Isle Royale Forums

Hello all! My friend and I will arrive late Jun for 3 nights of backpacking. Leaving from Copper Harbour. The problem: My friend and I are somewhat out of shape and will be carrying way too much camera equipment. Looking for a nice destination to set up a sort of base camp and then hike around and take great pictures. We can put in some miles, don't get me wrong, but we would prefer to hike around with our cameras on our neck, not our packs on our backs. Also we could move camp after a night or two that is no problem. Any suggestions?

larrysheldon wrote:Hello all! My friend and I will arrive late Jun for 3 nights of backpacking. Leaving from Copper Harbour. The problem: My friend and I are somewhat out of shape and will be carrying way too much camera equipment. Looking for a nice destination to set up a sort of base camp and then hike around and take great pictures. We can put in some miles, don't get me wrong, but we would prefer to hike around with our cameras on our neck, not our packs on our backs. Also we could move camp after a night or two that is no problem. Any suggestions?

One alternative might be to rent a boat & motor at Rock Harbor. This will let you easily move your stuff to base camp, and then let you have more range for your day hikes. If you stayed at Daisy Farm you should get a shelter no problem that time of year, and then with a boat you could visit the fishery, lighthouse, Moskey Basin, Mott Island, etc. Hiking will let you get to Mt. Ojibway firetower. A combination of boat & hiking will let you get to Lake Ritchie (via Moskey Basin) and Mt. Franklin (via Three Mile). From Three Mile you should also visit Suzy's Cave.

Renting the boat will add expense, but will give you a much larger range to explore! Another benefit is that you will be able to camp at a shelter, meaning that you don't need to pack a tent ... which will lower your gear weight (or let you add more camera gear

I like the rental boat idea. In addition to Daisy Farm campground, there is also Caribou Island and Moskey Basin. Caribou Island is wonderful, although you would have to boat anywhere else. Moskey is also great, but not as central. They all have a 3 night max stay, so you'd be good at any of them. Or try all three. Tookers Island is close to the lodge area, although not the greatest campground, would put you nearer Scoville Point and Tobin Harbor--both very scenic, if a little busy for I.R.

Rental boats are $80/day. You need to stay inside Rock Harbor (the water) with them, but it's 10 miles long with lots of possibilities. My daughter and I spent 9 days paddling Rock Harbor and it was great, if not the trip we planned (sprained ankle on the 1st day).

Maybe the nps policy has changed but I rented a boat and motor in 2001 and they let us go from Blake Point (Merrit Lane) to Chippewa Harbor. Also the cost for a boat and motor is significantly more. And gas on the island this year is cheap, at only $5.48!!!!!

Isle Royale Rob wrote:Maybe the nps policy has changed but I rented a boat and motor in 2001 and they let us go from Blake Point (Merrit Lane) to Chippewa Harbor. Also the cost for a boat and motor is significantly more. And gas on the island this year is cheap, at only $5.48!!!!!

Hey Rob, I guess I was going by what the concessionaire's policy was in 1979 when I worked the marina and rented the boats--apparently a bad assumption. I am surprised they've changed and said Chippewa was OK. I know people took them there--heck I did --but they definitely weren't supposed to. But if you obviously knew what you were doing, we'd sometimes say don't worry about it.

When we rented a boat in 2007, we were told it had to stay inside RH. But of course, there may be exceptions made on an individual basis.

Mandolynn wrote:When we rented a boat in 2007, we were told it had to stay inside RH. But of course, there may be exceptions made on an individual basis.

I'm speculating that what gets said on the dock varies depending on who's working and who's renting. And guessing that hasn't changed much in 31 years