hi beaver!

i've never canoed IR, but during the early eighties i backpacked from Rock Harbor the length of island and took shuttle back to Rock Harbor and flew seaplane back to Copper Harbor.

I did all 3 trails on the island and IMHO, the northern trail is the most scenic,the southern probably has better shelterd coves for paddling and the center trail is the most remote.
i'm sure it get's much more pressure now that when i was there but it's worth the effort to get there!
i saw moose on trails every trip, on one occasion had bull oose walk down trail and as i stepped aside, it was close enough i could of reached out and touched rack!!
saw wolves every trip as well but they were just flashes as they ran across trail.
i would hang food pack aways off ground or use blue barrel, as the mice,chipmunks and red squirrels are as bad as advertised!!
i caught fish in all the inland lakes and superior as well casting from shore.
also caught brook trout on feeder streams but that was hard work!!
I saw plenty of kayakers and a few canoeists and talked to a few as well.
they all said the same thing, the waters around island can be treacherous and not to be taken lightly!!
all the canoes had covers, kayaks of course.
the north shore was the most windswept but there was some nice sand bays to beach in!
the guy's i met on northshore said the key was getting thru the rocky shoreline parts before the wind kicked up and drove you off lake??
IF your caught in winds and rough waters with that shoreline, it could be fatal??
From what i can remember, it's possible to portage into interior lakes if you plan right and go light?
The trails are well used and well marked so even if you had to shuttle canoe/pack, it wouldn't be that bad if you went in and basecamped for a few days on a nice lake.
the inland lakes had pike and walleye, the feeder streams have brook trout.
Superior i caught lake trout in the sand bays, casting from shore.
IF, you go, just be careful and enjoy the park, it's a jewel!!!