Isle Royale Forums

Great forum! This will be my first IR trip, and I would love feedback on a possible itinerary for seven days and six nights starting and ending at Windigo. I am a former AT thru-hiker and I understand YMMV, I am in okay shape but by no means have trail legs. Still, if Jim Dufresne's book is correct that most experienced Backpackers hike 8 to 10 miles per day, my itinerary is somewhat ambitious... but I really like the idea of getting a taste of each of the three main trails despite a little bit longer days...and none of the days seem potentially difficult except Day 5 and maybe 6...What would you guys say?

Here is my tentative itinerary:
Day 1 Windigo to Feldtmann Lake
Day 2 Siskiwit Bay
Day 3 South Lake Desor
Day 4 Todd Harbor via Hatchet Lake
Day 5 North Lake Desor
Day 6 Washington Creek (or maybe Huginnin Cove if I am feeling energetic!)
Day 7 leave Windigo

The other more conservative option I'm considering so that my travel days are little bit (or a lot) shorter is:
Day 1 Windigo to South Lake Desor,
Day 2 Hatchet Lake
Day 3 Todd Harbor
Day 4 Little Todd Harbor
Day 5 N Lake Desor
Day 6 Washington Creek
Day 7 day hike Huginnin Cove loop
On the plus side for this route is the possibility of extending the hike up to McCargoe Cove Via West Chickenbone if I want to hike more...OR easily putting in a zero-day by hiking from S Lake Desor to Todd Harbor on day 2 if I want to hike less. Basically more flexibility with this option. I'm leaning towards my first itinerary however because I really want to see the Feldtmann Ridge Loop... but that could always wait til another trip.

Perhaps there's another route I haven't even considered... But I doubt it

Thanks for the advice!

Your plan is doable and you are correct, day five and six will make you wish you had a couple more days. Weather becomes more important as the summer moves on. by late August and September you may want to have and extra day for a storm day. Since you are coming from the West, have you considered going all the way to Rock Harbor? This would give you both ends of the Island and an extra day or two. You would see less of the Minong or Greenstone, but a lot of it will be heavy cover this time of year. Especially the west end of the Greenstone. Have Fun.

I'm envious of your itinerary -- it follows a lot of trail I haven't seen yet! It also omits my favorite part of the Greenstone, which is the ridgewalking east of the Chickenbones. I think the only sane conclusion to draw from this is that you'll have to come back for more!

But have you considered the following way to weave the three big trails together: follow the Feldtmann Loop around to the GRT, take that east for a bit, cut up to the Minong via Hatchet Lake, take the Minong east until it ends, drop south past the Chickenbones to the GRT, take that (and tributaries) east to Rock Harbor? That way you'd catch the more approachable stretches of the Minong and the more scenic stretches of the Greenstone. (I'm assuming you're taking the Voyageur; this would mean catching it when it leaves RH on your departure day instead of embarking in Windigo.) I haven't looked at the mileages/distribution of campsites to see if this really makes sense -- but I have the feeling you enjoy that sort of thing!

I have already booked my ferry and am leaving later this week. I procrastinated too long on booking my Ferry so the dates are set and I can't adjust anything at this point. I probably should have mentioned that in my original post, sorry.

If you have done extensive hiking on the AT and in decent shape, option 1 is doable knowing there are long days ahead. If you elect to do option 2, I'd cut out Hatchet Lake; leaving from S. Desor, you'll arrive at Hatchet before noon and frankly, I didn't find Hatchet interesting enough to spend a whole day there. Of course leaving that in your plans will give you the option of taking a zero day, should you need it.


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