TR: Aug. 9-17, 2014 [Windigo – Chippewa Harbor]

[MrSniffles]

Some notes to consider:
This was my first trip back to the island after my initial 14-day trip as a teenager in 2002. I had spent much of the last 12 years loosely planning to get back, until really ramping it up over the past winter and spring. I made this trip with a first timer who had never been on a wilderness trip longer than 3 nights. We treated our clothing and tent with permethrin (first experience doing so) and had virtually no issues with bugs. Bug spray was never needed.

Saturday, Aug. 9
Start: Windigo (via Grand Portage)
End: Feldtmann Lake
Distance: 8.8 miles
Time Hiked: 3.75 hours
Suggestions: Don’t sleep in the car

Today started not so bright, but early. Sleeping in the car was a terrible idea. Our packs each weighing about 40 lbs., we caught the Voyageur II out of Grand Portage and were headed to Windigo to begin our 9-day trek on the island. The ride to the island was quick and smooth, as Lake Superior was as calm as I’d ever seen it. The Voyageur was carrying about 40-50 passengers, most of them being a part of Boy Scout troops, ranging in age from 12-17. Many of the boys looked unprepared, not to mention one of their scout leaders who was wearing jeans and carrying a glass bottle of Coke. Once arrived at Windigo, we got our permit quickly, took a couple of handfuls of my homemade GORP we would become very familiar with, and were on our way to Feldtmann Lake around 10 a.m. It felt warmer than what I remember being a typical day on the island, so the time spent hiking in the sun was hot. Within the first two miles, we each found a nicely whittled walking stick leaning up against a tree, dropped there by previous hikers and waiting to be picked up by hikers like us. Our pace felt great, and was maintained even when stopping for thimbleberries along the trail. With our eyes set on Individual Site #2, we arrived at Feldtmann Lake just before 2 p.m. and found that the only site taken was #2. Oh well. We chose to stay in #1 and quickly got our boots off. We spoke to the gentleman staying in site #2 who said a pair of moose had kept him awake the previous night by nearly walking over his tent before going through our site and splashing in the lake. As we cooked our dinner of Mac & Pep, we watched a beaver munch on lily pads in the lake in front of us. By now, it seemed that all of the individual campsites were occupied. Following dinner, we took the walk to Rainbow Cove to take in the sunset, with others doing so as well. We would later find out that a few guys that walked back to Feldtmann from Rainbow Cove just after us had run into a bull moose on the trail. We must have just missed him. The sunset was a great cap to our first day, and with little sleep the last night on top of the day’s hike, I looked forward to falling asleep quickly, and the next week on the island.

Sunday, Aug. 10
Start: Feldtmann Lake
End: Siskiwit Bay
Distance: 10.4 miles
Time Hiked: 5.75 hours

Looking to get an early start, we woke up around 6 a.m. and were out of the campsite and on our way to Siskiwit Bay at 7 a.m. Before we left, a man from another campsite stopped by and asked us how we were filtering our water, after seeing us “holding up a bag type device higher than another bag.” We explained to him how our Platypus Gravityworks system worked, and he noted how it appeared to work much better than his method of pumping. It looked to be another beautiful day on the island. Feeling good after yesterday and a good night of sleep, we continued our good pace on the trail. From my trip 12 years ago, I remembered there being some decent climbs up to the ridge, how hot it was up there, and the views looking down on Feldtmann Lake. With our early start, we avoided a good share of the “hot” aspect, and enjoyed the rewarding views. We had seen plenty of evidence of moose in the area, when we eventually caught sight of one about halfway between Feldtmann Lake and the tower. Walking in a swampy area, I was actually thinking to myself that this would be an idea area for a moose to be. Within 30 seconds, I looked to my right into a swamp and there it was. A cow feeding on reeds in the swamp that noticed us, but continued chowing on plants. After snapping some photos, we made our way to the tower to stop and eat around 10 a.m. We felt a little sluggish at this point, and it was heating up, so the energy boost from the food at this stop was much needed. Reenergized, we set out on the second leg to Siskiwit Bay. My feet began to ache, so I had slowed down a bit. The second half of the hike featured long stretches of walking through thick brush, which I didn’t remember going through anything nearly as thick on any of the island’s trails during my previous visit. Pushing through, we arrived at Siskiwit Bay around 12:45 p.m. with our pick of campsite waiting. We were happy to drop our packs at Individual Site #1 with its picnic table, which sported a fresh stain job on two new boards and a note on top stating that the two boards were added and stained on Aug. 7. With boots off, I discovered a large blister on my heel, which snuck up on me. We went down to the dock to sit under the warm sun while a group of Boy Scouts frolicked on the beach. Sunning ourselves on the dock, we chatted with a father and son for a good amount of time, who told us they came from South Lake Desor (our next destination) and roasted in the sun. We returned to the site for dinner and a cup of coffee, which were both very satisfying. For the record, it’s a whole lot easier to cook when you have a table. The man we had spoken to earlier at Feldtmann Lake about filtering water had stopped by once again here at Siskiwit, and we gave him 4L of filtered water to save him from pumping, which he was very thankful for. Before turning in, we returned to the dock and spoke to a group who was behind us in going from Feldtmann to Siskiwit. They too mentioned how bad the bushwacking stretch was on the way in. The clouds were rolling in at the time of sunset, and thunder could be heard in the distance. We previously saw that tonight had the best chance for rain, so here’s to hoping it holds off.

