3 night canoe trip with 3 kids-- Reporting back!

[mdougher74]

Dear Freinds I haven't met yet,

My family is making a three night trip to the Isle this Tuesday through Friday. My boys are 4, 6, and 8, and are experienced campers and good hikers. My wife and I are young and fit, and hopefully wise! I'd greatly appreciate your guidance. We are looking to rent a canoe and we plan to use it as our primary means of transport. the best trip would be one that gives us some flexibility, allowing us to canoe to campsites and if we want, take some time for hiking. We don't need to see anything in particular. Portaging isn't an issue, but I like the short ones better! it would be nice to stay relatively close to the harbor (coming from MI), but far enough to feel alone. That way if we want to hike for a day we can, and don't have to worry about getting from point a to b. If we have a goal at all it is to see a moose.

Can you please suggest an itinerary? I hear about water taxis, and this sounds like a nice idea so that we don't cover the same ground twice.

looking forward to getting lost, or at least losing myself! thanks in advance!


Kindest regards,

Mike

[Ingo]

Hey Mike,

Here's some thoughts:
Simple, cheap(est), no portaging, and lots of options: Paddle Rock Harbor. There's multiple campgrounds to choose from up to 10 miles from the Rock Harbor dock where you arrive. Favorites are Caribou Island (5-6 miles) and Moskey Basin (9-10 miles). You can hike up to Mt Ojibway from Daisy Farm or Mt Franklin from Three Mile. There's the Edison Fishery and Rock Harbor Lighthouse to visit, and a researcher's cabin nearby with a collection of moose antlers. Rock Harbor is a pretty large and can get significant waves, particularly with NE and SW winds, so you need to be careful and watchful of the weather. But you do have more options for calling it a day and pulling out.

The water taxi can get you to/from multiple points on the NE end of the island, but you generally need reservations, so if you're thinking about this I'd call the lodge asap. A couple of ideas:
(a) Water taxi to Malone Bay, paddle to Chippewa Harbor, then water taxi back to R.H. There's 3 moderate portages, 4 wonderful campsites, and great fishing. No hiking trails (other than portages) except at each end. Siskiwit is a large lake and requires attention to the weather.
(b) Water taxi to Belle Isle, then paddle to R.H. I like this as a short trip, but not sure I'd want to do it with kids that young. Did it with my family w/ 2 teenage daughters though. Paddling from Belle Isle to Lane Cove is somewhat open and can get bad in the right conditions so be careful. There's 2 short portages, and then there's the portage from Duncan Bay to Tobin Harbor. It's a bear and the rental canoes aren't the most portage friendly. I allow a couple hrs for it with experience adults--talked once to a lady who did it with kayaks and very young kids and it took them 9 hrs.

There's plenty of other options, but not that I personally would consider with kids that young. Bottom line is that there really isn't a bad place to be on I.R. I think the risk is always in trying to do too much, esp. with kids, so as much as l like getting farther away myself, I'd recommend my first idea. You can push it paddling if you want, or not, and lots of interesting things. I once spent 9 unplanned days on Rock Harbor with my adult daughter who sprained an ankle (on the 1st portage). Was not at all happy at the prospect, since we had planned a rather aggressive trip, but it turned out to be great.

Have a great one yourselves!

[Ingo]

Mike,

After re-reading your post, I've been re-thinking. I guess I was thinking 2 canoes and that you and your wife were comfortable and experienced paddling with the kids (essentially solo). But you didn't say that. I think that 2 adults, 3 kids, and all your gear in a single canoe is seriously pushing the limits of safety, especially in a remote area like I.R. So I would consider renting a boat and motor instead of canoeing. That would give you all the same options in Rock Harbor/Moskey Basin, and even more so since you'd be less time constrained. Or simply water taxi with a canoe to/from the same site--in that case I'd suggest Moskey Basin or Chippewa Harbor. Those are relatively protected bodies of water that you could explore by day, and offer some hiking options (although somewhat limited with 1 trail in and out).

Let us know what you decide and give us report!

John

[johnhens]

I agree with Ingo, take a water taxi to Moskey. You can work your way back to Rock Harbor w/o portages, though i would be concerned about getting all the gear, kids, kitchen sink in one canoe.
Bring a weather radio so you can keep up on the lake conditions. Rock Harbor can get rough.

Spend a day or so at Moskey. Go to Lake Ritchie ect. Then move to Daisy, hike up to the tower ect.
Back to Rock from there.

Have fun and be safe!

[mdougher74]

Thanks guys! Your advice is greatly appreciated!

