Isle Royale Forums

8/16-8/22 2014 Rock Harbor to Windigo:
My second time on the isle and I have to say she showed me her other face with little sunshine and plenty of fog/mist/low hanging clouds… Still, a great trip.
My 15 yo. son and I flew over to Rock Harbor Friday, August 16. I was duly impressed with the service; John, the owner operator carried himself with an air of cool confidence and I had very little apprehension in flying. But wow, what a small little plane. The water landing was a cool, first experience for me. In total, the flight afforded me an extra 12 hours to spend on ISRO and because I had wanted to experience the Windigo end of the island, the extra cost was a wash in my mind.
We landed in Tobin Harbor at 10, giddy with excitement; after a year of planning, our adventure was beginning. Did the orientation brief and filed our plans with the Ranger without waiting in line with the ferry crowd. Bought our gas and filled our water bottles. We decided on eating lunch at the café before we hit the trail. The burger, while good, wasn’t nearly as tasty as when you return from days on the trail; it’s all about perspective, I guess.
Our first camp was to be Lane Cove, but we decided to start on the Rock Harbor trail to enjoy some of the views of Lake Superior. The trail was muddy in spots from the previous night’s heavy rainfall. 10 minutes into the hike, I took my first spill; saving my hip at the expense of my wrist, hyper-extending it a bit but lucky in the fact that there was no real pain. Time to breakout the trekking poles.
We stopped at Suzy’s Cave to check it out as well as take a water break and apply bug repellent. The ‘skeeter’s weren’t too bad, but they were getting my arms while I hiked.
From Suzy’s Cave, we connected with the Tobin Harbor trail and followed it up the Mt. Franklin trail. The climb made me regret not doing more conditioning hikes this summer. I was sweating a good bit and had to take a break 50 yards before reaching the top. We rested on some exposed stone and took in the view not realizing we were so close to the top and the better view.
The switchback descent into Lane Cove was easier on the way down. We reached the campsite and had our choice of sites; we chose site 2 and I think that’s the best site with raised tent pads. Sleeping next to the water was peaceful; I enjoyed the sounds of the lapping water.
Knowing we’d be on the Greenstone, I packed extra water Sunday morning and we climbed out of LC; it was rough with me sweating profusely and having to stop a few times. The reward for our climb was taking a nice break at Mt. Franklin with its spectacular views. I think it’s my favorite place on the isle.
The sun was shining and the temps were warm on the Greenstone. We stopped for lunch at Ojibway tower taking advantage of the sun and heat to dry the tent out. There was a crowd there taking a break. It was interesting checking out everyone’s setup –so many styles of backpacking from ultra-light to extended expedition.
Seems everyone was headed to McCargoe…which I had thought about doing to afford an extra zero day. I decided to stick with my filed plan and head for Moskey. We went down the DF trail and took a break at Daisy to soak our feet. The water there is the coldest; it’s like sticking your feet in a bucket of ice cubes. I took time to leave my mark in the log book before heading towards Moskey.
I love the section between DF and Moskey; it’s a rugged hike especially in the heat of the midday sun and was taxing, but enjoyable.
Some believe everything happens for a reason: when I reached Moskey, I was spent. Tired beyond belief. I stopped at the entrance to the campground and greeted some day hikers; a father with his preteen son and daughter. They had hiked from DF to Lake Ritchie and were on their return and having a rough time of it. The father offered me $20 for Snicker bars. I, of course wouldn’t consider taking his money, but did provide them with trail bars and trail mix out of my limited food supply. Their water supply seemed limited and I offered to filter some water for them, but they assured me they had enough –I hope they did. It was gratifying to be able to help people out on the trail as I have needed it myself once or twice.
We took a shelter on the shore and enjoyed the quiet –making too much noise ourselves, I fear; have to remember not to let the door bang shut. Loons and otter on the water and a mouse beneath the table darting out from beneath the shelter and around my bare feet.
I watched the sunrise…sort of. Heavy cloud cover Monday morning promising rain. We overtook a group of scouts just past Lake Ritchie. They had a tough itinerary as far as I could tell having hiked from RH to Moskey the day before and headed for Hatchet that day. It started to rain, so we stopped to put our pack covers on. The scouts passed us and I gave them an extra 5 minutes before we set back out. My son was in the lead and startled a moose on the trail. The cow scrambled off trail about 15 yards into the bush with ears perked up. I shot a few photos but didn’t get a very good one with the undergrowth in the way, but with her ears remaining perked up, I didn’t want to linger too long so we continued on happy that we had seen a moose.
We overtook the scouts again and they were dismayed over missing the moose sighting.
Lunch on the Greenstone in the lee of a large pine tree and then down the trail past Chickenbone west and onward to McCargoe. The sun had come out and after securing a shelter, I placed gear on the rock face near our shelter to dry.
I met Smokey Brown’s group who were building a fire to grill a pike they had caught. The sun only remained out for a brief bit and I got a weather report from Smokey; rain the next day and a weather pattern setting up for less than stellar conditions for the next few days. I fell asleep shortly after dinner, the conversation from the gathered group at the fire ring not even keeping me awake. Slept soundly until midnight and then tossed and turned until dawn.
My son’s new boots were failing; the soles detaching from the boots; not good and because they were wet, I didn’t think I could field repair them. I had to change my plans and make for Windigo sooner with fewest miles.
Tuesday, we checked out the Minong Mine just as the rain started and headed for Todd Harbor where we ate lunch and filtered more water. We went on to Hatchet Lake and set up camp in the rain. Luckily, I had the rainfly from my hammock rig to setup so we could cook and eat out of the rain.
Wednesday morning the rain stopped. We got a late start and hiked; the trail still wet and muddy. Back on the Greenstone we saw the shed leaning against the post and took time to admire it. We reached Desor South and made camp. A mile before camp the overlook was spectacular. The trail after was muddy and wide, much wider than it should be. Again, the sun came out for a short time before clouding back up. we feasted, less worried about our food supply since we would be in Windigo sooner than planned. I made an awesome spaghetti with rehydrated venison burger, tomato paste, bell peppers and Raman noodles complete with parmesan cheese to sprinkle on top. We ate like kings!
Thursday the extra food we consumed came in handy as we made fast time, stopping for a snack at Island Mine trail junction. The original plan called for Sisiwit bay and Feldtmann. Alas, it wasn’t to be on this trip. We raced through the maple forest and reached Windigo early to enjoy a slice of pumpkin pie and a cold beer (for me, soda for my son).
I was at a dilemma on how to proceed: attempt an early flight back or stay and day hike out of Windigo. Friday morning, I woke my son and made him hurriedly pack, meeting the seaplane at 9. There was room and the Ranger was already at the dock, so she checked us out and we left on the plane.
The early flight allowed us to drive to Eagle Harbor and visit the monks at the Jam Pot to stock up on Thimble Berry jam. Also, we found a small café in the town of Larium called Tonys which made awesome omelets served with fresh homemade cinnamon bread toast. I highly recommend the café if you’re in the area. But bring cash because they don’t do plastic.
All in all, a great trip with an excuse to come back again to do the Feldtmann trail loop.

