The_Beaver wrote on Sep 5^th, 2006 at 1:43pm:


This is mostly true. Many canoe campsites are not reachable by foot. Many interior campsites are along trails that would be difficult to get to by portaging. The book "Isle Royale National Park Foot Trails and Water Routes" by Jim DuFresne has excellent recommendations for both backpacking and paddling trips.

The_Beaver wrote on Sep 5^th, 2006 at 1:43pm:


Very true! It is difficult to plan a route that is not brutal in terms of portage length or elevation change on the first day or two. Any trail the crosses the short width of the main island is going to be like a roller coaster ride - lots of ups and downs!

The_Beaver wrote on Sep 5^th, 2006 at 1:43pm:


Any place that has a portage trailhead will be relatively easy to get in and out of, although the IRNP shoreline is generally quite a bit rougher then the few BW/Q places I have been to. A look at a topographic map can answer most of these kinds of questions. The NE tip of the island can be a bad place to be when the weather gets rough (but avoids a short but brutal portage).

The_Beaver wrote on Sep 5^th, 2006 at 1:43pm:


You won't likely be able to get an offhand permit for camping outside of designated sites unless your trip has a planned bushwack to some isolated lake or other undeveloped interior location. Your permit will require that you have each day's campsite planned and chosen in advance (not just an entry point and duration as in the BW/Q). It would be a good idea to have a talk with a Ranger about such a plan. I have only taken the ferries from Houghton and Copper Harbor - The ferry out of Houghton is run by the park and is staffed with Rangers who can help with "difficult" permits during the crossing to the park.

The_Beaver wrote on Sep 5^th, 2006 at 1:43pm:


Minong is tough, so the crowd will be thin, even during the peak season. The same is true with the interior lakes that are more then one portage away from the main routes. Other less used sites are along dead-end side trails. My suggestions are Wood Lake, Intermediate Lake, Little Todd Harbor, Lake Whittlesey, Lane Cove, Duncan Narrows, Lake Desor West, and Pickeral Cove. Some of the sites have powerboat access and you may want to avoid them.

Have fun. No bears, but the fox and mini-bears (red squirrells) will cart anything away that they can lift!

-aj

Asmjock and YB,

Thanks for the input....really helps. I can't imagine visiting IR without a canoe/kayak so want to plan a trip that allows me to include paddling.

Here's another question: Are you allowed to stay on the same campsite over consecutive nights? If so, it might be fun to bring a canoe and leave it at camp, but then daytrip on foot to explore other trails....returning in the evening to your camp.

The Beaver

The_Beaver wrote on Sep 5^th, 2006 at 5:57pm:


Chickenbone Lake would be an ideal place to park for a few days - but there won't be any solitude! Lane Cove (my favorite) is a quieter place that also will give you both foot and paddle access to some great day trip destinations.

-aj

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!!!

My significant other and I stopped at IR last year when we drove around Lake Superior in its entirety. I know there are 3 seperate ferry services to "windigo". Two are out of Gran Portage. The "Wenonah" and the "Voyager". I think the Voyager requires reservations. I think the Wenonah is first come first serve. The 3rd is the "Isle Royale Queen" I think. Not real sure about the name. They're out of Copper Harbor U.P. MI. This is an amazing and beautiful boat. I toured it briefly while we drone through. It has a longer distance to cover but it's so much faster it gets there in the same amount of time as the other 2. We took the Wenonah. It's an old beat up river tug that was made in Dubuque Iowa. The crew consisted of a Skip, 1st mate and a little old lady who sells candy and complains about people with camping gear. When I went the lake was rolling 6' waves and everybody on the boat was vomiting, myself included. This little old lady just smiled the whole time, kind of neat, in a disturbing way. I wondered if she was smiling because all the "campers" were miserable or if that was just her way. We had reservations and it did speed things up some when we boarded. I have some liturature on all the park and its services. It might take me a day or two but I'll dig it up for you and pass on any info.  

SW