Hiking Isle Royale

We are back from 12-day trip to Isle Royale NP with two stops in Wisconsin to visit Porcupine Lake Wilderness and Pattison State Park on the way in and out, respectively. We hiked 46.5 miles (1400m total ascent) in 8 days on the main trail from Windigo to Chippewa Harbor, and walked locally some 27 miles more.

We were very lucky with the weather on Isle Royale, mostly sunny with rain just on the first day of hiking. Temperature was as expected. Daytime hiking temps: up to 17-32°C, Island Mine to S Lake Desor day was the hottest. Sleeping temps: down to 8-17°C, Windigo and Chippewa Harbor nights were the coldest, S Lake Desor and Hatchet Lake nights were the warmest. Rain: 30 min. drizzles followed by 1.5 h  continuous rain, Windigo to Island Mine and very short drizzle at Moskey Basin. It was rainy and rather cold in Minnesota on the way in and out. We were surprised by low numbers of mosquitoes and flies in most places, nothing comparing to Porcupine Lake Wilderness where we were swarmed by mosquitoes all the way on the trail to Porcupine Lake, Pattison Park was not bad in this respect.

All the trails were in good shape and easy, pretty much flat, and not as muddy/wet as rangers and hikers were warning us. We only had to cross one beaver dam. Mud on the trails away from the inland lakes/wetlands was already somewhat dry after several days without substantial rain, although it was quite wet on Indian Portage trail along Chickenbone Lake and to Chippewa Harbor. No problems with navigation, as we mostly stayed on the main trails. There were fewer people around  than we anticipated and we had no problems finding a place to park for the night. We slept 4 nights in shelters and 4 in tent. No problems sourcing water, except for Lake Richie which experienced cyanobacteria contamination.  With no bears around logistics becomes easier.  The park is very clean, including all campgrounds. It was all pretty much easy going.

Isle Royale 2021 itinerary

 

June	10	Thu	Two Lakes	Chicago ➜ (Subaru, 440 mi) ➜ Porcupine Lake Wilderness WI [@ Two Lakes site #61]
	11	Fri	Porcupine Lake Wilderness	Porcupine Lake Wilderness ➜ walk3.6 mi to Porcupine Lake ➜ (Subaru, 220 mi) ➜ Grand Portage MN [@ Grand Portage Marinasite #3]
	12	Sat	Isle Royale	Grand Portage ➜ (Sea Hunter III, 8:30 am-10 am) ➜ Windigo MI, walk 0.5 mi to camp site, 5.7 mi to Grace Creek Overlook and Moose Exclosure [@ Washington Creek shelter #1]
	13	Sun	Isle Royale	Hike 6.6 mi ➜ [@ Island Mine individual #3]
	14	Mon	Isle Royale	Hike 5.5 mi ➜ [@ S Lake Desor individual#6]
	15	Tue	Isle Royale	Hike 8.1mi ➜ [@ Hatchet Lake group #1]
	16	Wed	Isle Royale	Hike 3.9mi ➜ [@ Todd Harbor individual #6]
	17	Thu	Isle Royale	Hike 6.7mi ➜ [@ McCargoe Cove shelter #4]
	18	Fri	Isle Royale	Hike 8.4 mi ➜ [@ Moskey Basin shelter #1]
	19	Sat	Isle Royale	Hike 6.1 mi ➜Chippewa Harbor ➜ walk 4 mi around Chippewa Harbor [@ Chippewa Harbor shelter #2]
	20	Sun	Pattison Park	Walk 0.1 mi to dock Chippewa Harbor MI ➜ (Voyageur II, 9 am-3 pm ➜ Grand Portage ➜ (Subaru, 170 mi) ➜ Pattison State Park WI  [@ Pattison State Park site #22]
	21	Mon	Chicago	Pattison State Park ➜ walk 4 mi around Big and Little Manitou Falls ➜ (Subaru, 470 mi) ➜ Chicago

Map overwiew and trail maps

☞ see Porcupine Lake loop trail and drive to Lake Owen picnic area on wikiloc
☞ see short trail to hilltop viewpoint above Chippewa Harbor on wikiloc
☞ download Piotr’s Isle Royale gpx file

Resources, food and hiking kit

Resources

☞ Isle Royale NP
☞ Isle Royale Maps
☞ Park Maps and Brochures
☞ The Greenstone 2022 (trip planning newspaper)
☞ Trail Mileage Between Campgrounds
☞ National Weather Service – Isle Royale
☞ Grand Portage – Isle Royale Transportation Lines

Food

We changed our cooking strategy: we started using filtered water for all meals and hot drinks, heating water just to “bottom boil” (not extended rolling boil) to save fuel, adding all the ingredients (sometimes in certain order, not all at once) and letting the pot rest in a cozy for 10-15 min for all ingredients to rehydrate properly (none requires true cooking). We did some test cooking before the trip, trying to get the recipes right for our taste and then made adjustments on the go (we kept some ingredients separately). Our cozy, taped together pieces of recycled envelope used to deliver cold food, worked very well – everything remained warm for quite a while, comparing to “naked” titanium pot. We ended up with roughly 860 g of dry food per day for two. We were aiming at high calorie content.

