Isle Royale Forums

My husband and I and two other couples have our first trip to IR the first week of Aug...super excited Planning on pants instead of shorts and have good boots...would people recommend gaiters too? Thanks for any info you provide.

Yes, brush along the trails can be pretty thick this time of year, and it will be wet with dew in the mornings. It can definitely soak your pants. I use rain pants, but others swear by gaiters.

2nd on the gaiters. The thimbleberries have huge leaves that hold amazing amounts of water (dew, even when not raining) and obscure the trail in many places. And if it's muddy you'll really appreciate them. You can get by without them, but likely will have wet feet somewhere along the way from water running down your legs--rain pants would do also, but personally I hate hiking in them unless it's like 40 degs.

I have never worn gators on the island,and have not had problems. It does seem like everyone swears by them, so I may try to find the lightest set I can get and try them out. Mine always feel too hot.

It's been situational for me. I've always taken them when hiking in coastal Washington or Oregon (it's always rainy), but seldom needed them at Isle Royale. Unless it is really rainy, I'm on the Minong Trail, or I'm bushwacking, they tend to just take up space in my pack. Good quality, well broken-in boots are the key for many trips...

I wear shorts most of the time, so I always take my gaiters to keep my socks and boots dry for the morning dew on overgrown trails.

Gaiters are really useful on the Hatchett Lake - Windigo stretch of the Greenstone (and the stretch from Mt. Franklin to Lookout Louise), where the trail is flanked with head high foliage which will get wet and will in turn make you wet. Boots and socks stay drier with gaiters in these conditions. Other areas of ISRO -- most of the Minong, the Indian Portage, the Rock Harbor, and the Lake Ritchie trails -- are not nearly as overgrown and in these areas gaiters are optional.