End to end loop hike

[pixtory]

Has anyone ever done an end to end loop hike on Isle Royale - do one way on the Minong and the other on the Greenstone? Looking at the maps, it seems like it could be done over a couple of weeks. While I think doing such a thing would be amazing, I also recognize that parts of it would be torture. I'd love to hear if others have done it, or what your opinions are on it.

[ARRC]

I met a couple this past may. They where in there mid sixties and I believe did that and a bit more. Travel light and plan your food drops and you shouldn't have a problem.

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[dcclark]

jpemerick (who hasn't posted here for a long time) did something sort of similar in 10 days, but then again he has like a 20 foot stride and likes hiking a few miles before the sunrises. You might want to see his blog posts about it.

[thesneakymonkey]

That sounds like an awesome trip. I remember reading a post on here somewhere that someone was going to do/had done it recently. Or maybe I heard it from someone on the island....cant remember. Anyways going 1 way on the minong was fun. I can imagine doing the loop would be double the fun, right?! haha

[pixtory]

So what I'm hearing is this should be possible to do and hopefully not too difficult! After reading the blog posts, I realize the itinerary I was thinking of is much easier than his was, and I'm planning on more days. I don't think I could handle 20 mile days. So this sounds doable - thanks for the input everyone!

[Montana]

Here is a blog from a hiker who did the loop in 15 days:

http://bushwhackingfool.com/2012/02/18/ ... -itinerary

If you dig into his info, you will find a report for each day's hike, great photos and plenty of useful info. He also details how he resupplied in Windigo, his gear list and food list.

Have fun!

[dmsmith]

My wife Marie and I did just this trip last May. (I wonder if we’re the couple AARC mentioned above... we are in our sixties.) We were on the island 12 days, collected a food drop at Windigo, and took a zero day there.

We started at Rock Harbor and took 5 days to reach Windigo via the Minong Ridge Trail, DF, MC, TH, NLD, WC. After the zero and getting our food drop, we took the Greenstone Ridge Trail back to Rock Harbor, SLD, HL, ECB, LC, TM (after hiking without packs to Lookout Louise to complete the Greenstone), RH.

The entire trip was just over 100 miles not counting wandering around Windigo. The longest days were 12.6 miles (with packs) and 14.2 miles (of which 9.6 was pack free.)

It’s was great trek that I heartily recommend.

[pixtory]

Resurrecting this old thread to say I DID THIS! Thank you all for the great information. I went from "Is this possible?" to "I think I could do this" to "Here I go!" I'll put together a full trip report in a bit - I just got home yesterday.

My route: DF, MC, TH, LT, NLD, WC, WC (0), SLD, HL, MB, TM, RH

It was a great trip - sunrises and sunsets, wildflowers, berries, moose, beavers and more - I loved it!

[bobcat]

Wohoo! Congratulations and I am looking forward to the trip report. Way to meet the challenge!

[thesneakymonkey]

Wooop! Can’t wait to read about it. Sounds like a fun adventure.

[torpified]

Hooray!! Thanks for circling back, and please do share details in good time!