Isle Royale Forums

Hello - I'm glad I found this great site.

We are planing our first trip to IR and wanted feedback on our planned route and some other questions. We are planning later in August this year.

Our group consists of some 50 year old guys in mixed states of fitness, 3 women aged 17-25 in decent fitness and two mid-20's guys who are very fit. We have little to no recent backpacking experience.

Here is our plans:

Day 1 - leave Copper harbor via ferry and arrive at Rock Harbor. Check in, etc. Hope to hit the trail by 1pm and make it to Daisy Farm (7 miles, ambitious I know)

Day 2 - Daisy Farm to Lake Richie 5.7 miles

Day 3 Lake Richie to Moskey Basin - 2.3 We would creat a base camp at Moskey and explore the areas & lakes nearby for fishing

Day 4 - Moskey to 3 Mile - 8 miles

Day 5 - 3 Mile to Rock Harbor to board ferry and head back

Is this doable? I know we will bite the bullet and travel far on our first day but I think it will get us to see more.


The rules around being a "group" which is more than 7 and less than 10. What benefit or drawback does the group status get? I thought you were able to reserve a shelter with a group, is this correct? Is it just best to split our group into two?

Last question (for now) are shoes. I have seen many conflicting opinions on shoes. Is the preference ankle high hikers preferred over standard athletic shoes?
I saw these at Dunhams and they seem like a good possibility: http://www.amazon.com/Northside-Mens-Ca ... B008FWRR06

Thanks for any feedback!

deeman wrote:Hello - I'm glad I found this great site.

We are planing our first trip to IR and wanted feedback on our planned route and some other questions. We are planning later in August this year.

Our group consists of some 50 year old guys in mixed states of fitness, 3 women aged 17-25 in decent fitness and two mid-20's guys who are very fit. We have little to no recent backpacking experience.

How many are "some" 50 y/o? Do you all plan on getting backpacking experience prior to your Isle Royale experience?

Here is our plans:

Day 1 - leave Copper harbor via ferry and arrive at Rock Harbor. Check in, etc. Hope to hit the trail by 1pm and make it to Daisy Farm (7 miles, ambitious I know)

Day 2 - Daisy Farm to Lake Richie 5.7 miles

Day 3 Lake Richie to Moskey Basin - 2.3 We would creat a base camp at Moskey and explore the areas & lakes nearby for fishing

Day 4 - Moskey to 3 Mile - 8 miles

Day 5 - 3 Mile to Rock Harbor to board ferry and head back

Is this doable? I know we will bite the bullet and travel far on our first day but I think it will get us to see more.

Yes, if all are ready; meaning, the some 50 y/o guys get in shape.

The rules around being a "group" which is more than 7 and less than 10. What benefit or drawback does the group status get? I thought you were able to reserve a shelter with a group, is this correct? Is it just best to split our group into two?

A group is 7 or more. Check the park newsletter the "Greenstone" http://www.nps.gov/isro/planyourvisit/u ... nstone.pdf for requirements/benefits/drawbacks. Shelters are first come, first served. Groups need to stay in designated "group tent" sites, or will need to be split, to change the options available(one of which is, "must have separate itineraries").

Last question (for now) are shoes. I have seen many conflicting opinions on shoes. Is the preference ankle high hikers preferred over standard athletic shoes?
I saw these at Dunhams and they seem like a good possibility: http://www.amazon.com/Northside-Mens-Ca ... B008FWRR06

The debate over trail runners vs hiking boots is comparable to debates in religion and politics. I will say "you get what you pay for"; I have always had good luck with Merrell, Montrail, The North Face, Vasque, & Keen, YMMV.

Thanks for any feedback!

Deeman,

Welcome to the forums. I have added some italicized replies underneath your inquiries in the quotation area(above) of this post.

I would suggest you read as much of these forums, and the Isle Royale newsletter as you can.

Nothing teaches the art of walking like doing it; ask yourself, "Am I ready to walk, with a pack, 7 mi, 5.7 mi, 2.3 mi, 8 mi, 3 miles in 5 consecutive days?"

Can you do it now, on flat ground at the mall, or in you favorite hilly park?

I will say, that if your group gets used to taking a walk every day(breaking in your choice of hiking footwear), and you all get together to do some shakedown camping in your backyard, local state park or recreation areas, getting used to(and deciding) the equipment you will be using, ie. making water, cooking meals and clean-up, attending to personal hygiene, setting and breaking camp, etc., then there is a good possibility that your adventure will be enjoyable.

