Been a while since I've been active on the Forums. I got back June 19th from an awesome 8 days on the Island. This trip was an experiment. Ever since I first went backpacking at age 14 (44 years ago
) it has been the same routine - fill up the pack with as much stuff as you can and darn the weight! My pack has always been in the 45 - 50 pound range. Well, I've taken up bikepacking in recent years (self-supported bicycle travel) and so I had a bunch of ultralight gear and thought I might take my backpacking to the other extreme. No tent (just a bivy sack), no stove, 1 1/4 pound sleeping bag, ultralight sleeping mat, Sawyer filter, no change of clothes except for socks.....I ended up with a pack, including food, that weighed 20 pounds. It went up to about 25 pounds when I added water. The difference was amazing! Hiking was more like a walk in the woods and I had NO shoulder or back pain. The trade off for trail comfort was slight campsite discomfort, but it was worth it! Anyway, here's the report:
June 11 - Ranger III to Rock Harbor, almost dead calm - just the way I like it! I hit the Tobin Harbor trail at 3:30, heading for either East Chickenbone or Daisy Farm. Had a great hike up to Mt. Franklin and was fortunate to have a good view from there. The trail from there to Ojibway Tower was easy, but when I got to the tower it was getting into evening hours ad the bugs were pretty bad, so I opted for a trip down to Daisy Farm and a nice shelter for the evening.
June 12 - Left Daisy Farm early and climbed up the Daisy Farm Trail to the Greenstone and on to West Chickenbone. Just prior to arriving at WC I felt what I thought was a hot spot on my right heel, which turned out to be a large popped blister. Oh well, triple antibiotic ointment, bandaid, and moleskin took care of that. West Chickenbone was wonderful as usual; I got site #4, which is just across the trail from the water and had a bench made from 2 thick planks that served as table and then bed, with my bivy bag. I should mention that without a stove, meals were pretty uninteresting, but I planned to feast at the Windigo store.
June 13 - Early start from WC and then up the ridge for a fantastic view of the entire East end of the Island. The last time I was in that area it was completely socked in with fog, so the view was a treat. Nice hiking, but vicious blackflies whenever I stopped. I had to use the headnet in order to relax at stops; while moving I could stay a little bit head of them. I didn't want to stop at Hatchet Lake for water since that would be a 1/2 mile detour each way, so I was very pleasantly surprised to find a sizable creek just before the climb up to the Hatchet Lake turnoff and was able to refill all water bottles there. I got into South Desor late afternoon. Only 2 other campsites were taken.
June 14 - Let early heading towards Windigo and sandwiches, pop, etc! Nice rest stop at the Island Mine turnoff, where there was a good breeze for cooling and bug-blowing. The hikin temperatures had been pretty good, but I always work up a sweat hiking, so it was nice to stop and cool off. About a mile past the IM turnoff I ran into a guy carrying what looked like a daypack and water bottle. Turns out he had left Windigo the day before with a horrendously heavy pack and couldn't make IM, so he camped at the side of the trail and was now ferrying his gear up in parts. He said his brother had packed his food and had put in 30 pounds' worth. I wonder whatever happened to him? I arrived in Windigo around 1:30 or so and snagged a shelter (only a couple were taken) and went up to the store. No more homemade sandwiches - they are all the pre-packaged kind, but I didn't care. I cooled off on the porch with a pop and then had a first course of chili heated in the microwave. I picked up sandwiches and snacks for dinner later and went down to chat with Ranger Val for a bit and then back to the shelter. The frogs gave a very loud performance that night.
June 15 - Packed up and went to the store for more provisions for the rest of the trip, then caught the Voyager to McCargoe Cove. Nice smooth water again and chatted with a boy scout group. When we arrived at McC I raced up to get a shelter, but needn't have worried - the place was empty, although by evening all shelters were full as well as 2 of the tent sites.
June 16 - Spent the day at McC since I needed to burn a day somewhere and the stay limits were on so I couldn't spend 2 nights in RH. I figured McC would be more enjoyable than Daisy Farm. I mostly just lounged around and talked to people. I met the North Shore Volunteer (formerly the Belle Isle Campground Host). This year there is no North OR South Shore Ranger due to budget cuts, so this guy covers the whole North Shore and the Daisy Farm Ranger has the whole South Shore.
June 17 - Left McC and headed up past East Chickenbone to the Greenstone. I was reminded of why EC is NOT a desirable campground; it looks like the hike to the water is at least a half mile each way down and then back up to the ridge. From the trail junction I retraced my steps of a few days previous and ended up at Daisy Farm in the early afternoon. I lounged around the dock and chatted with some folks, including the Daisy Farm ranger.
June 18 - left DF and hiked to the cutoff to the Tobin Harbor Trail and took that back to RH again; I will not willingly take the RH Trail - way too rocky/rooty. Arrived Rock Harbor and luxury. Had a shower and hit the Greenstone Grill for lunch and dinner. Attended the ranger talk (about IR research) at the auditorium and then back to the shelter.
June 19 - all-you-can-eat breakfast buffet at the Lodge dining room. I don't think they make much money off starving backpackers. The cruise back to Houghton was smooth as glass. Rolf Peterson was aboard and gave a great talk on wolf/moose research.
The trip was a great success! I REALLY liked having the light pack and the only thing I would change would be to carry less sweet foods. Towards the end that was all I had left. The ease of hiking with the light pack greatly outweighed (pun intended) the slight discomforts associated with foregoing a lot of gear. I guess i a lot of rain was predicted I might also switch from the bivy bag to an ultralight tent, adding a couple of pounds. The only rain I had this trip was when I was in a shelter at McCargoe.
Bob
