Isle Royale Forums

In two weeks we will begin at 8 night 9 day trek on IR in our first trip to the island. Two nights consecutively will be spent at Mccargoe Cove in the group site. Is it recommended to pack up your supplies/gear for the stay as you explore for the day or is it okay to leave camp set up? Is thievery a issue with animals and humans? Should we hang our packs (food, supplies) or leave in tent?

First, I don't worry about humans. The kind of folk who take to effort to get there generally isn't the type to steal things.

As for animals, some people do hang their food because of fox and squirrels--who WILL eat your food and take things. I leave my food in the tent and only had a problem once when a squirrel chewed through a small hole through the netting and pack to get to our trail mix. The pack was up against the tent door, however, and so I make sure the food pack in always in the center of the tent, it's closed up tight, and haven't had any problem. Might just be coincidence that it seems to make a difference, but I'm going with that method until proven otherwise.

In any case, you want to keep a tidy camp. The squirrel incident actually happened while we were in camp. Fox have been known to take food off tables while people are eating, and to carry off about anything, as large as boots and stoves. If you're doing a day hike, personally I would have everything at least in a pack, food in the tent (center) or hung. The other thing to keep in mind is the weather--it can change quickly and without much warning, so I do that anyway.

Have a great trip!

Foxes like anything leather too.

I can vouch for the squirrel incident, too. On our first trip to the island we inadvertently left a bag of trail mix on a tree stump in our camp next to the tent while we walked down to fish at the lake (Chickenbone). When we came back we scarred off a squirrel that had gnawed a hole through the zip-lock back and was busy extracting the peanuts and M&M's. Haven't made that mistake again. We have never hung our food at night. We just do what Ingo mentioned and keep the food inside the tent or inside the packs which are in the vestibule area of the tent and we have never had any problems like that.

As everyone has mentioned, you don't have to worry about humans stealing from your pack...Isle Royale is a close community of hikers and paddlers who look out for each other. The big concern is the critters...from foxes, to squirrels. They'll take whatever they can, and chew through anything they need to get there. Make sure you hang your packs!

We left our gear in shelter 6 at McCargoe for more then three hours so that we could do the Chickenbone loop as a day hike. We had no problems except with the bugs.

I did have the misfortune once to leave my pack in a shelter at Three Mile while I walked elsewhere in the campground area and a couple of young kids from a large group stole my knife and compass. I believe it was a 1 in a million likelihood, but these things can happen. I got the compass back after one of the kids confessed. It held sentimental value as it was my father's during WWII.

One of the reasons I like IR over other places is the lack of bears and so I never hung my pack. . . but then again my pack has 2 patches in remembrance of the squirrels.

My biggest fear by far were the campground fox. ALWAYS ALWAYS ALWAYS keep your boots under control. They will run off with a boot in a heartbeat. Second only to food, they like boots. It could be the leather but I think it is the salty perspiration odor. No one wants to limp back to the ferry in one boot.

I had a Daisy Farm fox steal my dinner WHILE I was eating it. The Mountain House bag was sitting right in front of me. I turned to talk to someone for a split second and poof, all I saw was the bushy tail in the brush. The worst part is that my son sat there and watched the whole thing happen before he started laughing.