Isle Royale Forums

Hey folks, long-time lurker, first time poster here. Gearing up for my first IRNP trip in a couple weeks with a few friends, and I wanted to solicit feedback about our itinerary. We are flying into Rock Harbor around 3PM on Thursday, and flying out at 11AM on Monday, so not a whole lot of time to play around with.

Before I post it, my biggest question is this: how do y'all plan your water sourcing for a IRNP trip? Is there a sort of definitive guide to water sources on each trail? I've hunted through the guidebook, looked at several itinerary planners, and tried to glean the info from my official Nat Geo IRNP map, but I still feel mostly in the dark as to what our predictable sources are going to be on each leg.

With that said, here's our plan:

THU 8/31: Fly-in to RH, camp at RH Campground
FRI 9/1: 11AM water taxi to Moskey
Hike from Moskey to Daisy Farm, setup camp
Day hike from Daisy Farm up to Greenstone
Camp at Daisy Farm
SAT 9/2: Hike from Daisy Farm to Lane Cove
Camp at Lane Cove
SUN 9/3: Hike from Lane Cove to Rock Harbor
Camp at Rock Harbor campground
Mon 9/4: Fly out of RH at 11AM

I didn't necessarily want to stay at Rock Harbor campground twice, but we definitely wanted to water taxi inland and then hike back from there, and Friday at 11AM was the only thing they had available. I suppose we could camp at Three Mile on Sunday, to leave ourselves a short 3-mile hike Monday morning before our flight, but I don't know.

Any general thoughts or feedback about this itinerary? Any specific thoughts about how to plan our water sourcing, especially for our inland hiking legs?

Thanks in advance!

Personally I'd swap a night at Moskey for Lane Cove--it's so nice that it kinda seems a waste to be there and just move on. Both are great campgrounds and many folks' favorites, though. I do recommend getting up on the ridge as well as the shore trails, but I'm prejudiced against the climb out of Lane Cove, so that also has something to do with my preferences.

So you might consider something like this:
THU get in the hike to Scoville Pt if you can (i.e. plane is on time). It's beautiful and a nice warmup, not difficult.
FRI water taxi to Moskey, grab a shelter (you'll be relatively early), and day hike to Lake Richie.
SAT hike to Daisy Farm, grab a shelter/site, and day hike up to Mt Ojibway for the ridge views.
SUN if you didn't do the Scoville Pt hike, then return to R.H. and do that too. Alternatively, you could do a short day to 3 Mile and day hike up to Mt Franklin for another great ridge view. Or some folks will take the longer ridge route between Daisy and 3 Mile if that suits you--you'll have a better idea by then.

In any case it's nice that you can change your mind as you go, and a very manageable distance, so there's lots of possible variations.
Have a great trip!

Lane Cove is nice enough, and I'm always going to select Moskey if given a choice. So I second the suggestion to skip Lane Cove.

(I love the idea of water taxiing to Moskey.)

Oh that's right! I intended to mention that we'll do the Scoville Pt hike when we get there on Thursday. Thanks for reminding me, and thanks for the feedback!

We will definitely consider swapping a camp at Moskey for the Lane Cove. We were planning on doing the full ring/triangle from Daisy Farm to Mt. Ojibway, west down the Greenstone, and back to Daisy Farm on Friday, so there would potentially be less to gain by skipping Lane Cove. Having said that, we would essentially be doubling up one leg of that day hike to get from Daisy Farm to Lane Cove the next day anyways...much to think about.

Any thoughts re: sourcing water on these hikes?

Ingo wrote: Mon Aug 21, 2023 3:25 pm I'm prejudiced against the climb out of Lane Cove, so that also has something to do with my preferences.

Might I ask why?

himynameisJoseph wrote: Mon Aug 21, 2023 4:24 pm

Ingo wrote: Mon Aug 21, 2023 3:25 pm I'm prejudiced against the climb out of Lane Cove, so that also has something to do with my preferences.

Might I ask why?

It's a rather long steep climb with switchbacks from Lane Cove up to the ridge. As an old paddler more than a backpacker, I'm not the best example in this case, but I've done it a couple times huffing and puffing without a pack. It all depends on your level of fitness--many younger and more fit folks do just fine!

I should also say there's absolutely nothing wrong with your plan! It's all very doable.
You might also call the lodge the morning you leave and see if the water taxi schedule has opened up for that afternoon/evening--you never know. Or for that matter, check at the office when you get there--grab a shelter/site, first though, since you're arriving later in the day.

himynameisJoseph wrote: Mon Aug 21, 2023 4:20 pm Any thoughts re: sourcing water on these hikes?

Plan to carry enough for the day, 2 liters for most folks, more if it's hot. The only reliable sources around there are Lake Superior and stagnant beaver ponds (I suppose in a pinch). Even on Superior the shoreline can make it difficult in many spots.

Water is readily available to be filtered at campgrounds, and not many other places. So I agree with Ingo, pack 2 Liters and plan to use it all day. Since you're staying on Lake Superior each night, you'll have easy access to good water for filtering.

SUPER helpful suggestions, y'all. Thanks so much.

Hoping to join the ranks of repeat visitors to the Island.

I wouldn't skip Lane Cove. I'd stay there instead of Rock Harbor on the last night. You can easily make an 11am seaplane from there, unless your group has late sleepers or slow hikers. If you are on the trail by 7am, you should make rock harbor by 9:30am. The trail is steep up to Mt. Franklin, but not that bad. Your packs will be the lightest of your whole trip.
I second the recommendation to hike to Scoville Point on Thursday. I would stay at Moskey and day hike to Lake Richie on Friday. Hike to 3 mile on Saturday, Lane Cove on Sunday and hike out on Monday morning.
How often are you going to have a chance to stay at a pretty place like Lane Cove with your friends? The first week of September is the perfect time to visit Lane Cove.