It looks like my opinion is too late. However, I disagree with the others...disagree in a respectful way =) I do not understand the love people have for Chippewa Harbor. I understand how the site has a beautiful outlook to Lake Superior from the dock with the miniature island of tangled trees that meet your eyes. Yet, outside of that, my girlfriend and I did not have a great appreciation for the place. I will admit that the 4 mile trail leading to Chippewa Harbor is a very simple one, something to keep in mind for your children, but I do have to give a disclaimer. Maybe it was just the time of season or maybe it was just bad luck, but I found that 4 miles of trail to be the most mosquito infested section of the island. In fact, it was so bad, that after a half mile, I told my girlfriend that I was sprinting ahead to make sure we had a shelter in case anyone was ahead of us that might get to it before us. Luckily I did not have to pass anyone to beat them to the shelter and I was able to get the last one. With our registration marker on the door, I raced back to her to take her backpack and we gingerly jogged back to the protection of the shelter. If I am not mistaken, we did this hike on May 22 of last year. We were hoping to avoid the mosquitoes by coming early, but did not get lucky enough when it came to hiking this section. One the same note, we did not encounter mosquitoes anywhere else on the island. Therefore, it only makes me wonder what this part of the trail is like in the middle of June. YIKES! Sidenote: If we had bug nets it probably wouldn't have been as bad, but without the bug nets, life was hell.
With that aside, I must say that Moskey is my girlfriend's favorite site. I myself am torn between McCargoe and Moskey. They are both great ones to me. I have a lot of good memories of McCargoe though, so it makes it hard for me to pick. I met a very nice gentleman there by the name of Jerry. He caught some Northern Pike and shared his dinner with us on the second night that we stayed there. I made some wild rice to accompany the dinner. He also let me us his fishing rod during the day when there was not much going on during the day. Having meet him, it just made McCargoe Cove that much great too me. Plus there is the fact that my girlfriend did see and take a picture of a wolf there, so come on how cool is that? However, Moskey is extremely beautiful. Most of the shelters have slabs of rocks that plateau out into or near the water right in front of your doorway. It doesn't get any more romantic than being able to hold your baby after a long day of hiking following a good supper that leaves your belly full and stuffed, only to look out into the water and nuzzle against each other in sheer appreciation of what the island had to offer with regards to its beauty. I love Moskey too for that reason. Keep this in mind though, my girlfriend saw a wolf at McCargoe (this was her first trip too)....something that most people do not see after several times of coming to the island...yet, she still selects Moskey Basin as her favorite campsite. I think that says a lot. Maybe I'm reading into it too much, but Moskey is definitely not a place that I would pass up if it was between it and Chippewa Harbor, unless of course we both go to the island at the same time and there is only one shelter left at Moskey, then by all means, head on over to CHippewa Harbor
343.1 Miles Hiked: 2004 (3 Days), 2010 (11 Days), 2011 (13 Days), 2012 X 2 (8 + 12 Days), 2013 (9 Days/Paddling), 2019 (30 Days/Paddling)
We're still planning along for our early July trip, and I have another question I'm hoping you can help me with. We're planning to boat in from Grand Portage and get dropped off at McCargoe Cove. From there, the plan is to hit West Chickenbone, Lake Richie, and Moskey Basin. Originally, I was thinking we'd then backtrack and head to Chippewa Harbor (where we'd be picked up and boated back to Grand Portage), but I've been wondering if instead we should head from Moskey Basin to Daisy Farm and get picked up there. 
