor, backcountry near six mile creek, Hugginin and Windigo. Having had to cancel one Minong outing in years past because of the loss of a day due to weather, we built in one “cushion” day and were also prepared to skip the backcountry site (which we ended up skipping).

Here is a brief recap of our trip. I will try to focus on a few things that might help future hikers on this trail.

Night One: McCargo Cove. Our trip on the Voyager went without incident and we were able to grab a shelter at the site. We decided to do this rather than hike directly to Todd Harbor in the afternoon. This made our trip a bit more leisurely and allowed us to enjoy McCargo Cove. We hiked out to the Minong Mine location, about a mile up the the Minong Trail. It is well marked (by a trail marker) and worth the hike. The first thing you will see is a very large pit surrounded by a fence. It was deep enough that there was still a lot of ice at the bottom. Don’t stop there. Keep exploring the area for access to the mine itself, old tracks and huge piles of mine tailings. From the top of the tailings, there is a clear view of a pond. I was sure we would see a moose down there, but alas, nothing. That night, we enjoyed a campfire with five students and graduates from a college in the Upper Peninsula.

Night Two: Todd Harbor. We woke early and headed out to Todd Harbor. This is a relatively easy trail with enough exposure to bare-rock ridge hiking to offer a flavor of other parts on the trail. We saw no one on the trail all day and arrived to find the lone shelter was still available. We had the entire harbor to ourselves! We spent the day exploring the lakeside trail to another mine site, which was not as interesting as the Minong Mine site from the day before. While there, we could hear running water and I remebered reading about a waterfall nearby. Unfortunately, we could find no trail on which to move forward and we did not feel like bushwacking. Later, recalling a trip with the Boy Scouts, I took Don and Paul through Group Site 1 to hop around on the boulders on Lake Superior. Hike all the way through the group site, through the brush at the other side. You will find a small trail that will grant you ready access to the rocks. A great place for the sunset.

Night Three: Little Todd. An easy hike. Once, Paul, leading the trail, stopped to listen. Just then a massive bull moose trotted across our trail, about thirty yards in front of us. It paused briefly on the trail and trotted into the brush. Massive, strong and agile. Without seeing it, it is hard to imagine. For the next few minutes, we made a lot of noise; none of us wanted to surprise that creature again!

Just before the turn into Little Todd, there is an unbridged creek crossing. (Apologies. I tried to insert a picture here but it did not work.)

I had been warned about this very dangerous crossing. It is very wide (at least it was in June) with a single, “iffy” log across it. Paul balanced his way across. The log is not stable and there is clearly a risk of falling, although the water is shin deep at most. At Paul’s suggestion, the two old guys donned water/camp shoes and walked through the water. The bottom is solid and the only risk was slipping on a rock at the bottom of the creek. The water was cool and felt great! Once again, we saw no one on the trail all day and had the entire harbor to ourselves. This site has a more remote feel and we enjoyed the individual fire ring at our site that evening.

Night Four: North Lake Desor: We woke to cloudy skies and a falling baraometer. We knew this next leg was on exposed rock ridges and had been warned they would be slippery if wet. Nevertheless, not wanting to burn a “cushion” day this early in the trip, we headed out. The trail is very up and down, and up and down all over again, and a big portion is, indeed, over exposed rock ridges. All was fine until the rain hit about a third of the way along. I can assure you the rocks are very slippery when wet. It was tiring watching every step. Between that and the rain, we had almost no views from the ridges, which was a shame. I do believe hiking sticks are essential for this trip. Paul slipped and fell once, cutting up his arm. I slipped twice, catching myself, but jarring my back a bit. I also fell once, landing my chest on my hiking stick handle bruising a rib. Despite how slippery the rocks were, this leg of the trail is pretty short and I would not characterize it as the toughest on the island. In my book, the long stretch from Desor to Windigo is worse. Again, we saw no one all day and had the Lake Desor North campground to ourselves.

We were soaked to the bone. Paul and I quickly hung a tarp, so we could be out of the rain as figured out what to do. Clearly the rain was not going to stop, so we put up both tents in the rain. It was quite chilly and I changed into dry clothes as soon as I could. Around 4:30 pm, I crawled into my tent and under my quilt to try to warm up. Paul followed not long after, then Don. Paul woke at 9:30 pm shocked that we had all skipped dinner, but none of us were going to move. Rain continued. The next morning, Don yelled from tent to tent, “Hike or dry out?” It was an easy decision and we decided to spend another day at Desor. Fortunately, the day was bright, sunny and warm. We sunned ourselves on the shore line and quickly dried out our things in the sun. Paul set up his hammock and we alll enjoyed the day. Later that afternoon, a young couple, an ambitious and friendly father-son team from Indiana, Wobbly John form Ohio and two rangers doing research all showed up. For the first time in days, we shared a campground. Despite the crowd—there are only three sites—there was plenty of privacy.

Night Five: Washington Creek. We decided to skip the back country site and head straight to Windigo/Washington Creek. We figured the bugs in the middle of the forest would make the backcountry site unbearable. This is a loooong hike, about thirteen miles. Like every trail, it has tons of ups and downs. The first part of the trail (once off the access trail) is on exposed rock ridges. They were dry! It makes a big difference and we both enjoyed the views and made good time.


Based on my read of the Mike Tremblay e-book, I had the distinct impression that the rest of this leg of the trail would largely be on exposed ridges. That is not true. Plenty of ridges, but they are almost all buried in forests.

Three features of this leg stand out—the cedar swamps, the beaver dams, and the burn area. The first cedar swamp is almost—almost!—impassible without getting muddy. It involves jumping between logs, rocks and spits of dry ground. Very, very slow going. At one point, I decided I had no choice but to touch down on the muddy ground in order to push off to more solid ground. Big mistake. It is a swamp. I sunk in over my ankles and never did hit solid ground. Don and Paul made it through unscathed. The second swamp is not as large but it was certainly not dry as stated in the Tremblay book.