Monday, Aug. 11
Start: Siskiwit Bay
End: South Lake Desor
Distance: 9.9 miles
Time Hiked: 5.5 hours
Suggestions: Embrace the rain

So much for that rain holding off. At about 9:30 p.m., it began, and continued all night. I had woken up throughout the night and it seemed to be coming down at the same consistency all night. We woke up and decided though it was still raining, we didn’t know when it would stop, so we would maintain our plan to get on the trail early and head out instead of potentially waiting it out for much of the day. After packing up the gear, including our now sopping wet tent, we were out of Siskiwit Bay at 7 a.m. Rain gear on, we had hoped that the rain would stop by the time we arrived at Lake Desor so we could get a chance to dry out. Getting out of Siskiwit, we came upon a creek/swampy area where the trail was somewhat hard to make out. After figuring it out, we had to step over the mud pit full of water, which I of course fell into while crossing. Boots now fully soaked through, we broke away from the bay and continued to Island Mine. The bonus of this so far ugly Monday morning was that the trail was lined with nice looking, and tasting, berries. Mosquitoes were swarming, even in the rain, so we were careful not to stop and gorge on berries for too long. Closer to Island Mine, the blister on my heel had popped, making my stride increasingly uncomfortable. After addressing the blister under some less-than-ideal tree cover in the rain, we continued with my pace getting better once again. At Island Mine, the rain seemed to stop, and was now reduced to dripping down off the tree canopy. That marked about 12 hours of rainfall overnight and into the morning. We were now on the Greenstone Ridge trail heading toward Desor, and I had forgotten how nice and easy of a trail it was. This helped our pace, and we arrived at South Lake Desor at around 12:30 p.m. For the past two days, we had heard about how the individual sites here offered no shade, however, this would be no issue as we’d yet to see the sun. It was also very windy here. We chose site #4, set up our wet tent, and hoped for some drying. Because it was still cloudy and very windy, the rain looked as if it could start again at any moment. This meant little chance for drying without the rainfly on. We would confine ourselves to the tent and do nothing for a while. Without the rain and wind, I’m sure South Desor could be enjoyed. We scratched dinner and pulled together food from other days. With our longest day of the trip coming tomorrow, we hoped for a rain-free night to get a good start in the morning. The sunset is gorgeous and can be seen in the distance, giving us our first look at the sun all day. Sailor’s delight?

Tuesday, Aug. 12
Start: South Lake Desor
End: Todd Harbor
Distance: 11.6 miles
Time Hiked: 5.5 hours