The enjoyment on your adventure is usually correlated to the amount of planning, preparation, and practice one commits to beforehand.

Good Luck in the planning and preparation. Get out and practice.

Isle Royale Rocks!

Enjoy your trip.

A few points:

Group or not is not interchangeable: only groups can camp in group sites and they can only camp at group sites. Groups cannot divide up and take, for example, two shelters. The only way for groups to divide up is if they are on entirely different itineraries with zero overlap of campsites on the same nights. Finally, groups cannot deviate from their filed itineraries.

My personal preference on footwear is over the ankle boots, especially for new hikers on rocky ground.

Given the experience levels at play here, I suggest you build in a layover day in the middle and have alternate routes in mind, in case you need to scale back your plans (and you are not a group).

Some possibilities include camping at Rock harbor your first night (others will have to tell you the odds of nabbing a shelter (again, if you are not a group) and dayhiking the Stoll Trail as a first day outing. It is gorgeous and not very hard and you can do it with light packs, to get the engines started. Then go to Daisy Farm (you would have all day to do it). Then Moskey with a layover and then back the same way or with some variation.

Greetings Deeman. I'll add my thoughts about hiking boots: I've considered converting to trail runners even though the weight savings would be minimal over my vasques. However, Isle Royale isn't in my opinion, suitable for trail runners; given the mostly treacherous terrain, I'd want the over the ankle boots as insurance against injury.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

From Daisy, go to Moskey and spend two nights there and use it as a base to explore lake ritchie.

Welcome to the forums, deeman. Thanks for sharing you itinerary.

deeman wrote: Day 1 - leave Copper harbor via ferry and arrive at Rock Harbor. Check in, etc. Hope to hit the trail by 1pm and make it to Daisy Farm (7 miles, ambitious I know)

Don't sweat this first day's hike. The trail is very flat, right along the harbor, and you'll be treated to a nice breeze off the lake if the wind is right. The only annoying thing about this hike is that there's lots of rocks to stumble on. Take it very slow if you need. You'll find out on this hike if your boots don't fit well, because you'll get blisters here immediately.

deeman wrote: Day 2 - Daisy Farm to Lake Richie 5.7 miles

Don't listen to the naysayers, I like Lake Ritchie! Lots of wildlife and usually you're all by yourself. However, you may want to explore pushing right through to Moskey as hooky suggests, because Moskey is beautiful.

deeman wrote: Day 4 - Moskey to 3 Mile - 8 miles

Day 5 - 3 Mile to Rock Harbor to board ferry and head back

Great plan; avoid Rock Harbor, especially on boat days.

deeman wrote: Is this doable? I know we will bite the bullet and travel far on our first day but I think it will get us to see more.

Completely do-able, regardless of backpacking and/or physical capability. You're going to be at lake-level 90% of the time, so the hiking isn't very strenuous. Again, the first day's hike along the craggy lake shore will be the toughest...make sure, sure, sure you have good boots/shoes for hiking. Bring liner socks if you're prone to blisters.

deeman wrote: The rules around being a "group" which is more than 7 and less than 10. What benefit or drawback does the group status get? I thought you were able to reserve a shelter with a group, is this correct? Is it just best to split our group into two?

I believe this has been hammered home already in this thread, but groups must pre-register with the rangers and can only use group campsites. There is no reserving shelters for anyone, let alone groups.

deeman wrote: Last question (for now) are shoes. I have seen many conflicting opinions on shoes. Is the preference ankle high hikers preferred over standard athletic shoes?

I would strongly urge you to NOT wear a standard athletic shoe...Isle Royale will shred them before you finish your trip. You'll be wet, sore, and probably have blisters. Invest in a quality hiking shoe or boot. The $30 hiking boot you linked to looks OK. If you buy them, break them in well before going to IR, and spare the crap out of them with water-proofing. I'm not sure if you plan on doing more hiking or backpacking in your future, but now is the time to weigh an investment in a quality hiking shoe or boot.

The wettest/soggiest hiking will be between Daisy/Ritchie/Moskey, FYI.

Sounds like a great trip, enjoy it. Please come back and share a trip report and some pictures when you get back.

Thanks everyone for the fantastic feedback, I really appreciate it! I will share this with our group and adjust accordingly.

THANKS again!

deeman wrote:Thanks everyone for the fantastic feedback, I really appreciate it! I will share this with our group and adjust accordingly.

Let us know if you make any changes to the itinerary you've already asked for comment on.