https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set ... 9f7efd3c87

I made my Facebook photo album public so pictures of our trip can be viewed using the above link

Great trip report, thanks for sharing.

How did your son like it? My kids got hooked about that age.

Ingo, my son loves backpacking. He actually was the reason I jumped into it, hiking 2 nights at Pictured Rocks when he was 13 with the scouts using a couple of old external backpacks I purchased from a co-worker for a few bucks, an cheap tent that didn't have a proper rainfly and wearing bluejeans at the time.

I've since learned a lot and have all the basics covered...I'm at that sweet spot where I can look to improve my gear, but don't lack for anything...that being said, it's still a learning experience for us everytime we embark on a trip.

Awesome trip report! Sounds like good times ....and an awesome crossection of the island covered. Bummer on the boots .Hiking with kids is such a fun and rewarding experience.....can't beat the one on one time!

Great Report,

We crossed paths. I was the solo hiker the Float Plane was dropping off on Friday morning. I couldn't help but over hear you discussing with the pilot about hoping to catch a ride back at that time.

Churchill, I was glad to see you getting off the plane. I wasn't sure if you had came from Houghton or Rock Harbor... it wouldn't have been a bad thing to hang out for a couple of extra days, but having my planned hike altered due to circumstances, I was ready to leave.

Reference: "My son’s new boots were failing; the soles detaching from the boots; not good and because they were wet, I didn’t think I could field repair them. I had to change my plans and make for Windigo sooner with fewest miles."

Donk_67 - I was on the island three weeks prior to your trip guiding my adult niece and daughter on their first visit. We took the float plane into Windigo and out of Tobin Harbor. When we arrived at Island Mine the first evening my daughter pointed out that both of her boots were failing with the middle cushioning layer starting to break down. Her boots were ten years old and I had been concerned about them failing as rubber and glues get old. But my daughter wanted to wear them because they were broken in. I twisted and bent them looking for separation and had her wear them around but they appeared to be okay prior to the trip. I just wanted to kick myself for not listening to my inner voice.

Going back to Windigo didn't seem like much of an option so I decided that we would continue, but reduce our miles a bit and cut out a visit to Lane Cove. My field repair solution was to secure lengths of parachute cord from the upper lace eyelets and under the heel, and another from the lowest eyelets under the sole, running between the lugs on the sole. I hoped that this would retard further separation. We made it all the way to the Tobin Harbor and were just an hour short of Rock Harbor before the separation was bad enough to allow a pebble to work through. That parachute cord fix saved our trip. The original cord lasted all the way to Rock Harbor although one was worn down to only a couple of remaining strands.

Gimp, that's a great fix. Luckily, we didn't reach that point in boot failure. However, I was focused on using tape or glue and I'm not sure I would have thought of parachord, which I had some of.
The boots are very repairable still. What really irritated me, was the fact that the boots were newly purchased; he had only put a couple of break-in hikes on them and they are what I consider an expensive brand name boot. I won't bad mouth the company pending the results of the warrenty claim I'm going to invoke.

Expensive name brand boots ......hmmmm....with sole failure .That sounds like my luck with Rockies and columbia boots if it is either brand then I wish you better luck than I had.After a quick shoo goo fix the rockies made another year. The columbia boots ....well, they were just unsalvageable junk!!!! I may recomend a pair of wally world chepo's Madeline has 150 trail miles plus 6 months of around the house use ......still going strong .....9 bucks on sale I still like Rockies, especially the military / work boot line ....you never break the boots into your feet , they break your feet into the boot just can't kill em!

If we are talking boots I am a huge fan of Timberland, I finally wore out my first pair after 5 years of daily wear. Went to the timberland store and they actually still made the same boot... I bought 2, now 7 years later I have started wearing the third pair... I just hope they are still making them when I need another

On boot destruction I took a new guy hiking on a weekend trip and he started trailing back on day 2... I just thought he was tired until I noticed he was dragging a foot to keep the heal from swinging around. Paracord and duct tape and we got him back to the car the next day, then he ordered the boots I have lol