Isle Royale Forums

I have been to the island four times backpacking, and this summer will be my first sea kayaking trip. I've done other kayak tours, but never in Lake Superior. Having spent a lot of time on LS, I know how much respect it deserves. I am just curious how much protection is provided by the barrier island-like topography within the Five Fingers when conditions are windy or wavy. Looking forward to my first trip on the water and on a part of the island I've never been before! We have a lot of flex in our itinerary to allow for bad weather.

I’ve seen 2 ft rollers in Belle Harbor with white caps on top of that. And nasty chop coming out of Stockley into Five Fingers Bay. A lot of the “islands” aren’t much more than rocks and don’t offer much protection. There can also be currents around the islands and points that build confused seas rather quickly—be particularly careful if there’s any weather or wave action. As for Five Fingers specifically, I don’t have a lot of experience, since I canoe, but did have one glorious paddle from Belle Isle around Hill Pt when the lake was dead calm.

Thanks for the intel, much appreciated! I figured it would still be relatively rough, especially with NE winds. We are crossing fingers for at least one day of lake glass, but we will see!