Isle Royale Forums

Looking forward to my first trip to IR this summer. Planning on leaving from Grand Portage on 7/4 and arriving at the island at McCargoe Cove. Idea is that once off the boat hike to Lake Richie to spend the night. 7/5 we would hike down to Chippewa Harbor and hopefully rent some canoes (Still looking to see if this is possible). Would then like to canoe the rest of 7/5 and 7/6 working our way to Malone Bay to spend the night of 7/6 there and drop of the canoes. On 7/7 hike from Malone Bay to Desor S. On 7/8 hike from Desor S to Island Mine. 7/9 hike Island Mine to Windigo to catch ferry at 1:00 back to Grand Portage.

Questions:
1. July 4th is on a Weekend are we going to be engulfed with other hikers?
2. Has anyone done this trip before?
3. Been in norther MN during the summer before but are we going to be eaten alive by Mosquitoes and Black Flies?
4. If so what has been the repellent of choice?
5. Done numerous trips to RMNP and daily mileage is much smaller. Is it feasible to hike 11 miles in one day? (I know a ton of variables play in here just looking for general consensus)
6. Is it possible to canoe from Chippewa Harbor to Malone Bay in roughly one and a half days.
7. Trying to incorporate both hike and canoe into this trip. Are we totally missing the boat on this itinerary and not seeing the best of the island?
8. Since boat leaves at one from Windigo are we going to need to be up before sunrise to make the hike from Island Mine to Windigo in order to make the boat?

Thanks for any help.

I have never heard of anything to rent at Chippewa Harbor. I would never take a canoe from there to Malone. A very perilous undertaking in a canoe. I hope to take my sea kayak out that way and I just last Sunday planned out the trip. Even with a sea kayak and dressed for immersion you would have to have a real good handle on the weather. That is a very doable trip in a sea kayak if you are well equipt, have decent skills, decent weather and the time to wait out a bad weather day. Without those things the probability of a disaster, even death, starts to go up to the not very good at all range.

Clarification on the Canoeing. We were planning on using the inland lakes of Lake Whittlesey, World Lake, then Siskiwit Lake to get to Malone Bay. I agree going out in Lake Superior would be a dangerous task in a canoe.

I agree on availability of renting a canoe at Chippewa (or of dropping it off elsewhere). There are no rental facilities at Chippewa. Maybe you could arrange for a canoe drop off there from Rock Harbor or Windigo, but I doubt it. As for making it from island mine to the 1pm ferry at Windigo, yes, that is doable. The hike is largely downhill and you should have plenty of time.

Looks like Grand Portage Isle Royale Transportation Line Inc will drop off/pick up canoes at the following locations

Windigo
McCargoe Cove
Malone Bay
Belle Isle
Rock Harbor
Daisy Farm
Chippewa Harbor

http://www.isleroyaleboats.com/paddling.asp

I will have to give them a call. Anybody had any dealings with them?

Everyone that has gone to Windigo from Grand Portage has used them. Capt Don is a member here. Good people.

Here's the link to their posting of the 2015 rates and schedules with some feedback for you. http://isleroyaleforums.com/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=2695

If they drop off at Chippewa at 9am, then the pickup would 2 days later at Malone at 10am. I'm not sure they'll just drop off or pick a boat if you're not there with it though, so that might cause a wrinkle if your dates don't line up with their schedule.

Something to think about if you're going to paddle the inland route from Chip to Malone is that it's possible that Siskiwit will be unsafe to paddle on. On my last trip, there was a party that spent 4 days at Malone with the intent to fish siskiwit. They couldn't get on the lake due to the wind.

redstar wrote: 1. July 4th is on a Weekend are we going to be engulfed with other hikers?

The island will be busy with hikers during this time, no doubt. It'll also be busy with bugs.

redstar wrote: 2. Has anyone done this trip before?