DRINKS	filtered water	Sayer squeeze system
	tea	black tea/mint bags
	compote	lyophilized strawberries, pineapple, raspberries
	coffee	Nescafe, heavy cream powder, optional Nutella or sugar
BREAKFAST	couscous	couscous, peanut butter powder, heavy cream powder, butter, trail mix, salt, optional Nutella
	cream of wheat	cream of wheat, dry banana and apple chunks, heavy cream powder, flax seeds, butter, optional Nutella or sugar
SNACKS	trail mix	homemade: nuts, dry coconut, pumpkin seeds, peanut butter M&M
	chocolate	dark IKEA MÖRK
	bars	assorted
	sesame bars	Amki sesame thins
	dry seaweed	roasted seaweed snacks (also used for soup flavoring)
LUNCH	cheese	Babybel, Laughing cow, asiago
	sausage	Italian dry salami
	crackers	multi-grain baked crackers
DINNER	potatoes & pork	Idahoan mashed potato powder, dry crispy onion, flax seeds, heavy cream powder, lyophilized corn, peas and potatoes, Herbex bouillon cube, butter, dry cooked Korean pork
	soup	ramen (3 types), lyophilised corn, peas, potatoes, optional dry tomatoes

Piotr’s packing list

items not used

TOTAL	18.0	kg
clothing	4.6
equipment	6.3
pantry	6.1
water	1.0	L
ON ME	2.9	kg
light boots	888	g	Merrell MQM Ace Mid Waterproof
wool socks	90		Patagonia
underwear	78		Calvin Klein
pants	316		Columbia Silver Ridge Convertible
belt/suspenders	103		–
tshirt	154		Patagonia
sun hat	70		–
hiking gloves	74		Ergodyne ProFlex 812
trekking poles	476		Komperdell
pocket knife	71		Gerber Paraframe Serrated
mosquito net	19		–
scope	189		Alpen 8×25 monocular
phone	217		iPhone XS
watch	38		Timex Expedition
neck wallet (DL/CCs/$/maps/car key)	101		REI
ON MY BACK	15.1	kg
backpack/liner/rain cover	1208	g	Granite Gear Crown 60 (long 65 L)
sleeping bag/sack	1397		Sierra Design Ridge Runner
sleeping pad	694		Insulated Q Core SLX 25×78
tarp	140		ultra-light Tyvek
sandals	371		Crocs Swiftwater Wave
jacket	365		Arc’teryx Zeta SL
rain poncho	200		–
light down jacket	416		–
light fleece	230		Merrell
tshirt short	158		–
tshirt long	177		Patagonia
2 x wool socks	147		Cabot Expelit
2 x underwear	123		Exofficio
sleeping top	188		Terramar
sleeping bottom	168		Terramar
sleeping socks	31		Patagonia
fleece gloves	48		Columbia
beanie	60		–
shorts	108		Hind
towel	71		Trespass microfiber
spare glasses & clean	41		–
repair kit	95		our own set
head light	146		Nitecore HC65/3400mAh
power bank	208		Anker PowerCore 10000
chargers/batteries/cables	248		–
temp beacon	14		Blue Maestro Tempo Disc
3 x packing bags	67		Outdoor Research
Vecto 2L	85		CNOC Outdoors
water bottle	33		smartwater
water 1L	1000		–
pantry (2 x 7 x 430g , 2000 cal)	6106		own mix plus pantry bag
2 x 8oz fuel	748		MSR IsoPro
trowel	17		Deuce #2

Big Agnes Seedhouse SL3

We like our Big Agnes Seedhouse SL3 tent. It is for 3 persons, but works well for two, with extra space for backpacks. Not too heavy. Here it is at Hatchet Lake, from placing the tarp to drying out and packing next morning.

Isle Royale video clips

Isle Royale is a great palce for hiking, but for us this trip was also a prep and training for John Muir Trail we are starting in late July. Spent quite a bit of time and effort tinkering with packing lists, testing some new kit and refining food recipes, anything to bring the backpack weight down. 5 posts with more details and photos coming soon.

Highlights