Trip Report - old people made it a week on Isle Royale

[Summer2011]

My husband had Isle Royale on his "bucket list", so we made plans for a week. Last summer, we did the Grinnell Glacier Trail at Glacier NP, so figured without too much work wouldn't be too tough.....WRONG! We hadn't been camping for several years, so updated with things that would work for Isle Royale, as well as the BWCA, where we go often.
July 25: Took boat from Grand Portage to McCargoe Cove - loved the shelter! Watched a young eagle harass a pair of loons - poor things. Cooked pre-cooked steak/potato/carrot hobo dinners in the fire ring, and met a group of boy scouts that live 45 miles away from us in MN and go to the same church we were married in 35 years ago - small world
July 26: After a wonderful breakfast and an enjoyable morning at McCargoe, set off with full packs for West Chickenbone. It was very HOT, and I found out hiking during heat is a whole different day. Loved West Chickenbone - took a few little side hikes the remainder of the day - sans packs - yeah!!
July 27: Rained lightly all day - we made it quite easily to Lake Ritchie, and had a lovely campsite. Saw a young fox who tailed us for quite awhile. Lots of scat, but no moose.
July 28 &29: Not a good day for me. It was so hot that we started sweating taking down the tent. Even though we had only a couple of miles to Moskey Basin, which should have been a piece of cake, but it turned out I was dehydrated and with a bad headache, every step was misery. Finally, after many stops, we made it to a great shelter on the water, and used our fall back plan of spending an extra day at Moskey so I could rehydrate. We did take a couple of short day trips there, as well.the next day.

July 30: Lovely hike to Daisy Farm, where we listened to the naturalist talk about the wokf/moose, and enjoyed it very much. We were picked up there the next morning. Can't wait to go back - tips follow.......

[jerry]

Curious about how "old" is old.

[Summer2011]

How old is Old?

My husband is 63, has asthma, and never exercises, but was a runner when he was younger, and nothing ever seems too difficult for him. BTW, on IR, he carried about 50 pounds in the same pack he took to Europe when he was 22. We have both agreed that it has made its last trip, as it was antiquated, and ready to fall apart. We were just the straps never broke.

I am 57, at least 40 pounds overweight, and not in very good shape, physically. This trip has inspired me to continue to lose weight and get in better shape for other expeditions - a great idea!!

[jerry]

My main problem is age (67), bad back, shoulders, knees and feet. My wife says I'm fat (I'm 30 to 40 pounds more then when I finished Infantry training in the 1960s). I can't carry much weight anymore (38 pounds last year nearly killed me on the Minong). This year I got it do to about 34-35 lbs. You folks did well overall. We all have to listen to our bodies. Hope you can try more trips, maybe our paths will cross on the island. Thanks for your report(s)!

[Summer2011]

Dear Jerry,

If you can do it at age 67, maybe there's hope for us We also have the bad back, neck, knee issues, and do have to plan for that. I have a knee brace for tendonitis, and even with all the "up and down" this year, I did just fine. Let me rephrase that; my knee did just fine. I use poles mainly for going downhill if my knee isn't doing well, and I went from 2 poles to 1 after the 2nd day, because it seemed like 2 poles got in the way on the narrow trails. My husband has back and neck issues, but, as mentioned in one of my posts, we got some teeny air mattresses that have a built in hand-pump for $39 each, and even though they were 1 pound, 6 oz., my husband's back did just great on the whole trip, and we both slept like logs every night. We may well run into you in future summers! He will be the one NOT using his military backpack from 1967 that he stuffed full of 50 pounds of crapola. We will both have lighter backpacks, and smarter, lighter packing skills!

[jerry]

I've enjoyed your comments about your recent trip and those here. I found that a walking stick works well for me. Keep in mind we are only as old as we tell ourselves.