We woke up from a rain-free night to the delight of clear skies. It looked as if it would be another very nice day. We got out of the site a little later today than in previous days, but were looking forward to the trip to Todd Harbor and the prospect of drying our gear. Todd Harbor stuck out as my favorite spot during my last visit to the island, so I was excited to get back, and purposely planned two nights here because of my familiarity. On the trail just before 8 a.m., we were embarking on our longest day, mileage wise. As we hit the Greenstone Ridge, we were reminded of how nice of a trail it is, especially with the sun shining down on us. We got up to our usual swift pace, and reached the tower at Ishpeming Point at 9:30 a.m. After a quick snack, we headed toward Hatchet Lake and the junction to Todd Harbor. We arrived at the junction going to Hatched Lake around 11:15 a.m., and rested in the sun for a few minutes. The views from this area looking down on Siskiwit Lake were a pretty sight. With the sun beating down on us, we couldn’t wait to get to Todd Harbor to enjoy it and lay out gear to dry. Knowing there is only one shelter at Todd Harbor, we were eager to get there and see if we could stay in it for the next two nights. When we arrived at Todd Harbor around 1:30 p.m., we found the shelter to be occupied by a group who arrived not long before us from McCargoe Cove. We settled for site #2, which was more than OK, especially having a picnic table once again. We would soon go sit out on the dock to take advantage of the latest stretch of perfect weather. One of the girls in the shelter was on the dock and said they would be leaving in the morning, so the shelter should be ours to grab for our second night at Todd Harbor. No worries – I’ve spent plenty of nights in a tent and one more surely wouldn’t hurt. The girl also asked if we had heard the medical evac. helicopter overhead on Monday, which we did not, but now it makes sense after seeing the story regarding the woman breaking her leg. We would head back to the site for our freeze-dried dinners. The Backpacker’s Pantry Santa Fe Style Rice with Chicken was a pleasant surprise and is definitely a meal I could eat on the trail regularly. With the night winding down, we would prepare to watch the sunset from a familiar place of mine on the rocks on the point beyond group campsite #1. This may be my favorite place on the island, as it is among the things that stick out to me most about my previous trip. Our shelter neighbors offered us brownies, which we accepted after watching the sunset. The brownies were delicious, and were nice to share among good company. We’re really looking forward to spending another day here and doing some exploring of the area.

Wednesday, Aug. 13
Zero day at Todd Harbor
Suggestions: Stay at Todd Harbor

Zero day! A day like today is perfect for sleeping in, though we didn’t really take advantage of doing so. The shelter would soon be ours, and our brownie-sharing neighbors were kind enough to let us know when they were leaving so we could be sure to move into our new (temporary) home. As I emerged from the tent, I realized how windy it was and how the lake was covered in whitecaps. However, the sun was shining and it did appear to be another very nice day with plenty of sunshine on the way. We would soon move into the shelter and have the security of knowing that if it did rain, we would be kept dry. At this point, we were now alone at Todd Harbor. We realized that our hardest part of the day would be figuring out how to use up the time. Good problem to have. We made tuna alfredo for lunch that didn’t get used for dinner during our stay at South Lake Desor, and man was it good, and filling. After letting our big lunch settle, we would head over to Haytown Mine and the waterfall beyond it. The mine was nothing more than a hole with trees growing from it, unlike some of the other mines on the island that I can remember seeing and offering more. Nevertheless, I can appreciate the historical value. The real sight to see here was the series of waterfalls along the creek beyond the mine. I took a dip in the creek since it was sure to be warmer than the waters of Superior. We sat out on the rocks where the creek empties into Lake Superior for a good amount of time. Just another cool spot at Todd Harbor that reinforces it as my favorite place to stay. The first new campers arrived around 3 p.m., and were not into saying anything beyond “hi.” By now, the wind shifted and the whitecaps were gone, which was nice. We sat on the dock and noticed a ranger boat approaching us. The boat eventually reached us at the dock and the rangers aboard simply asked us how we were, if we had any injuries, how many people were staying at the campsite, etc. They were on their way out of the harbor within a few minutes, without even setting foot on the dock. Before they left, we asked for the weather report, to which they said the forecast looked good with the exception of a chance of rain on Friday. Sounds good. I was surprised to have seen them in the first place as I’d never seen rangers at any place on the island beyond Windigo and Rock Harbor. The campsite would soon be filling up quickly, as we prepared our pesto salmon pasta for dinner. Two pasta dishes in one day is pushing it, especially after doing no hiking. We noticed two kayaks heading into the harbor, which eventually reached the dock. Heading back to our sunset spot, we would stop and chat with the kayakers for a good amount of time. They had paddled 25 miles and fought the whitecaps early in the day. It was fun to hear a different perspective of getting around the island, and we had suggested they hike the island sometime, which they hadn’t considered previously. We took in the sunset once again, and it became apparent that it would be hard to be disappointed with any night’s offering from this view. Another day in the books, and we hope the day of rest will treat us well for the upcoming days to close out the trip.