I've done most of this hike before, but never paddled it. The hike from McCargoe to Richie is do-able, but it gets tougher after Lake Chickenbone. Also, there is NO canoe rental in Chippewa Harbor. Like someone else mentioned, you'd have to rent in MN, then have the VII transport your boat to Chippewa, and that'll be expensive. Also like someone else mentioned, I can't speak to the paddle from Chippewa to Malone via the inland lakes.
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redstar wrote: 3. Been in norther MN during the summer before but are we going to be eaten alive by Mosquitoes and Black Flies?

As mentioned before, the bugs are going to be killer. Bring lots of spray and a head net.

redstar wrote: 4. If so what has been the repellent of choice?

I've never found anything that is definitively perfect for the bugs at IR. Sprays or lotion, they all get sweated off. A head net is a must in camp.

redstar wrote: 5. Done numerous trips to RMNP and daily mileage is much smaller. Is it feasible to hike 11 miles in one day? (I know a ton of variables play in here just looking for general consensus)

11 miles on IR is really do-able. I've done 14 in a day, over the Minong Ridge trail (tough), and I'm not in shape like you are if you're covering ground in RMNP.

redstar wrote: 6. Is it possible to canoe from Chippewa Harbor to Malone Bay in roughly one and a half days.

I'm not qualified to answer this question, sorry to say. There's plenty of others on this forum who are, however.

redstar wrote: 7. Trying to incorporate both hike and canoe into this trip. Are we totally missing the boat on this itinerary and not seeing the best of the island?

I'm a hiker and not a paddler. That being said, you can do both, but I don't think your trip is feasible this time. Your best hiking/paddling trip combination would involve working out of Windigo or Rock Harbor. If you think you can get back to IR (you'll want to), then I'd start with a hiking-only trip to get a feel of island life and how things work here. One trip and you'll be hooked, plus you'll have a greater understanding of how the logistics work for IR. My $0.02

redstar wrote: 8. Since boat leaves at one from Windigo are we going to need to be up before sunrise to make the hike from Island Mine to Windigo in order to make the boat?

The hike from Island Mine to Windigo is on the Greenstone, which I politely refer to as "Isle Royale's Interstate." The trail is flat, wide, and easily hiked. That being said, you're going to want to get up plenty early to ensure you get to Windigo with plenty of time to spare...don't miss the boat.

redstart wrote:......Is it possible to canoe from Chippewa Harbor to Malone Bay in roughly one and a half days.......

I haven’t canoed that stretch, but have kayaked it about 20 years back. We paddled from Malone to Chippewa Harbor in a few hours. Conditions though, were ideal. We had a light offshore wind with virtually no waves. We also passed several canoes paddling the same stretch that made it to Chippewa harbor a few hours after we did. So, to answer, your question, under the right conditions, it’s only about a 1/2 day paddle in a canoe from Malone to Chippewa Harbor.

Edit: I was assuming you’d be canoeing in Lake Superior. If you plan on canoeing from Chippewa Harbor to Malone Bay via Lake Whittlesey, 1 1/2 days for this paddle is quite doable.

Last year my brother and I canoed from Chippewa to Malone via the inland lakes in a day. We had a decent but not terrible headwind on Siskiwit and were both burning pretty badly and happy to get there. We fished Chippewa and started making time around 10, then fished a little in Whittlesey and Wood lakes along the way--got to Malone in the evening. If you do this, plan (A) should be to do it in 1 day if Siskiwit is paddleable, and plan (B) to layover at Wood Lake and pray you can do it the next day. To emphasize what's been said, Siskiwit is a very large lake and can be dangerous, so you need to take advantage of the opportunity when you can. Early a.m. and evenings tend to be calmest as a generalization, although you can't rely on it. Just get up and go early, or if you have to wait out weather, sometimes it will calm down later. All that said, it's a beautiful area and all the campgrounds are great.

1. July 4th is on a Weekend are we going to be engulfed with other hikers?

I was there July 4th 2013 and we left from Houghton - the island was NOT overcrowded, in fact the Ranger on the Ranger (ha!) said the July 4th weekend was not a popular time. We are planning another trip this year over the 4th holiday weekend, this time from the Windigo side. It will be my fourth trip, boyfriend's 13th time.....so he outta know!

Enjoy your trip!