TR: late July 2019 - McCargoe to RH with a 6-year-old

Reports or links to reports on trips.

Moderator: Tom

Post Reply
clueless_newbie
NewbieCake
Posts: 3
Joined: Mon Apr 01, 2019 8:15 am

TR: late July 2019 - McCargoe to RH with a 6-year-old

Post by clueless_newbie »

This was our first time on the island, and indeed our first real backpacking trip. It was amazing!

Day 1
Rented a cabin in Grand Portage the night before. Voyageur II from Grand Portage to McCargoe Cove. We set up in one of the shelters (much nicer than expected, by the way, having seen the ones on the Appalachian Trail) and took a day hike out to Minong Mine. Spent the evening dipping our feet in the water at the dock and having pleasant conversations with fellow travelers.

Day 2
Hiked McCargoe to Lake Richie (about 6 miles) with a stop at W Chickenbone for lunch. Kiddo did much better than expected! LR campground was deserted--we were the only ones there. Sat on the rocks and watched the sun set over Lake Richie. Kept scanning the shore hoping to see a moose, but it was not to be. It rained overnight so we had to pack up a wet tent.

Day 3
Lake Richie to Moskey Basin--about 2 miles. We got a shelter right on the lake, and it was sunny, breezy and cool. Was able to hang all our wet stuff to dry. Rained again overnight. Was awfully nice not to have to put away a wet tent! Wild blueberries growing right next to the shelter. We saw loons with chicks, a red-breasted merganser mom with a huge brood following her around, and a red fox.

Day 4
Moskey to Daisy Farm, about 3 miles. Wife had food poisoning or a stomach bug so she slept until late morning. Noticed most hikers get going very early in the morning and try to secure a site at the next campground by early afternoon--easier said than done with a small child in tow. Even so, Daisy Farm still had plenty of open shelters when we got there around dinner time. The trails over bare rock are marked with cairns, but we lost the trail about 1/2 mile west of DF. We THOUGHT we might be on a trail, but it became increasingly obvious we weren't as it got narrower and narrower and we stepped over more and more downed trees. I suspect it may have been a moose trail, as there were spots along the path where grass was flattened as if a moose had laid on it.

The bugs (mostly mosquitoes and deer flies) at the Daisy Farm campground were the worst we saw on the trip, but were easily controlled with bug spray and long sleeves. We had the unique privilege of meeting Candy and Rolf Peterson, the scientists running the wolf/moose study. They were doing a talk at the campground in the evening. Highly recommend talking with them if you get the chance!

Day 5
Daisy Farm to Rock Harbor, a little over 7 miles. We knew this would be hard on the kid, but there were lots of interest points along the way, and this gave him small milestones to look forward to. We stopped at Three Mile for a long lunch break, and at Suzys Cave. The promise of a real flush toilet and a restaurant meal was a great motivator for him as we neared the finish. We checked in at Rock Harbor Lodge, showered, and had a mediocre but non-backpacking-food dinner at Greenstone Grill.

Day 6
Slept in late in real beds at the lodge, then putzed around the Rock Harbor area to read all the plaques, check out the tiny visitor center, etc. Went out to hike the Stoll Trail loop after lunch, but the kiddo decided he had to poop about 1/4 mile of the way out, so wife took him back to the lodge and I finished the hike alone. After I got back to the lodge, I stayed with kid & wife went out to hike the loop by herself. Met someone by the lodge who saw a moose at the Rock Harbor campground within the hour. We hadn't seen a moose in the backcountry so I went with the kid to check it out. Sure enough, not 20 paces from one of the latrines was a huge bull moose! When wife returned from the hike I told her, and she ran out there & got to see it too.

Day 7
Got up early for the Voyageur II back to Grand Portage--a long boat ride followed by a long drive home. Two nights at the lodge was super expensive, but if we'd only done one, we wouldn't have been able to truly unwind and decompress, hike the Stoll loop, and see the moose, so I think it was worth it.

General observations:
Bugs were hardly a problem. I treated one outfit for each of us with permethrin, but even when I wasn't wearing it, the bugs weren't bad. Mosquitoes came out in the evening, but 30% DEET spray was enough to keep them from biting. Daisy Farm had deer flies, but the spray kept them away too. It was cool enough for long sleeves and pants in the evenings, and that helped a lot too.

I packed heavy because I had that luxury; we kept the average daily mileage really low because of our kid, so I knew I could get away with a heavier pack. For food, we had French-pressed coffee and steel-cut oatmeal with flax meal, cranberries, brown sugar, and chopped walnuts every morning. Lunch was granola bars, trail mix, and dried apricots/plums/etc. Dinners were MREs (I had a bunch because I'm in the Army Reserve and people tend to throw them out & eat junk food instead, so it doesn't take long to get a good collection; I disassembled them before leaving & only packed what I knew we'd eat). We also brought nearly twice as much food as we ended up eating, mostly because we were anxious about the kid always having plenty to eat. I also ended up repacking and carrying most of my wife's pack weight on the day she got sick. That didn't feel great, but it was also only about a 3 mile hike, and she ended up feeling much better the following morning.

