Category: USA

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From Chicago to JMT at Yosemite

We had many long discussions on flying vs driving. Joanna was in favor of flying to Reno or Fresno, Piotr was for driving to Lee Vining. Both options required travel on public buses and overnight stays somewhere. Finding good parking spot near trailhead was an issue too. We decided to drive to avoid airports and to have greater flexibility. With focus on JMT, we did not spend much time sightseeing on the way.  First day we just drove all day, 893 miles to Ogallala NE, and stayed in big chain motel (not good experience).

There was less driving second and third day, together 963 miles, across Wyoming, Utah and Nevada. We stayed at campgrounds  and slept in our converted car,  and enjoyed it: Flaming Gorge Firehole Canyon Campground near Green River, WY (recommended)  and at Ward Mountain Campground near Ely, NV (recommended). Both very good, except there was no water at Ward Mountain (not big deal, if we were notified in advance when we made reservation – we had to drive back to Ely to buy extra water). Firehole Canyon campground was excellent, with showers and very nice host. We had little time for evening walk along the lake in Flaming Gorge, but following day we made two one-hour stops: to check-out Great Salt Lake (water level was very low, we walked to the water’s edge on muddy/salty lake bed), and for short drive and lunch on Great Salt Desert’s salt flat near Wendover — great experience.

Driving across Nevada is interesting, for the landscapes and empty roads often in straight line all the way to the horizon, and then winding through hills and mountains. The longest stretch of our route without services/gas stations and pretty much anything else was 163 miles. On the last day we drove only 294 miles, had time to revisit Mono Lake South Tufa and remember exploration of Panum Crater (visited in 2012). Checked-in to Murphy’s Motel in Lee Vining, did some grocery shopping and visited Mono Basin Visitor Center to get advice from the rangers regarding where to park our car for a month. We decided to leave it in their large parking lot. We were worried new wild fires could cut-off access to Tuolumne Meadow/Tioga Road (another parking option we considered), and of course we were also saving time by avoiding  backtracking from Lee Vining to Tuolumne Meadow to retrieve the car after JMT.

It all worked out very well: we were all packed and ready at the motel in the evening. Early next morning, we just drove to the Visitor Center, parked the car and waited a few moments for YARTS bus to take us some 20 miles to Tuolumne Meadow, the starting point of our hike.

Flaming Gorge Reservoir

Flaming Gorge Reservoir

Great Salt Lake Desert

Great Salt Lake Desert

Mono Lake South Tufa

Mono Lake South Tufa

 

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Ready for John Muir Trail 2021

We are ready to go, from Lyell Canyon trailhead to Whitney Portal starting next week. The logistics is quite different from our other hikes: we had to send food to three resupply points, quite a bit of extra planning what to pack. Calories per gram matter, only meals easy and fast to prepare (no boiling). Our packages will wait for us. We need to buy fuel and we will be able to purchase some food for the days at resupply stops. We are learning how to pack lighter and lighter. Location of the resupply points also dictated hiking plan. We will have four sections: 5, 7, 10 and 7 days. Heavier load (food) at the beginning of each one.

We will drive to Yosemite camping on the way, but will stay in hotel in Lee Vining to get good rest and shower, and dinner. We will leave the car near the start (Lee Vining or Tuolumne Meadow) and will use public buses to get back to it from Lone Pine after the hike.

The trail is very well established and we do not anticipate any navigation problems. We spaced campsites evenly as much as possible to get a steady pace: 12 km and 500m total ascent each day on average. Plus one full rest day. But the plan is flexible. There are many camping options and we will make some days shorter and some longer as needed. We are not in a hurry and will go slow. 30 days, 350 km, 14500 m total ascent. No cellular signal most of the time.

Quite an adventure.

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

Photo gallery – 138 photos

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.

More on Isle Royale (5 posts)

Highlights

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Isle Royale, day 10-12: Moskey Harbor to Chippewa Harbor to Pattison Park to Chicago

Day 10

By the time we were making morning coffee everybody else had gone already. We had quiet Moskey Basin all for ourselves. Last hike on Isle Royale. We first walked back final stretch of the trail from previous day to easter tip of Lake Richie, and then down to Chippewa Harbor.  We spent an hour debating which shelter to take, 3 out of 4 were available when we arrived. We still had time to explore rocky coast of the bay beyond old fisherman’s house. On the way back to camp we followed short local trail to rocky hilltop with 360° view. We saw osprey coming back from fishing and later a couple of eagles flying by tree line on the other side of the bay. We started the following day earlier to be ready for ferry back to Grand Portage. Waiting at the dock we talked to other hikers and hungry visitor trying to catch fish from kayak for couple of days with no luck (he got some food from fellow hikers), and we got a brief sighting of lone common loon. We used good weather window to the max, clouds and rain returned as we arrived at Grand Portage. We drove to Wisconsin and camped at Pattison Park. Sleeping in our car helped – we did not have to pitch tent in the rain.

Chippewa Harbor

Day 11 & 12

Good sunny weather returned giving us opportunity to spend a few hours exploring Pattison Park WI, visiting  Manitou Falls area and walking a bit along Black River, crossing North Country Trail from time to time. Pretty relaxing end of our trip, before driving to Chicago.

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Isle Royale, day 8&9: Todd Harbor to McCargoe Cove to Moskey Harbor

Day 8

From Todd Harbor we were back on Minong Ridge Trail in no time – this section  has a series of open rocky tops with great viewpoints,  just a few steps from the trail. It was slow going as we made many stops, sunny day and good visibility made it really good experience. Tasty wild strawberries = more stops. Forest in this part of the island is dominated by conifers. Signs of moose feasts everywhere.  We walked down side trail to long defunct Minong Mine (people were digging here for copper nuggets long time ago and in 19th century), spent an hour zig-zagging around the site. Interesting – different experience. We had no problem finding nicely located shelter at McCargoe Cove, not too many people around. A group of scouts running amok collecting firewood, quiet after dinner.

On Minong Ridge Trail between Hatchet Lake and McCargoe Cove

On Minong Ridge Trail between Hatchet Lake and McCargoe Cove, above Otter and Beaver Lakes

Day 9

We heard a lot about wet/muddy trails and wetlands difficult to cross, from rangers and other hikers. In some cases caused by beavers flooding the valleys. We saw what they can accomplish on Hatchet Lake Trail. We were warned about possible problems especially near Chickenbone Lake, as we were crossing the island from McCargoe Cove to Moskey Basin.. The difficulties never materialized. Yes trails were muddy in places, but not such a big deal. We were so ready to face the nature, that we followed ribbon-marked detour on approach to Chickenbone Lake campground (Chickenbone Lake inlet) and crossed the marsh without even checking the bridge and connecting boardwalks which we were told were flooded. Yes, everything had already been repaired. No losses though. The day passed on walking from lake to lake, crossing some wetlands and hopping over small ridges separating lakes. We saw many portage points and thought it would be nice to come back with canoe or kayaks (saw a few people with canoes). Lake Richie looked really attractive, but experienced cyanobacteria bloom at the time (no other lakes were affected). Clouds and few raindrops in late afternoon made us walk faster with hope of finding a shelter at Moskey Basin. We had a few choices, but everything got occupied by the end of the day. We had nice spot with “private” rocky peninsula overlooking the “harbor”. We ate dinner there waiting for sunset, when we noticed multiple river otters swimming towards the dock (family of five it turned out). We  walked over quickly enough to see some of them up close. We could hear the youngsters talking an eating fish under the dock planks. The biggest otter stayed behind for an hour and we could see it popping-up in different spots of the bay.

Moskey Harbor

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