Malone Bay vs. Todd Harbor

[Donk_67]

Hello all, excitedly planning my second trek on IR late August 2014.

I'm planning a West end trip (Windigo) this time. Right now, I'm debating between a visit to Todd Harbor or Malone Bay. Mileage would be comparable from S. Lake Desnor. Any feed back as to which site merits my visit would be appreciated.

Thanks for your input.

[Midwest Ed]

Welcome to the forums, Donk.

I will come clean up front that Todd Harbor is my favorite campground. I'm a bit unusual in that regard as there are a few other campgrounds that generally top people's list. I am partial to campgrounds on Lake Superior and also love sunsets. TH provides the best of both as it is slightly elevated above the lake. If you're a morning person or are more partial to sunrises then MB probably takes that edge.

Is the choice going to be a one night stay or a destination? They both allow 3 consecutive night stays. TH only has one shelter while MB has 5. The Todd Harbor choice offers more options as there are other close-by campgrounds regarding your stay or return to Windigo.

I haven't seen any published nights stayed data but at TH you will probably see more hikers while at MB you will probably see more paddlers and boaters. The dock at TH only offers a rated draft of 2 feet and is smaller than the MB dock. It would surprise me to see any boaters at TH. MB does have Siskiwit Lake and a small stream and miniature falls several inches high that empties Siskiwit Lake into Lake Superior. During the regular season there is a Park Ranger stationed at MB.

How many total days have you allocated for the trip? Have you considered taking the Greenstone Ridge to TH and then returning on the Minong? There are all kinds of possibilities. You can also arrange for the Voyageur II to pick you up at MB.

[LeftOvers]

Midwest Ed has summed it up pretty well. I'll just add that at Malone Bay, you see the light from the lighthouse from most shelters every night there isn't a heavy fog. I guess it's classic Lake Superior but it altered my sense of wildness of the island while I was there.

MB has 5 shelters and 2 group sites - there are no tent sites.

[fonixmunkee]

YAAAWN

Donk! Your post has awoke my slumbering forums account, and I'm now posting! Thank you! And welcome to the IR forums.

Ditto both MidwestEd & LeftOvers' posts. Like most of IR, you really can't go wrong. Here's my experiences for each camp site, and the trail to each:

Todd Harbor: I've had two incredible trips to Todd Harbor. The first time, it rained quite a bit as we sat in camp. I was in my tent, and when the rain broke, the fog was rolling in from Lake Superior. I opened up my tent flap to check the weather, and saw the fog rolling through the woods by the camp site. I took out my crappy point-and-shoot (it was 2006) and snapped a picture. That picture has since been matted and framed in my living room, set as my cell phone background, and generally loved by myself & my wife.

The next time it was a cool late-May day after a long hike. Many of my fellow hikers took a nap, and I sat on the rocks by the lake and read, smoked a cigar, and drank some whisky. I did this so long, I was startled by my friend asking me if I wanted dinner. I was so zoned out with my own comfort and the beauty of Todd Harbor, I had no idea that many hours passed.

Malone Bay: I got to meet very interesting people when I was in Malone Bay. Kayakers, Rangers, and volunteers all frequent the area. I sat on the dock and chatted with all of them. When I wasn't chatting with other inhabitants, I watched a Coast Guard ship place buoys in the channels. I also took another favorite picture of mine, which was just my hiking boots over the emerald green water that you can see all the way to the bottom.

There's also a fun little hike up the stream that comes out of Lake Siskiwit. It's "in the middle of the camp" but it's got a lot of fun trees and rocks to climb around on.

The hike down to Malone Bay is boring, long, and often not very well found as it's not used much (most of the visitors are paddlers). That's one downfall. The other downfall is that it's often the terminus of the trip: there's only one way in and out by foot.

I think it's just what you plan on doing with your route...as you can see, both are great sites. Do you want to continue past Todd, to McCargoe? Are you OK with ending in Malone? You can't go wrong either way.

[Lucky Chicken]

if you are going to describe the picture you should post the picture for us to enjoy also

[emanoh]

We visited both sites by kayak last summer on our IR circumnavigation. I really don't have a "hiking" dog in this conversation since I'm a kayaker, but it's winter, I'm wishing it was summer and just thought I'd weigh in to add my two cents. This was my second kayaking trip to IR.

We had hoped to make it as far as Malone Bay from the Queen on day one, but high winds forced us to call it quits for the day at Chippewa after only 10 miles. On day two we stopped to stretch our legs around Malone and we did the hike up to see Siskwit Falls. It was August and it didn't look like there'd been a ranger at the site all summer. From a boaters perspective the landings by the shelters was pretty rocky and dangerous. Landing by the dock is a long hand carry with your gear. The shelters were just like all of the other shelters on IR and there was nobody at any of the sites. The Shelters are fairly close to the water and the views are spectacular.