Thursday, Aug. 14
Start: Todd Harbor
End: McCargoe Cove
Distance: 6.6 miles
Time Hiked: 3 hours

Another rough night of sleep for me. I was up half the night shivering during the coldest night I can recall among all my nights of staying on the island. I think it’s time for a new sleeping bag. The one I’m using must be 15 years old and doesn’t seem to keep warm like it once did. The plus side to sleeping in all your clothes, is that you can roll out of bed and start your day. It took a little bit longer to hit the trail this morning as I was trying to pack up while thawing out at the same time. Todd Harbor was good to us, but we got on the trail around 8 a.m. and made moves toward McCargoe Cove. The only thing I remember about being at McCargoe during my last trip was that we saw a moose in the cove. I can only hope it happens again. A new walking stick in hand furnished by yours truly, the first part of the Minong Ridge Trail out of Todd Harbor was a breeze, especially with fresh legs and rested feet following our zero day. However, the trail quickly proved to be more challenging as we continued. This sure wasn’t the nice, flat, Greenstone Ridge Trail we’d enjoyed just two days ago. The skies were once again clear, with the sun heating up quickly with each passing minute. Our legs got heavy, and joints put to the test, though some of the views from atop the ridge made for all of this to be better than advertisted. It quickly became apparent that even though this would be one of our shortest distances traveled on the trail during the trip, that it may very well be the toughest 6.7 miles we’ll see. With the sun beating down on us, we managed to continue our steady, yet swift, pace, despite what was under our feet. We came to the junction of the Minong Mine, and without hesitation, I headed for it. I knew that we wouldn’t want to come back once arrived at McCargoe Cove, so now was the time. After all is said, the Minong Mine is a very neat place to get in touch with the history of the island. Walking through the mine cave and the leftover artifacts spread throughout the area combine to make up a much more prevalent evidence of history. We were soon on to McCargoe Cove and arrived there around 11 a.m. We settled in shelter #4, which was roasting in the sun, but there was no other option available in any sort of shade. We went down to the dock and soaked our feet in the cool water and chatted with the few folks also hanging out there. At this point, I found myself to be not very impressed with McCargoe Cove. There certainly wasn’t anything wrong with it, but it didn’t stick out to me like other sites do on the island to the best of my memory. We returned to the shelter and laid low for a while. A group of guys fishing the cove while floating on inner-tube type devices made a good amount of obnoxious noise that echoed up and down the cove during this time. Dinner consisted of Thanksgiving in a pot, which turned out to be delicious. The cooking aspect of my trail skills are coming along well. The temperature dropped quickly, forcing us to add layers sooner than each previous night on the island. We smelled a fire going, so we walked down the community fire ring and joined a handful of others around a fire. It was nice to sit by a fire for the first time on the trip as many people don’t make the effort to gather wood. A fox had popped out onto the trail beside us, but quickly went in the opposite direction. We got chatty before returning to the shelter to dive into our pudding, if the fox didn’t find it out on the picnic table first. The pudding never thickened, but butterscotch milk was a treat of its own. It’s hard to believe we’re down to just two more days. We’re off to the south side of the island tomorrow.

Friday, Aug. 15
Start: McCargoe Cove
End: Moskey Basin
Distance: 8.6 miles
Time Hiked: 3.5 hours