The beaver dams are highlighted in the Tremblay book. Despite reading about crossing beaver dams, I really did not know what to expect. It may be easier to think of crossing along the edge of a beaver pond. On one side is the pond and the water level may be level with a hiker’s chest. Along this pond is a very (very!) wet and muddy track crossed by outfalls from the pond. The track is often passable only by stepping on logs tossed haphazardly along the way. Floaters, logs too small for the space, rotten wood, wide gaps and reliance on single logs (requiring a lot of sidestepping) are common features. The hazard is water and deep mud. The third dam is by far the biggest and most hazardous. Don, Paul and I made it across without getting wet, but the smart money would have been on a different outcome.

It is worth mentioning here an important point raised in the Tremblay book. After crossing the second beaver dam, GO UPHILL. Do not go left, even though that trail looks more established. Go uphill!
The burn area is the remnants of a fire from two years ago. It is a jumbled mess and the original trail is long gone. The Park Service has done an outstanding job of flagging the best route through the burn area with colored ribbons. Oddly, they used at least three colors of ribbons. We were caught off guard by this, but all ribbons mark a single trail.

This is a very long trail. There is water at the six mile mark. Later, the trail briefly follows the flow of Washington Creek and water is accessible there as well. In the view of Don, Paul and me, this leg is harder than the Little Todd-Desor leg.

Some Final Points: The bugs were not bad. No black flies. The mosquitos were mostly an issue during stops in the woods. Early on, they were large and sluggish. Later, the smaller, more aggressive mosquitos were common. Some deet and we were fine. (OK, Paul had more issues, more bites than Don or me.) I was disappointed that almost no outhouse had TP, even those on Lake Superior. It may just have been timing. Finally, a note on equipment. I used a new Hammock Gear Burrow 40 quilt and it worked great. It weighed about 11 ounces and kept me warm on the two nights when temps hit the low forties. We used an MSR gravity filter and a Sawyer Squeeze filter. Both are easy and convenient.

I hope this write up is on some use to someone planning a trip or just wondering what to expect. Enjoy!
Last edited by JerryB on Wed Jul 02, 2014 7:45 am, edited 3 times in total.
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Rafiki
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Re: Minong Trip June 2014

Post by Rafiki »

Thanks for the trip report Jerry. I have a month and a half to go before I make it to the island and it was refreshing to hear how things went for you as I wait in anticipation for my trip ;)
343.1 Miles Hiked: 2004 (3 Days), 2010 (11 Days), 2011 (13 Days), 2012 X 2 (8 + 12 Days), 2013 (9 Days/Paddling), 2019 (30 Days/Paddling)
tree rattt
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Re: Minong Trip June 2014

Post by tree rattt »

Nice trip report.

Gotta love the quilt ! I gather by the weight that yours is a down core?I just made a quilt for myself ...synthetic though, 20 oz. How did you like it other than staying warm .Lots of freedom?My daughter loves hers...don't think she will ever go back! :)
Donk_67
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Re: Minong Trip June 2014

Post by Donk_67 »

Thanks for the report. I'm still trying to decide whether to hit the Minong for the full route or to detour from Todd to Desnor South and connect with the Feldtmann loop and your report gave me food for thought. Even though I'm sure my son and I are able bodied enough to tackle the whole Minong, I'm not convinced I want to this year.
tree rattt
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Re: Minong Trip June 2014

Post by tree rattt »

We talked to a Ranger when we were there last spring, he said that the burn area was on the list for the trail crew this season....once this gets cleared the Minong will be a lot easier :)
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Lucky Chicken
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Re: Minong Trip June 2014

Post by Lucky Chicken »

tree rattt, the trail crew they were refering too were headed out on the Minong when we were leaving windigo June 20th. We talked to a few of them, they put in some miles and work along the way!
JerryB
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Re: Minong Trip June 2014

Post by JerryB »

Thanks for the comments.

On the quilt, I am a convert. I was convinced I would have to deal with drafts as the quilt pulled off the ground on the sides. But i got the wider quilt (yes, it is down) and drafts were not an issue.

On the burn area, we spoke to two rangers who were researching the area, looking for rare plant and animal species in the area as a prelude to marking out a new trail. (We were also told by a father and son team that the current "trail" through the burn area does not follow the old trail, at least according to his GPS.) My guess is the new trail won't be done until at least next year. I would add, however, that the burn area is not especially difficult. As I mentioned in my trip report, the rangers did a fantastic job flagging the new route with ribbons. The burn area is a mess and not a great deal of fun, but no one should be deterred from the Minong because of it.
tree rattt
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Re: Minong Trip June 2014

Post by tree rattt »

I found the burn area quite interesting. The terrain through this stretch was very mild I found,but for a 6 yr old the crawling over trees was getting on her nerves. :)
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philranger
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Re: Minong Trip June 2014

Post by philranger »

Great report. My daughter and I did the Minong last year, so your report brought back a flood of memories for me. That was a tough trail, but well worth it. I'm glad I can claim I hiked it.
Isle Royale Trips: 2005-RH to Windigo via Greenstone. 2006-McCargoe Cove to Chippewa Harbor. 2007-RH to Daisy Farm and back. 2008-Feltmann loop. 2009-McCargoe Cove to Chippewa Harbor. 2013-Minong Ridge. 2014-Windigo+Huginnin Cove. 2015-Lookout Louise to LC to DF to MB. 2018-McCargoe to Todd to HL to Malone Bay. 2021-Windigo/Huginnin. 2022-RH-DF-MB-CH
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