June Trip Feedback

[ffemt734]

June 15-19. My son (17) and I (43) will be taking the plane out of Houghton to Windigo, hiking mainly the Greenstone and Rock Harbor Trails to Rock Harbor and flying back to Houghton. I have been there twice before (mainly on the east side) and my son has never been.

Here is my plan:

Monday Windigo - Island Mine 6.9 miles
Tuesday Island Mine - Hatchet Lake 13 miles
Wednesday Hatchet Lake - Moskey Basin 13.8 miles
Thursday Moskey Basin - Threemile (via Daisy Farm Trail to Greenstone to Mt. Franklin Trail) 12.3 miles
Friday Threemile - Rock Harbor (via Scoville Point and back) 8 miles

Any feedback would be helpful.

[JerryB]

This is really a matter of personal preference and skills. For me, those are mighty long days. You also have no flexibility in the event of bad weather. (One reason I like one layover day in my itineraries.) Enjoy!

[dcclark]

I agree, those are long days without flexibility in case of problems. Besides bad weather on the island, you'll also need to consider bad weather delaying the seaplane. The plane is notoriously prone to delays from weather. You might arrive in Windigo late in the day, or even a day late. (Of course, you could just as likely end up with a delay on the return leg.)

I see that June 15 - 19 is Monday - Friday. Could you add a day at the beginning, and then use it as a zero day in your schedule? That would give you the flexibility to handle a weather delay, and also to split up a long stretch if the miles get too long. Plus that would still leave you with an extra weekend day at the end, in case of plane trouble.

[ffemt734]

I do have availability in the Sunday before and the Saturday at the end of the week. I have reserved the 8am Monday flight out of Houghton and the 5pm Friday flight out of RH. If need be, I'd have time to go directly from Moskey Basin to RH and be there by 5.

Thoughts.....

[torpified]

A buffer day in case of flight delays would give *me* some piece of mind --- and also an extra day on the island, if all goes well! And if all goes well and the mileages in your original itinerary hit the sweet spot for you, one way to add a night to your trip would be to go from Hatchet to McCargo via the Minong (10.7), then McCargo to Moskey via the Indian Portage trail (8.4).

There's a parallel thread, wmgreeter's I think, comparing merits of campgrounds on the west side of the island. If you get an efficient start and are feeling good on the first day, you could carry on to S Desor (11.3), then have an ~8 mile walk to Hatchet on Day 2.

[bobcat]

You do kinda have an extra day built in, by going GRT to Moskey to 3Mile then 3Mile to RH. Moskey to RH is 11 miles straight in, giving you an alternative if needed. Also GRT to Daisy Farm and then on to RH is miles shorter than through Moskey Basin. I agree with others that the length of the daily segments is longer than I would recommend, but you know what you’re getting into. If you need to shorten, you can do so by eliminating the scenic detours and just heading to RH by the most direct routes.

[fonixmunkee]

13 mile days! Wow, you're motivated. That's too long of days for me. Since you're going into Windigo and out of Rock you don't have many other options, though.

The nice part is the Greenstone is an easy hike. The hike out of Hatchet Lake on Wednesday morning will be an ass-kicker though. Be prepared for that.

To save some time/your legs, what about getting a cross-country/backcountry permit and camping off-trail on Monday and Tuesday?