Isle Royale Forums

My time on the island will be twelve days, from August 26th to September 6th. I'll be using a pack canoe and going with a couple of my friends. I've been to the island four times now, each time hoofin' it, and all have been on the East side of the island. This will be my first paddle and portage experience on IR and was wondering how much of it I will be able to see via canoe and twelve days worth of time. In my route I want to include as many canoe/kayak campsites as possible, with Chippewa Harbor, Wood Lake, Pickerel Cove, and Belle Isle (no particular order) on the itinerary. I'd like some ideas, if y'all would be so kind as to lend them over!

Well I'm jealous! If I had 12 days, I would do all the canoe routes/portages in a figure 8. This was our intent (in 9 days) some years ago, but a sprained ankle derailed those plans, so it didn't happen quite this way. Specific campgrounds may vary, but something like this:
Rock Harbor
Caribou Island or Moskey Basin
Lake Richie
Malone Bay via Intermediate, SIskiwit
Wood Lake or Whittlesey
Chippewa Harbor or Richie
Chickenbone via Richie, LeSage, Livermore
Belle Isle
Duncan Bay/Narrows
Rock Harbor

There's plenty of variations on this theme (like skip Malone), but it mostly keeps you off exposed areas of the big lake. The one big exception is the stretch from McCargoe to Pickeral Cove, so I would save at least one layover day for there. The toughest portages are Duncan/Tobin (up and over the Greenstone) and Moskey/Richie (long). You can pretty much rank the rest by length for the most part, although Chippewa/Whittlesey has somewhat rougher footing than most.

Hoping that one year I'll be able to find the time to try this again! Have fun planning!

Thanks for the input Ingo! I'll definitely take that into consideration. I was debating which direction to head once I arrive, heading North from Rock Harbor getting the tough portage out of the way from the start, and staying at Duncan Bay or Duncan Narrows (whichever is coolest) the first night, was my original idea. Looking something like this:

1st night @ Duncan Bay or Narrows (from Rock Harbor).
2nd night @ Belle Isle.
3rd; Pickerel Cove.
4th; McCargoe Cove.
5th; Lake Richie Canoe.
6th; Malone Bay or Wood Lake (depending on how Siskiwit Lake treats us, strong Eastward winds and forget it)
7th; Lake Whittlesey or Chippewa Harbor (or both!)
8th; Moskey Basin (from Chippewa Harbor....!?!) or if weather permits (rare, I'm aware), Chippewa Harbor to Caribou Island (avoiding the mouth of Conglomerate Bay.
9th; Moskey Basin or Caribou Island [pending weather and/or zero day(s)]
10th; Tooker Island
11th; Rock Harbor

Question: Portaging from McCargoe Cove to Chickenbone Lake; the map I'm currently using isn't quite clear on where exactly I'm suppose to exit the portage trail and enter the water into Chickenbone Lake..? I am somewhat familiar with that portion of Indian Portage Trail, but I've always hiked it North, from W. Chickenbone Campsite. If memory serves me right, once close to McCargoe Cove the water passage thins drastically with thick vegitation. I remember the loons' nesting area in there and I also remember a beaver dam. How long of a portage is McCargoe to Chickenbone Lake approximately? Will it be one of those things where it will make sense once I'm there or is it common for people to get turned around in there?

only warning on the long portage first... you weigh the most then. I like to do the long ones last when I ate most of my food already.

PS: jealous

Thanks for the input Ingo! I'll definitely take that into consideration. I was debating which direction to head once I arrive, heading North from Rock Harbor getting the tough portage out of the way from the start, and staying at Duncan Bay or Duncan Narrows (whichever is coolest) the first night, was my original idea.

Which direction is a toss up, and I could make arguments either way. Do you know which boat you're coming on? The Ranger III can drop you off at Mott Island and you can easily get to Caribou, Moskey, and on a good day Chippewa, on the first night.

1st night @ Duncan Bay or Narrows (from Rock Harbor).

Go whichever way the wind is blowing .

2nd night @ Belle Isle.

My favorite!

3rd; Pickerel Cove.

Consider staying at Belle Isle and day paddling, esp if weather allows you to get out to Amygdaloid.

4th; McCargoe Cove.

Consider going on to Chickenbone to make the next day shorter.

5th; Lake Richie Canoe.

This was a longer day for us from McCargoe, but totally doable. Just tired.

6th; Malone Bay or Wood Lake (depending on how Siskiwit Lake treats us, strong Eastward winds and forget it)

I'd just do Wood Lake, unless you just really want to do Malone Bay (it's on my list because I haven't stayed there).

7th; Lake Whittlesey or Chippewa Harbor (or both!)

Can't go wrong.

8th; Moskey Basin (from Chippewa Harbor....!?!)

ugghhh... get going early and take your time.

or if weather permits (rare, I'm aware), Chippewa Harbor to Caribou Island (avoiding the mouth of Conglomerate Bay.

That would be nice , but be careful!

9th; Moskey Basin or Caribou Island [pending weather and/or zero day(s)]

If you come through Richie, you won't want to go any further once you're done with the portage. It's a short paddle from the portage to the campground.

10th; Tooker Island
11th; Rock Harbor

The 2 account for a weather day, which is good.

Question: Portaging from McCargoe Cove to Chickenbone Lake; the map I'm currently using isn't quite clear on where exactly I'm suppose to exit the portage trail and enter the water into Chickenbone Lake..? I am somewhat familiar with that portion of Indian Portage Trail, but I've always hiked it North, from W. Chickenbone Campsite. If memory serves me right, once close to McCargoe Cove the water passage thins drastically with thick vegitation. I remember the loons' nesting area in there and I also remember a beaver dam. How long of a portage is McCargoe to Chickenbone Lake approximately? Will it be one of those things where it will make sense once I'm there or is it common for people to get turned around in there?

It will make sense. The put-in is right at the end of Chickenbone. It's been a few years, but I don't remember any ambiguity.

Normally I'd recommend building in a weather day or 2, but you have enough time with short enough days that you can make up whatever you may lose. Still jealous !

Lucky Chicken wrote:only warning on the long portage first... you weigh the most then. I like to do the long ones last when I ate most of my food already.

Hmmm, Tobin to Duncan on day 1 or Moskey to Richie on day 2? I dunno ...