Isle Royale Forums

Hello all, my brother and I are planning a trip August 16-24. This will be my second trip to the Island, and his first, though he is in outstanding shape and has hiked Philmont in the past. This is my first time planning an itinerary, I was wondering what the IR veterans thought of what I came up with:

August 15: Drive up to Houghton to catch the Ranger III
16 Houghton-Rock Harbor-Lane Cove 6.9 Friday
17 Lane Cove-Moskey Basin 11.1 Saturday
18 Moskey Basin-Chippewa Harbor 6.2 Sunday
19 Chippewa Harbor-McCargo Cove 10.6 Monday
20 McCargo Cove-Hatchet Lake 10.5 Tuesday
21 Hatchet Lake-West Chickenbone 7.9 Wednesday
22 West Chickenbone-Daisy Farm 7.9 Thursday
23 Daisy Farm-Rock Harbor (via Tobin Harbor Trail) ~7.5 Friday

For a total of about about 69 miles.

Looks like an awesome trip. You're hitting a lot of great camps too. Good luck and I hope you see a moose.

If you can do Philmont, you can do Isle Royale.

Agree that it looks like a great bunch of sites. Lane to Moskey will be a good pull but both are beautiful. The switchbacks out of Lane are neat., if you can push on a short bit when you get on top of the greenstone Mt Franklin is only .3 miles or so down the trail and makes a fantastic rest stop. One of my favorite views on the island. Chip is one of the few I haven't been to in my trips but plan on it someday. I like McCargo but it can feel busy. Hatchet isn't anything real special but I have saw moose there before. The climb out to the Greenstone is short and nasty but you'll be fresh and not too many ups and downs after your on top.

All in all I think it's a great plan.