TR 8/16 - 8/21, 2021 [Rock Harbor to Windigo via Tobin Harbor/Greenstone/Minong]

[jonathansm]

My first trip to Isle Royale was amazing. Can't wait to go back. Going into this trip I knew I would be hiking from Rock Harbor to Windigo and was leaning towards the Minong because I was seeking a route that maximized opportunities for camping on Lake Superior versus the interior lakes, and a route that would be less crowded. I consistently heard that Minong was "hard" but it seemed difficult to get anyone to describe exactly what made it more challenging than the Greenstone. And many of the people who were offering warnings about the trial (including a ranger in RH) had never actually hiked it. Decided to trust my gut and am glad I did.

Day 1 - RH to LC: We took the seaplane to Rock Harbor and could see the fire that had just started the day before on the east end of the island. After checking in with the ranger we hiked to Lane Cove. All the sites were full but my hiking partner found a small overflow site just big enough for his tent and I eventually was able to double up with another solo hiker on his spot. People weren't as accommodating as I would have hoped or expected. Lane Cove was beautiful (probably my favorite campground) and we enjoyed a long swim before dinner.

Day 2: LC to MC: We got a late start which made the back half of this hike pretty painful as the heat and humidity really crept up in the afternoon. We saw a bull moose on the trail between Mt. Franklin and Mt. Ojibiway, which was really cool. We watched at a distance for awhile and then made enough noise to shoo him away. We also saw a beaver in one of the beaver ponds. My hiking partner got really tired towards the end of this hike but it wasn't too tough. When we arrived at McCargoe Cove some people told us all the sites and shelters were full but luckily we poked around ourselves and found an open shelter. We had another swim before dinner and then went down to the dock to watch the sunset and enjoy a whiskey. As the sun went down a couple otters showed up and we watched them fish until dark.

Day 3: MC to TH: Because my hiking partner was tired we decided to have a short day and stop at Todd Harbor rather than push on to Little Todd. We snagged a tent site and then spent the whole afternoon swimming and reading on the beach. We could hear wolves howling in the night, which was awesome.

Day 4: TH to DN: The six or so miles from Todd Harbor to Little Todd was easy going. We stopped at Little Todd for lunch and took advantage of the empty beach to go for another swim. The hike between Little Todd and Desor North was probably the hardest stretch of the whole trip, with a lot of up and down over the ridges and sun exposure during the hottest part of the day. We were pretty beat when we finally got to Desor North. There were supposed to be three camping areas that had two sites each. One was taken by a large party, one had only one tent on it so we shared that space. The third was further away and someone had blocked the path down to it with trekking poles. The next morning we saw that it was a single hiker who had stayed there. We saw a moose on the other side of the lake, maybe a half mile away. We also heard plenty of wolves that night.

Day 5: DN to WC: Knowing we had a tough day ahead of us we made an early start. The first half of the trail was pretty tough with a lot of up and down over the ridges. We got lost at one point but found our way back to the trail pretty easily after a little bushwhacking. The beaver dams weren't very tough at all to navigate, though I imagine if it weren't for drought conditions it would have been muddier and harder. Once the trail leveled out the last few miles were very easy going. All the shelters and tent sites at Washington Creek were full but we found a group site that was unoccupied. We set our tents close together to take up the least amount of space possible and went to the store to get a beer (or four) and take a shower. I was up quite a bit that night because of my bladder full of beer, and heard moose splashing around in the creek behind us as well as thunder in the distance.

Day 6: When the sun came up we got packed up and then saw another moose in the creek just 30 or 40 yards away. It was a calf and we could hear the mom but she was around the bend so we couldn't see her. Luckily the thunder storm passed north of us but we did get a bit of rain. Not enough to ground the plane so we were home on time.

Overall this was an amazing trip. It does seem like the campgrounds were all at capacity and that NPS is going to have to either start to limit the number of people backpacking, clear out a few more overflow sites, or teach campers to do a better job sharing the limited space available. I can't wait to go back but I'll probably try to go in the spring or fall to avoid the crowds.

[IncaRoads]

Thanks for the trip report. If I remember correctly, the National Park Service states that the busiest times at Isle Royale are in July/August. Even September is busier than it used to be.

[torpified]

Thanks for the report -- it sounds like an awesome trip, including a lot of luck with the animals!