[mdougher74]

Ok guys (and very cool ladies), this is what I'm thinking. Water taxi to Chippewa Harbor with a canoe, set up camp and stay there for all three nights. From there, we can check out Chippewa Harbor, Lake Mason, and perhaps Lake Whittllesey or Lake Richie. If we get bored at Chippewa Campground perhaps we could spend a night at Whittlesey or Lake Richie Canoe. We'll have to take the water taxi back from Chippewa as well. Expensive, but as this is the first trip and going with kids, $ = comfort.

What do you think? Is this a good plan?

[Ingo]

Sounds like a good plan to me. There's a little "school house" to explore at Chippewa, and remains of an old ship (towards the Richie portage). Lake Mason is a good spot to look for moose. The Chippewa/Richie portage is one of the few I haven't done, but understand it's a little tough. The Chippewa/Whittlesey portage is not the smoothest (rocks and roots), but not too much up and down. Here's a couple pics:

From ridge behind campground

From portage to Whittlesey

[mdougher74]

Wow, what a great trip!

We are husband and wife, both 36, and three boys 4, 6, and 8.

Here is how we ended:

Day one, arrived on the Queen from Copper Harbor. Lake was glassy and dense fog. Rented the 17ft canoe and water taxied to Chippewa Harbor. Special note: Even though the canoe is rated for 5 passengers/670 lbs., the lodge refuses to rent if they think there are more than two people. We told them that we were just staying at Chippewa and would only use the canoe for side trips. Once at Chippewa we explored the lake and fished. Saw a giant 48" pike around the finger point, but no luck. That evening we hiked to Lake Mason.

Day two, rain in the morning till about 2 pm. We were going a little stir crazy, so after lunch we decided to venture out. I hadn't realized how nice the shelters were, so we decided that we would reduce our stuff to just one backpack, leave a lot of stuff behind, and try to make it to a shelter at Lake Whittlesely or Wood Lake. We made it there easy enough, but realized no shelters at those spots, and I had the mistake of leaving the tent behind! So we pressed onward. We went to Siskiwit, and then Intermediate, and finally Lake Ritchie. By the time we got to Lake Ritchie, it was about 8:30, and the skies were ominous. Rather than hope for a shelter there we decided to hike the trail back to Chippewa. After 4 portages I decided to spare myself the last one and leave the canoe behind for the night. This was our marathon day, definitely more than we had planned or would do again, but the kids were great and we got to see what we were could actually do.

Day three I hiked back with my 8 year old to Lake Ritchie, and portaged back the canoe to Chippewa. That's a long one for me, especially after being tired from the day before, but the entry point back into Chippewa Harbor is a small stream for about .5 mi. This was the most beautiful part of the trip for me. We had to take water taxi back at 2pm, a day earlier than I wanted, but the lodge made us do it for weather precautions. I made a last minute change and asked to be dropped off at 3 mile. 3 mile isn't as bad as I heard. Really nice to be on Lake Superior. After arriving and setting up camp we canoed to Suzy's cave, portaged across to Tobin Harbor, and then paddled back to the southern end near 3 mile. Left the canoe there for the night, and hiked back to 3 mile.

Day four, we hiked back to the canoe on Tobin, and paddled up to Rock Harbor, returned the canoe, got food, and hiked up about halfway to Scoville point. Ferry back and dinner at the steakhouse just outside of Marquette.

Awesome trip and we can't wait to go back next year. Saw a golden eagle and a bald eagle and my 6 year old swears he saw a wolf. No moose, which just gives us more reason to go back. On the next trip we'll definitely bring more food-- I forgot what a comfort item this is for kids (and wife!). It is easy for me to eat less, but more food would have made everyone happier! Bugs were no where near as bad as I expected. Lots of mosquitos on the portages, but we had long sleeves, pants, and head netting for all. The shelters made life really easy and comfy, we'll plan the next trip with those in mind. Next time we will bring our own canoe (looking for a 16ft OT camper or maybe a used Canadienne Kevlar) so the lodge can't tell us what not to do. No water taxis. The kids can easily handle 2 portages a day and a couple miles of hiking. As long as I'm carrying the canoe, they can keep up!

[jerry]

Enjoyed the report. Loved the pictures. You lucky guy!

[Midwest Ed]

Not to sound cliché but that looks like a bunch of happy campers. Also, it sounds like you may have set some sort of record for the largest ratio of hiking miles / paddling miles,

Next year check out the north east shores. Lot's of nice paddling there.

[johnhens]

Ambitous trip, good for you taking the kids there. I have talked to quite a few folks who got their start on Isle Royale at a young age and continue to return.
48" Northern, I am jealous!

[Ingo]

Thanks for the report. Sounds like you're good at improvising! Doing 3 Mile the last night was a great idea. We had some big pike swimming under the canoe in that same area of Chippewa, but they wouldn't bite either. Maybe next time