First time Isle Royale visit.

[DonNewcomb]

"Living happily in the out-of-doors means getting down to the bare essentials. The man who goes in with all the claptrap necessary to give him a semi-civilized existence in the wilderness is defeating at once the very purpose for which he went in. "

I know people who take this really seriously and think the only way to go is naked with a flint spear, eating raw the animals you kill. Most of us, however, carry a lot of really high-tech stuff into the wilderness: Goretex clothing, fancy multifuel stoves, freeze-dried food, self-inflating beds, sub-micron water purifiers, etc. While I would object to someone playing a boom-box in a wilderness campground; IMHO, occasional discrete use of communications equipment does not disturb the wilderness experience any more than the roar of a multi-fuel stove does. Perhaps it's the idea of not being out-of-contact that is the problem for some people. Since the Iridium system was initiated in 1998 being out-of-contact anywhere on the face of the earth has been an artificial, self-imposed situation. To be truly, naturally, out-of-contact one has to engage in spelunking or scuba diving.

[DonNewcomb]

Some folks have left food with the concessionaire in the past, that might be an option for you. i would check with the concesionaire.

The published information says that you can leave parcels with the concesionaire but that they can't contain food or fuel. Duh? What are they two things you most want to leave with the concesionaire? Barring food and fuel the only things I can think of leaving at RH are a change of clothing and the cell phones . The other issue is that when you are at RH or Windago you can buy food and fuel, so except for the expense or maybe limited selection, there's really no reason to store food there. The idea of setting up a food cache is so that you don't have to carry 10 lbs you don't need. You just carry it from the trailhead to a junction where you plan to end a loop. You carry only the food you need for the loop and resupply when you return to the junction. One of the problems with IR seems to be that the stores and main ferry landings are located at the extreme ends of the island. It would have been more convenient had one been near the middle.

[johnhens]

Another option would be to mail yourself a package to RH. You have to be there to accept delivery, I know folks have done that with the Voyageur.

[DonNewcomb]

Another option would be to mail yourself a package to RH. You have to be there to accept delivery, I know folks have done that with the Voyageur.

This could work if one were planning to wait several days at one of Voyageur's stopping points. I would hate to count on my package and me being able to make an exact rendezvous on a specific date. There're just too many moving parts in the system.

[DonNewcomb]

If you have time to spend eight days on the trail, you could go RH > Daisy Farm > McCargo Cove > Todd Harbor/Hatchet Lake > South Desor > Siskiwit Bay > Feldtmann Lake > Windigo > then ferry back to Rock Harbor. You'll have to plan accordingly so you arrive at Windigo in time for the Voyageur II to pick you up.

A possible variation of this plan would be to take Ranger III to RH then use Voaygeur II to drop us at Windigo and hike back to RH. Unfortunately, since we are arriving from the Southeast, driving to and from Grand Portage would just add too much time. Otherwise, leaving the car at Grand Portage, starting at one end of the island and hiking to the other would be a perfect plan.