Isle Royale Forums

We are arriving Mccargoe cove on Sat, July 25. We want to camp at West Chickenbone - how worried should we be that it will be full? Thanks!

One thing I've learned is that you can never quite predict how full a camp might be. The Eastern sites (especially along the Rock Harbor Trail) you can do well if you count off the number of hiking days from the arrival of the Ranger III, but that's just an educated guess, too.
I've come into camps expecting them to be full, only to be alone, and other times expected to be alone and found them full.. One thing I'll say is the Isle Royaler's are a friendly, sharing bunch. Even if West Chickenbone was full, I'm sure you'd find someone quite willing to share a site, and then you make a new friend!

HI
We hiked to West chickenbone last year from Daisy farm and when we got there we had no problem getting a great tent site with a "lake side "view. The only thing I did not like about this lake was the leeches. I was all but ready to jump in to get refreshed and the ranger came walking up and said I wouldn't do that if I was you, he said the previous week a woman jumped in and came out covered in leeches, had a heck of a time getting them all off. We never caught anything there either, played with a turtle, had a contest to see who could catch the biggest leech, and a 7 incher won. have a great pic of him on my gerber tool. anyway, at his lake we got great pics of freah wolf prints *(he must have visited in the night,) shared a spaghetti dinner with the ranger, talked to some guys who had fresh trout for dinner. Word of advise, BIG hill to walk up leaving W chickenbone and lots of evening mosquitos in June. might be chilly when you leave the lake, but get to the top and you will be shedding layers.