Isle Royale Forums

Planning a fall visit to the park this year, arriving on Friday and leaving on Monday. Traveling from Copper Harbor to Rock Harbor. There will be 2 of us, neither of us have a great amount of back country backpacking experience.

Not carved in stone, but I'm thinking:
1st night at Lane Cove
2nd night at Daisy Farm
3rd night at 3 mile

Was originally planning Sept 10-13, but am reconsidering... A shower and a real meal at Rock Harbor would be nice before heading back to the mainland, and from what I've been reading everything at Rock Harbor closes following Labor Day.

Labor Day weekend will work for my schedule, but I'm concerned about "overcrowding" at the camp sites.

Perhaps the weekend before Labor Day would be a better choice?

Overcrowding is really hard to predict but I wouldn't let that govern your decision. Neither Daisy Farm nor Lane Cove are likely to fill up at that time of year and the Jerk to Nice People ratio tends to be extremely low on IR so if a campground is full usually someone would share their campsite with you.

I see a tiny red flag where you say you do not have much backpacking experience. Not much is really needed in terms of survival, but comfort is a different consideration. The trail from Rock Harbor to Lane Cove goes up and over the Greenstone and there are a few smaller ridges from the Greenstone to Lane Cove campground. The trail down the Greenstone towards Lane Cove is fairly steep with switchbacks but is not too bad unless it is raining hard, when it can be pretty slippery. You will want to be sure to have well broken-in boots and packs that are not overloaded. You might want to take a couple of day hikes around home with full packs as practice.

Have fun and be sure to post any other questions that come up!

Bob

Bob's right about the trail down to Lane Cove. I went up and down it twice in '07 when it was dry the first 1 and 1/2 times and I thought I was skiing down on what the park ranger said were marbles (dirt into balls, go figure). Rain on the way out but it was't too bad. Make sure you use walking sticks for balance. I really liked Lane Cove. Go for the camping pad as far East as you can. Close to the water and sheltered from the wind.

jerry

Booked our spots on the IR Queen this morning.

Friday 8-13 thru Monday 8-16. Hoping for good weather and few bugs.

Back from my 1st trip to the island. Had to spend an extra day due to the IR Queen not running on Sunday or Monday.

1st night: Lane Cove - Rained on us for a while after leaving RH
2nd night: Daisy Farm
3rd & 4th nights: Rock Harbor

Awesome trip! If I had known that I would be spending an extra day I would have added Moskey Basin to the itinerary.

I will return for a longer stay, maybe in a couple years.