Isle Royale Forums

So my boy and I are looking at coming to Isle Royale in August. We dont want to be a statistic for kayaks who needed to be rescued at IR.

We have two inflatable Hobie i12s kayaks w/ Mirage drives. We both are very comfortable in the kayak as well as been doing some training on Lake Michigan. However... Lake Michigan is NOT Lake Superior.

I'm looking for some input on few things:

1. What to expect after I leave the boat? For example do we just inflate and start paddling right there from the dock or is there somewhere we should hit first (ranger stations, etc.) before we head out?

2. From what I've read, is camping on Siskiwit Lake, Lake Whittlesey and Intermediate open around the lake or is there a specific campground you have to camp in. (i.e. can we camp on the east shore of the the Siskiwit or on Ryan Island?)

3. Leaving our kayaks at the shelter for a day to do some hiking... any reports of people messing with your kayaks? (Of course sensitive with them being inflatable.. )

4. Our plan is to paddle for 5 days. I've added two days for weather (based on all the other comments on the board). From what I've read online and in print, here is my thoughts on an itinerary:

Rock Harbor to Caribou Island
Caribou Island to Chippewa Harbor
Chippewa Harbor to Lake Whittlesey to Siskiwit Lake
Siskiwit Lake to Malone Bay
Malone Bay to Moskey Basin
Moskey Basin to Rock Harbor

Of Course.. weather is the factor and we may be hanging out at Moskey Basin all week if it turns bad. haha.

Thanks!

Father&Son

Have you paddled them with gear that you will be bringing?
Have you tried doing self rescue in rough water with them loaded?
Are you bringing at least a Weather radio? A vhf would be better.
Do you have cool weather paddling clothes?

Your itinerary seems doable.
I have left our kayaks at the shelter to do dayhikes and as far as I know, don't recall someone's boat being messed with.

You can get a backcountry permit, check the backcountry info thread.

We usually take our gear down to the beach near the water taxi dock and load up there.

A quick answer to your question would be " It depends"
1 depending on what transportation you use to get to the Island the check in are differant. If you ride the Ranger you get your leave no trace talk and camping permits on the boat so when you dock its time to hit the store for The one thing you forgot to bring and hit the waves.
If you arrive on the Queen, when you get to Rock Harbor You get your leave no trace talk and other instructions dockside then you go into the office to fill out your permits.
2 There are 2 types of permits with differant rules. If you use the regular permit you stay in campgrounds. If you ask for you can get a back country permit. On this permit instead of listing a campground you pick an area to camp. Depending on the time of year certain areas are closed to protect wildlife. For example Loon nesting areas. They will cover these when filling out the permits.
3 I have not heard of any problems of people messing with gear on the Island. Just the opposite. Reading stories in these formins most people are very respectful of your property and others have lost valuble things and it seems that everyone goes out of there way to make sure it gets back to the right person
4 sounds like a great trip. have fun.
Richard

Welcome to the Isle Royale Forums.

All islands on inland lakes and islands in Lake Superior are closed to backcountry camping.

Refer to the 2nd attachment in the first post.... http://isleroyaleforums.com/viewtopic.php?f=4&t=1057

A couple more thoughts. All of the established campgrounds on the inland lakes are very nice. Personally I wouldn't worry about backcountry permits/camping, unless that's just something you want to do. The Wood Lake campground is essentially on Siskiwit and one of my favorites--great sunsets. Going back from Malone to Moskey, I'd plan to stay at Richie. Dealing with 2+ mile portage from Richie to Moskey is more than enough of a day's work for me--certainly wouldn't choose to do it at the end of a day from Malone. Given your planned weather days, it's likely that would work out. And finally, hanging out at Moskey ain't bad at all . One trip we spent 9 days without getting out of Rock Harbor (the water) including 3 at Moskey, due to a sprained ankle, and had a great trip.

Thanks for the input so far! Regarding gear, we are practicing this weekend dumping loaded kayaks and recover.
That being said, cold weather gear seems to be two camps.
I read (and no doubt believe) the cold but I also see a lot of pictures of people paddling without drysuits.
Can I get by without a drysuit?

Reco on paddling gloves and booties to keep the toes warm?

Assuming you will be doing your practice rescues/recovery on Lake Michigan this weekend, that should give you prespective on appropriate paddling clothing. Paddling gloves might be useful to prevent blisters ect. If you need them for warmth, you need a wetsuit.
The paddle from Caribou to Chippewa is exposed water w/o a lot of good places to pull out. If you run into trouble a wetsuit might be nice. You can always get it wet before paddling to help keep you cool.

I will be interested to hear of your experiences this weekend. (Where on Michigan are you paddling?)

A friend has the hard shell Hobie, it is fun to sail (he brought the sail rig, we sailed it on Siskiwit) and fast with the foot pedals!!!!


We are all about preventing our forum members from becoming statistics

We are planning to paddle around South Haven tomorrow afternoon.

Keep in mind that the water temperature on and near ISRO is significantly cooler that the water temperature near South Haven. The W. Lake Superior weather buoy was reading 64dF for the water temp and the S. Lake Michigan buoy was reading 74 for the water temp. A weather radio (or better yet a marine VHF with weather radio features) will allow you to do realistic daily planning. Storms rapidly develop and being on the water in a storm is not good.