A much better night of sleep was had as I didn’t spend it shivering. We woke at 6:30 a.m. and got to steppin’ at our more typical time of 7 a.m. It’s another clear morning on the island, though we’d heard for a couple days now that today had the best chance for rain. With that in the back of our minds, we were on our way from the north side of the island to Moskey Basin on the south side in a matter of 8 miles. With my heel blister’s pain for the most part subsided, I could go back to taking a normal stride, which in turn relieved my calf from picking up the slack. Save for the fact that my knee is aching pretty good after the Minong Ridge yesterday, I’m feeling good. If it’s not one thing, it’s something else, right? Our pace was right on target with other days, and we reached West Chickenbone quickly. Along the way, I forgot how much puddle-jumping this part of the trail was. Wooden planks here and there, with swampiness underneath our feet was frequent. It felt hotter than previous days, and with the sun beating down on us once again, the layers came off quickly. While passing through Lake Ritchie, I thought to myself how it appeared to be a nice area, and wouldn’t mind a stay here during a future trip. After all, I planned this current trip with stays at places I’d only been to during my first trip to the island with the exception of Chippewa Harbor, so trying new sites would be welcomed. We arrived at Moskey Basin after a swift hike time of 3.5 hours to put us at 10:30 a.m. We wasted no time in settling into shelter #2, which is just steps away from the water’s edge. What a great place to be. Staying in a group site during my first stay, I didn’t get this perspective. I quickly decided that Moskey Basin was a favorite place to stay based on campsite location. Within the hour, we were in the water under the hot sun. This came after watching a guy from the shelter next to us take 10 minutes to get in. We quickly found something that Moskey Basin had, but other campsites did not – biting flies. It was hard to sit outside when you’re swatting flies off you every so often. We put up with it, and made our way to the dock where others were swimming during their stopover prior to continuing down the Rock Harbor Trail. We chatted for a good amount of time with an older couple who had to cut their trip short due to the husband’s illness. What a bummer. With time to kill, we explored the campground at Moskey Basin, once again, finding that there was no sign of any groups staying within the group sites. It was still early, but I found it odd that up to this point, we had yet to be staying at a campground with any of the group sites occupied. Before long, it was time for our last dinner that consists of more than pouring boiling water in a pouch in being chicken, bacon, ranch potatoes. The meal turned out good and is another one I would make on the trail in the future. A man in a kayak paddled up and asked if we had any beer, to which we unfortunately replied “no” and instantly thought about how good it would be if we did. By now the clouds were rolling in, very similarly to how they did so during our stay at Siskiwit Bay and the eventual 12 continuous hours of rain. It certainly looked like rain was on its way. We prepared for bed while the man in the kayak was jamming out and playing his harmonica a few shelters away. Soon the harmonica was accompanied by rolling thunder in the distance. Here it comes. The first drops hit around 9:30 p.m. – just like the night at Siskiwit Bay. The rain continued with flashes of lightning in the distance. At one point it came down very hard and now it sounded as if the lake water’s edge was on our doorstep and we would eventually float away. Thankful for being dry in a shelter, the rain let up by midnight. We hoped for a dry morning as we would be waking up to catch the sunrise. Not only that, but if we could get through one more day without rain, it would cap off a great trip.

Saturday, Aug. 16
Start: Moskey Basin
End: Chippewa Harbor
Distance: 6.3 miles
Time Hiked: 2.25 hours

Our last day of hiking came quick, and by choice. We awoke at 5 a.m. to catch the sunrise, which was nothing spectacular due to the cloud cover, but still worth the effort of walking 10 feet out the door. We did get a bonus of seeing an otter swimming by in front of us, as pointed out by our shelter neighbor who was also up for the sunrise. Back to sleep for a while. As with most of the time, once I wake up, I can’t fall back asleep, so there I laid for two hours. We got back up for good around 7 a.m. and were packing up for our trek back toward Lake Ritchie and on to Chippewa Harbor, where I’ve never been. The sky had cleared since the cloudy sunrise, and looked to be yet another nice day. We took our time before getting on the trail just before 8 a.m. I quickly found out that wearing shorts was a bad idea as the overnight rain had the trailside brush dousing my bottom half as I walked by. This soon turned into wet and sloshy boots. As uncomfortable as it was, we were once again moving well, although a bit slower on purpose to use up time. Knowing we had all the time we did, we still did the 2.1 miles to Lake Ritchie in 45 minutes. It was also at this point that I looked to the sky and saw nothing but gray. The blue skies had disappeared quickly. It was easy to go unnoticed due to the fact that we had gone each day besides Monday seeing nothing but blue sky throughout the day. Looking like rain could hit us at any moment, we decided to pick up the pace and get to Chippewa Harbor with hopes of staying dry, other than our already soaking boots and pants. The trail was muddy and allowed us to see various moose tracks, which had for the most part gone unseen since we left the Feldtmann Lake area. The rain continued to hold off as we approached Chippewa Harbor. Eventually we came to the Lake Mason junction, where a handful of people looking like they had no business being on the trail asked us how to get to Lake Mason (the post with the arrow helps) and continued on. I had guessed they came in off a boat, which I was able to confirm once we arrived at Chippewa Harbor. Each of the four shelters was empty, so we had our pick as to which we wanted to stay in. It was 10 a.m., we had avoided rain, and had the entire day to let our boots dry out, though we were now done using them after 8 days. It would be nice to see the sun, but now that we have a roof to settle under, we can’t ask for much, considering the 6/7 near perfect weather days we’ve had up to this point. We made our way to the dock where the “Pelican” was docked. A nice sized yacht which had kayaks laid out next to it that we debated taking for a spin, in a sarcastic manner, of course. Sitting on the dock didn’t last long as the wind was whipping into the sunless harbor. The yacht group returned from their short walk to Lake Mason and pretended to have seen a moose. Too bad. One of the women asked us how many days we had been out for and then wondered what we ate as if we were hunting and living off the land the entire time. As they got into their kayaks, we went and explored the old schoolhouse beyond the group site. Another cool piece of history of the island with many artifacts presumably found within the area over the years. These kinds of things spark my interest and make me want to look deeper inside the history of the area and overall island. The yacht eventually left the harbor in the early afternoon, and we were now alone at Chippewa Harbor. The sun eventually broke through in the afternoon, with blue sky moving in. This made for sitting outside to be more enjoyable, but the wind was still cutting. We made our last dinner of freeze dried meals and reflected on our trip. We agreed that we were very fortunate with many aspects, including the weather, lack of significant injuries, etc., and had very few, if any worth mentioning, issues. One last game of cribbage on the dock before the cold chased us into our sleeping bags. Back to reality tomorrow as we close our eyes on the last night of an excellent trip.