We stopped at Little Todd and Todd Harbors by Kayak on our way around the north shore. We only stopped to stretch our legs and eat a granola bar and walk around a bit to check out the sites at both, but I think I liked the Little Todd location better. When we were there Todd Harbor was full to capasity. There were some surly hikers that didn't appreciate us looking to see what campsites were available and there was a boat full of beer drinking fisherment tied up a the dock preparing a shore dinner. There wasn't really any room available at Todd Harbor and it was getting dark, so we hopped back into our boats and headed east another 6ish miles, thus completing a 30 mile day from Grace Island outside Washington Harbor to Birch Island.

I've only day-hiked at IR, but I agree with the posts above that getting to Malone is one way in and one way out. The trail options to the sites on the north shore offers a bit more variety in camp site options and trails, pending the amount of time you have. You can make a big loop using the Greenstone and Minong Trails. If you select Malone you'd be traversing the same trail twice and on the return trip it only gives you the option of re-hiking the section of the Greenstone you've already tackled or if you head east it's a really long way before you hit a connector trail to loop back on the Minong.

When I go back for a third time it will be with a backpack, so I've been looking at the trails to figure out what I'd do on foot as well, thanks for the ideas presented on this string.

[Ingo]

...It was August and it didn't look like there'd been a ranger at the site all summer...

There wasn't the usual ranger at Malone Bay last summer due to the sequestration. But until last year there was one stationed there full-time. Not sure what the future will bring.

[Donk_67]

Thanks everyone for your insight. I like my solitude (sometimes) and my sunrises but the lack of tent sites at MB also indicates a lack of places to legally hang a hammock. I intend to hammock camp as much as possible since the quality of sleep is much better, so I'll avoid shelters as much as possible...unless I can safely hang my hammock in one(doubtful). My trip is planned for mid August, so I'll have to factor in the popularity of TH and get there early. In either senario, I'm going to have to backtrack a section of trail. As much as I'd love to hike the minong, one of my hiking partners isn't exactly nimble on his feet and I intend to minimize the chances for injury in our party, so the minong will have to wait for another trip. My original plan was to make it to Mcargo as I loved the few hours I spent there last summer, but another possible member of my little hiking party suggested spending an extra day at Siskiwit Bay and since I don't want to focus too much on mileage at the cost of enjoying the sights, I decided that was a good idea.

Having a blast planning this trip and lurking on the forum while I wait out winter.

[Tightlines01]

Sounds like your getting a great trip set up.

From what I recall of the Minong, the stretch from Todd to McCargoe wasn't that bad and your friend would likely be ok as it wasn't much worse than other trails. The stretch to avoid for your friend is around Little Todd. That'll make you feel like a billy goat.

Siskiwit Bay is great. I'd have a layover day there again. For me the shelters are good and bad. They aren't as remote, but they are very convenient.

If your coming from MN on the voyager you could get dropped off at McCargoe and go to Hatchet then over to the greenstone and to Malone bay or over to the Feltdman loop and end up in Windigo. If your ending up in Rock Harbor don't discount Moskey Basin which is my favorite site I've been to.

[Donk_67]

Sounds like your getting a great trip set up.

From what I recall of the Minong, the stretch from Todd to McCargoe wasn't that bad and your friend would likely be ok as it wasn't much worse than other trails. The stretch to avoid for your friend is around Little Todd. That'll make you feel like a billy goat.

Siskiwit Bay is great. I'd have a layover day there again. For me the shelters are good and bad. They aren't as remote, but they are very convenient.

If your coming from MN on the voyager you could get dropped off at McCargoe and go to Hatchet then over to the greenstone and to Malone bay or over to the Feltdman loop and end up in Windigo. If your ending up in Rock Harbor don't discount Moskey Basin which is my favorite site I've been to.

A drop at McCargo...I hadn't considered that before. I might have to if the one person flying over to meet us doesn't go. I loved Moskey last year, met some exceptionally nice and helpful fishermen from Grand Marais there who happily fed us their Fish Boil...even tho, I couldn't believe they were using fresh caught Lake Trout in their boil As a matter of fact if any MN members reading this know Tony from TNT (boat name), I'd like to look him up on my travels to Grand Portage and give him a gift for his help last year.

[Midwest Ed]

Fonix,

I'd very much like to see a copy of that Todd Harbor photo?