Isle Royale Forums

Hi, guys! First post here, but I've been checking out this forum for quite a while and soaking up as much info as I can! I am planning a 5 night/6 day hike along with 3 friends for August 3-8. We will be arriving on the Voyageur II at Windigo on Saturday, and plan to immediately begin our trek westward, eventually taking the Thursday ferry back to Grand Portage from Rock Harbor. We are experienced backpackers, and comfortable with the mileages we are looking at, but are somewhat torn on what would be the "best" itinerary to pack in the sights as much as possible. We've gone over several options, and have settled, tentatively, between one of these two itineraries. I figured this would be an excellent place to gain some insight on either option, and to see if there is one way or another experienced IR'ers think we should steer. (Of note, we are more hikers than campers, and don't mind full days of movement. We've got experience with rough and challenging terrain, and mileages like those we're considering are not outside our realm of typical backpacking distances.)

Itinerary 1, (47.6 total mi): Taking the Greenstone Ridge Trail, Windigo -->S. Desor (11.6 mi) --> Hatchet Lake (8.1 mi) --> Moskey Basin (13.4 mi) --> Three Mile, via Ojibway from Daisy Farm and then back on the Greenstone (10.6 mi) --> Rock Harbor (3.8 mi)

Itinerary 2, (50.5 total mi): Along the Minong, Windigo-->N. Desor (11.6 mi)-->Todd Harbor (11.6 mi)-->McCargoe Cove (6.6 mi)-->Moskey Basin (8.6 mi)-->Rock Harbor, via Ojibway from Daisy Farm and then back on the Greenstone to Tobin Harbor to RH (11.1)

Anything you'd change? As you can probably see, we're hoping to overnight at Moskey, and would prefer to do at least some of the Greenstone on the eastern end rather than just the coastline back to Rock Harbor. Of course, there are pros and cons to both itineraries, but without having actually been to Isle Royale yet, we're not sure quite how to weight them. Itinerary 1 allows for an early arrival at Rock Harbor on our last hiking day (we plan to overnight there before catching our ferry the next day), which seems like might be a benefit for getting a campsite. We also kind of thought that it would allow us time to hike out to Scoville Point if we felt like it that day, too. If we were to, instead, go with our second itinerary, would our later in the day arrival at Rock Harbor make getting a campsite difficult? Are there any changes to our general preferred itineraries that you'd suggest?

Anyway! Thank you so much, in advance, for any insight! Can't wait to get out there this summer!

If you are experienced, the views and campsites are much nicer on the Minong than the Greenstone. It's always a good idea to plan for bad weather on the rock, so be prepared if you get delayed on the island.

Just a thought, but if you are going into Windigo. How about continuing on to McCargo and hiking the Minong back to Windigo? You could also Check out Huginnin cove.

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I haven't walked the length of the Minong (yet!), but I can attest that the portion of the Greenstone you'd skip on itinerary 2 is predominantly what I think of as Contemplative Forest Walking. Nothing wrong with that, of course---trees can get up to pretty weird and interesting things---but worth keeping in mind.

Another bonus of itinerary 2 is that you could check out the Minong mine, near McCargo cove.

I'm a great fan of the stretch of the Greenstone you'd see on your "detour" on the penultimate date of itinerary 1 and the last day of itinerary 2.

If you have the flexibility to indulge, a room (or two) at the Rock Harbor Lodge the last night will spare you fretting about campsite availability!

Thanks! Of course, if the weather is bad, we would reroute our trip, likely avoiding Moskey Basin in favor of a more direct route. Our first itinerary would have us arriving in Rock Harbor early in the day before our ferry. The second itinerary would have us arriving much later that day before.

Alternately, as it sounds like a lot of the beaver ponds and harder to navigate areas are on that first stretch of the Minong from Windigo, another consideration might be to take the Greenstone to overnight at S. Desor, then on the second day, hit the Minong to Todd Harbor via the Hatchet Lake trail. Anyone know what that side trail is like?

Windigo-->S.Desor (11.3)-->Todd Harbor (11.-->McCargoe (6.7)-->Moskey (8.4)-->Rock Harbor, via Ojibway from Daisy Farm and then back on the Greenstone to Tobin Harbor to RH (11.1) = Total of 49.3 miles

embrkmd wrote: Sun Mar 24, 2019 10:29 am ... hit the Minong to Todd Harbor via the Hatchet Lake trail. Anyone know what that side trail is like?

It's a rather easy stretch of trail from Hatchet to Todd.

embrkmd wrote: Sun Mar 24, 2019 10:29 am ...Our first itinerary would have us arriving in Rock Harbor early in the day before our ferry. The second itinerary would have us arriving much later that day before...

Understood. If I remember correctly, the National Park Service states that the busiest times at Isle Royale are in July/August. At many of the campgrounds at the eastern end of Isle Royale and especially Rock Harbor, it may be necessary to double up at tent campsites (normal Isle Royale etiquette) if you arrive late in the day .

The Hatchet Lake cutoff trail, and the section of the Minong between the trail junction and the McCargoe Cove area, are relatively mild sections compared to further down the Minong.