Isle Royale Forums

Hello! I have been tweaking our itinerary based on the group we will be traveling with. Here is the latest one. I would be curious on your thoughts.
We will be leaving on the Queen IV Friday Aug. 19 and will have a group of 4 fairly inexperienced hikers.

Day 1 - Arrive on Queen IV around noon to Rock Harbor. Hike Rock Harbor to Lanes Cove 6.9 Miles
Day 2 - Lane Cove to Daisy Farm - 7.2 miles (stop at lookout tower)
Day 3 - Daisy Farm to 3 Mile - 4.4 miles
Day 4 - 3 Mile to Rock Harbor - 3 miles

I am intentionally trying to keep the day hikes short.

Thoughts on doing this trip in this order versus flipping it around to hit 3 mile first? I have it this way since we should have the most energy and capacity to hike to Lane Cove on day 1 and we would have a nice relaxing hike back to Rock Harbor on the final day. This will be especially practical if for some reason it rains on the last day or someone is nursing a minor injury. I would hate to hike 7.2 miles in rain while having the departure of the boat stressing us.

Thanks for any feedback!

Day 1, your food supply will be the heaviest.

1-Three mi
2-Lane cove
3-Daisy farm or Three mi
4- Rock Harbor

YMMV.

I like your itinerary. Take the Tobin Harbor trail out of RH. At the junction to Mt. Franklin, make the decision to go onto Lane Cove or bail out to 3 mile and follow something similar to jrwiesz's suggestion.

Key words I see is "inexperienced hikers". The hike from Rock Harbor to Lane is pretty grueling getting off the boat. I have done it a couple of times, but it is exhausting. With your limited days, and experience, I think I would go for Three Mile, then go to Lane Cove and come back. Three Mile is beautiful, but is not wilderness. Lane Cove is beautiful and wilderness. If I had the days you had, and the experience level, I would do Three Mile, Lane Cove and come back. That will be enough to make you want to come back and expand you days.