First Trip to Isle Royale Question.

[TheHoneymooners]

Hey there! I have been lurking for a few days and decided it was time to tell you all how nuts my husband and I are.

We are making our first trip up to IR in a couple of weeks (8/17 - 826)and hiking the Minong Ridge from Rock Harbor.
THe Plan is to hike from Lookout louise to Lane Cove and then lane cove to mccargo cove. Is that too far? There was a campground mileage sheet floating around somewhere that said it was 22 miles. That is too far. haha! But is it right?

Any advice on this or suggested alterations would be great. We did want to spend the night at mccargo cove but we could do East Chickenbone instead.

Thanks!

Jess

[DSKlos]

22 miles sounds like long stretch to me, but I tend to be more of a paddler than a hiker. Two years ago a couple friends and I hiked 42 miles in 72 hours with an embarrassing amount of gear on our backs (~70lbs), and at times it felt like it was going to kill us. Furthermore, we did not get to enjoy the scenery hardly at all. On the other hand, we felt extremely accomplished at the end of it and surprised by how much ground we'd covered, especially considering our feet were all blistered (mine were almost one giant blister all the way across the bottom of my feet - do you have a good pair of boots that are broken in?) We were ~21-22 yrs old at the time.

Have you ever hiked with a good amount of weight on your back? Are you/your husband in good shape? Either way - pack light, have good/decent gear, and rise early.

I don't know you and your husband, but if you guys are looking for a challenge and possess hearty souls (soles), then go for it.



Does anyone know if the trail mileage is correct? It shows 12-13 miles to Chickenbone from Lane, yet 22 from Lane to McCargo?? I've never hiked it, but it sure doesn't look like 10 miles on the map from Chickenbone to McCargo...

[TheHoneymooners]

That is why I doubted the trail mileage on that sheet. It dosn't add up.

Thanks for the reply!

[jeastbur]

Hi Jess,

My group is considering hiking from McCargoe to Lane Cove in one day when we go later this month. We are going to use Daisy Farm as our emergency stop if we get half way and don't think we can do it in a day.

There is a link to the NPS trail mileage table in this post which lists the distance between McCargoe and Lane as 13.0 miles.

http://isleroyaleforums.com/viewtopic.php?p=763#p763

13 miles seems more accurate based on the distances it lists for E. and W. Chickenbone.

[sgerbs]

I can not speak from experience, but we met a couple who camped at West Chickenbone who had hiked from Lane Cove that day. They said that it was tough, but they were glad they did it because they did not want to stay at East Chickenbone. The trail mileage on the map I have says that Lane Cove to McCargoe is almost identical as Lane Cove to West Chickenbone. McCargoe Cove is a real nice camp ground (with Shelters and fire pit) and would be worth getting to if you can do it. My suggestion would be to bypass East Chickenbone and get to McCargoe.

Side note: my wife and I spent our honeymoon backpacking Cumberland Island in Georgia. It was a great honeymoon for us, with terrific weather and great scenery and wild life (April '08). Blessings on your marriage and honeymoon.

[TheHoneymooners]

Thank you for the advice and the blessings.

[mihiker]

Jess,
I did McCargo to Lane Cove last year at mid-august.
13 miles seems right. It was a tough hike into Lane Cove as we were both tired.
Starting at Lane you will have the advantage of getting the toughest part over sooner, before it gets hot.
Myself and my hiking partner are late 40's and not in what you would call the best shape.