The food at the Rock Harbor restaurants was not very good, and very expensive. The 12" pizza, for example, appears to be a frozen cheese pizza that has various toppings added on and sells for $12-14. The hummus wraps were OK but nothing to write home about. The pancakes were on par with a Perkins or Dennys. The price tag is understandable because of the remote location, but the leftover oatmeal we cooked on the deck of our room ended up being the best meal we ate in Rock Harbor.

The kid did much better than expected! He hardly complained at all on the trails, and genuinely enjoyed being out in the wilderness. He carried his own backpack, but it was just his school bag with a few toys and books in it. He did a great job of keeping himself entertained at the campsites, but we did cheat a bit and bring an old phone that I'd loaded some movies onto, just in case he got too bored or miserable. I also brought a 10W solar panel and a GoalZero Venture 70 battery pack to charge my phone (for maps/brochures/offline Wikipedia/GPS/workout tracking/etc), the kid's movie player, and the wife's Garmin watch. These added substantially to the weight and I'd probably leave them behind next time.

I'd been hoping to do this trip for years now. All in all, everything went according to plan and it was a perfect vacation!
bobcat
Bushwacker
Posts: 204
Joined: Wed Jan 14, 2015 11:39 am
Been thanked: 1 time

Re: TR: late July 2019 - McCargoe to RH with a 6-year-old

Post by bobcat »

Sounds like you had a great trip for your family!
johnhens
Forum Moderator
Posts: 1993
Joined: Wed Oct 03, 2007 4:10 pm
Isle Royale Visits: 34
Location: Big Rock, IL
Has thanked: 56 times
Been thanked: 112 times

Re: TR: late July 2019 - McCargoe to RH with a 6-year-old

Post by johnhens »

What did your son think of the moose?
torpified
IR Expert
Posts: 594
Joined: Wed Apr 20, 2016 4:06 pm
Isle Royale Visits: 6
Location: Ann Arbor, MI
Has thanked: 238 times
Been thanked: 120 times
Contact:

Re: TR: late July 2019 - McCargoe to RH with a 6-year-old

Post by torpified »

What an awesome trip and a lucky son! I also like having a layover day at the end to decompress and deepen my appreciation of oatmeal. Out of curiosity, have you gauged how much less the stripped-down MREs weigh compared to their original versions?
clueless_newbie
NewbieCake
Posts: 3
Joined: Mon Apr 01, 2019 8:15 am

Re: TR: late July 2019 - McCargoe to RH with a 6-year-old

Post by clueless_newbie »

johnhens wrote: Mon Aug 05, 2019 6:45 am What did your son think of the moose?
He was pretty excited to finally see one after we talked it up for nearly a week! There's not much in the world that will still stop a kid dead in their tracks and inspire real awe, but this was such a moment.
clueless_newbie
NewbieCake
Posts: 3
Joined: Mon Apr 01, 2019 8:15 am

Re: TR: late July 2019 - McCargoe to RH with a 6-year-old

Post by clueless_newbie »

torpified wrote: Mon Aug 05, 2019 10:12 am What an awesome trip and a lucky son! I also like having a layover day at the end to decompress and deepen my appreciation of oatmeal. Out of curiosity, have you gauged how much less the stripped-down MREs weigh compared to their original versions?
I didn't think to weigh them, but it's probably marginal. There's some extra plastic packaging, a chemical heater, stuff like tobasco sauce and instant coffee, and other particularly unhealthful stuff that I left behind, but I suspect most of the weight is moisture. The main advantage of unpacking the MRE was the space it saved in the backpack. Also, some of them (taco pasta, cheese tortellini) are actually pretty tasty :P
newb2019
NewbieCake
Posts: 36
Joined: Sun Feb 24, 2019 11:10 pm
Isle Royale Visits: 1
Has thanked: 1 time

Re: TR: late July 2019 - McCargoe to RH with a 6-year-old

Post by newb2019 »

Wow! Sounds like a great trip. We stayed in a Windigo cabin with our family, including 5 year old. Maybe next year we'll aim for some backpacking.
User avatar
dcclark
May actually live on IR
Posts: 385
Joined: Fri Aug 11, 2017 1:39 pm
Isle Royale Visits: 4
Location: Grand Rapids, MI
Has thanked: 156 times
Been thanked: 133 times
Contact:

Re: TR: late July 2019 - McCargoe to RH with a 6-year-old

Post by dcclark »

Glad you made it to the island -- sounds like you had a great trip. You'll be back! :)
Post Reply