Isle Royale Forums

Hi and thank you to everyone who helped me think through my previous post about doing the ridge trail. This will more than likely be my one and only time to IR...so I want to see the very best of the island!! We are all beginners at backpacking, but have done some extensive hiking in the Adirondacks and are all fairly fit.

In discussing things with my family...we think that it may be better if we do a loop...but are unsure about the very best spots to hit. Here is what we know so far....

Day one - Arrive on ferry from Copper Harbor to Rock Harbor around 2:30 pm (we would like to start hiking right away)
Day two - hike
Day three - hike
Day four - hike
Day five - Hike back to RH and be able to leave on the 2:45 ferry back to Copper Harbor

Thank you so much for your help with this!! We are very excited about our upcoming trip (August).

Hi,

The ferry actually arrives around 11-11:30 so you have a bit more time then you thought. IMO it is hard to see the "very best of the Island" from the RH end with only 5 days, but you can get a good taste. If you are indeed fairly fit you could take the following somewhat challenging itinerary that would get you out into the wilderness:

Day 1 - get off the boat and hike to Lane Cove via Tobin Harbor Trail
Day 2 - hike to West Chickenbone
Day 3 - hike to Moskey Basin
Day 4 - hike to Daisy Farm (or Threemile)
Day 5 - hike to Rock Harbor and catch the boat

As I said, this will be a bit of a challenge; Lane Cove is up and over the Greenstone and the next day to West Chickenbone will be fairly long.

Bob

The main thing to think about as a beginning backpacker is that

Like the first poster, I will be hiking in Isle Royale with a friend for 5 nights. We are 19 and 22, fairly new to backpacking but in pretty decent shape. We looked at three options:

1) the above itinerary, doing the loop suggested by Keweenaw
2) Probably pretty difficult loop:
Day 1 - get off the boat and hike to Lane Cove via Tobin Harbor Trail
Day 2 - hike to East Chickenbone
Day 3 - hike to Todd Harbor
Day 4 - hike to West Chickenbone
Day 5 - hike to Rock Harbor to stay the night
3) Rock Harbor to Windigo using Greenstone Ridge trail

Just looking for some input. The loops would be more flexible if we are tired, injured, etc and can slow down to enjoy the scenery, plus save some money without needing another ferry.

Thanks a lot for any help!!