Sunday, Aug. 17
Start: Chippewa Harbor
End: Grand Portage

It was another cold night, but we were warmed by the thought of returning home today. We could hear the wolves howling in the distance during different times throughout the night. Just as eerie as the first time I heard them howling while staying at Moskey Basin in 2002. We woke up at 5 a.m. and braved getting out of our sleeping bags to catch the sunrise on the dock, which was improved upon the one yesterday at Moskey Basin. We laid around while the sun rose higher in the sky, feeling warmer as each minute passed. We had little packing to do as we don’t hit the trail, but instead await the arrival of the Voyageur II to take us back to the mainland. The Voyageur would arrive early (good thing we were ready) at just before 8:30 a.m. The boat was full of kayaks and passengers returning from Rock Harbor. The lake was a little more typical of itself, and not as calm as the day we had departed for the island. We spoke to two guys from Pennsylvania who drove up to Copper Harbor, took the ferry to Rock Harbor, and were now taking the Voyageur to Windigo to begin the first trip hiking the island. They were eager to see moose, though hearing we had only seen one in 9 days (which we were very fortunate for) had them anxious. During the ride back to Grand Portage, I gathered my thoughts on the trip. Hiking with someone who had never been on a wilderness trip for more than 3 nights didn’t take away from my trip. There were times where the inexperience showed, but I was more than willing to share any knowledge I could. It definitely helped being to the island before, albeit 12 years ago and with a bit of a clouded memory. It was a good trip back for me, and because it was a decent amount of time between visits, some of the experience during this trip made me feel like a first timer. As far as the pace on the trail, I had never finished hiking and gotten to the campsite so early with so much time to relax. There were times I was unsure if I liked it or not, yet in the end, I ended up liking it. Before the trip, I was somewhat against staying in a shelter, as I had never known any better than wilderness camping in a tent. However, my mind changed and the overall convenience of shelters was hard to pass up. Four nights in a tent, and four nights in a shelter was not a bad way to do it. Overall, we saw very few people on the trails. Some days a solo hiker or two, other days a group or a couple. Of all the people we did meet and talk to, they were all extremely nice and it was fun to share past, and new experiences, with them. Isle Royale truly is a gem, but it is not for everyone. I feel that each visitor should do their fair share of research and preparation, and make an effort to have the gear necessary to have a good time. We came across plenty of people who appeared to be ready and know what they were doing, but we also came across people who looked like they were a bit in over their heads. I can’t wait to get back, and plan a trip around getting to sites I’ve never been to before, while staying at my favorites as well.

Let me know if you have any questions about my trip. Thanks for reading!

[tree rattt]

Nice trip report.....seems like it went smooth like babys butt . Glad it all went good ....sounds like a lot of fun. I bet u cant wait to get back, does your first timer want to return?

[philranger]

What a great trail report. We were on the island at the same time as you. I think the Sunday / Monday rain probably contributed to that hiker who broke her leg. You got to cover some great areas. Any pictures?

[Ingo]

Great report! Thanks!

[hooky]

Thanks for the report

[Vandy]

Great read! I, too, would be interested in the newby's perspective.

[Midwest Ed]

Sounds like you have a great trip. Thanks for sharing your experiences and welcome to the "Todd Harbor Is My Favorite Campground" fan club. In spite of other nice campgrounds and campsites, Todd Harbor also remains my favorite as well. Let's just keep it our little secret.

[jjurhs]

Just missed you by a day at McCargoe Cove
Nice report

[NancyT]

Great report, thanks for posting. I too would like pictures!!

[jerry]

MrSniffles,
I feel what's on your feet are more important then anything on your back. To avoid blisters, I make sure my boots are well broken in and its a must for me to wear socks that use merino wool in their manufacture. I seldom have issues with blisters.