Hello fellow adventurers, Backpacked 100+ miles at Isle Royale National Park.
Here is my shakedown post. The lighterpack link is very close to my actual trip weight.
*I removed the hat and DEET. Just kept the head bug net.
*I added additional foot care item for foot protection due to change in weather forecast.
*My thrunite Ti3 did not work when I checked it 2 days before the trip. I had to replace it with Black Diamond Spot(previous gen) without head strap. Had contacted Thrunite for warranty claim. No response yet.
*Instead of 2 700ml Smart Water bottles, I took 1 700ml smart water bottle and 2 600ml water bottles that you get in bulk at stores. They are fragile and very light but will do the job for 5 days if taken care.
*I just took 1 legal size paper map instead of 2. Negligible difference though :p
Overall, I am sure the base weight is still <=11lbs.
Food: 2 lbs/day. I carried only 2 lbs plus dinner when I started. When I picked up my package at Windigo on 3Sept, my food weighed about 6.5 lbs with extra food.
Water carried was based on sections. The most I carried during hike was 700ml plus 600ml which is about 2.86 lbs.
Max pack weight was <20.5 lbs at point during the hike.
Map If you need the .gpx file for your planning purpose, I am more than happy to share it with all the trail markings.
Trip Objective: Wanted to do more than my typical weekend or long weekend trips in a remote place. I love challenging hikes so chose Isle Royale.
Trip planning: Spent more than 40-50 hours in the last 2-3 months planning routes, transportation, etc. Have more than 5 different itineraries in caltopo before the trip. Some sources quote, Minong Trail to be the toughest trail in MI and Greenstone Ridge is the longest trail in the Island. So both these trails will add good mileage and challenge to my trip. Rest for the trails were added either based on the recommendations I received from people I talked to, from the IsleRoyaleForums.com and I wanted to take different trails rather than hike the same trail back to ferry. Did not buy any special gear specifically for this trip. Couple of experimental gears were glove and gaiter.
Resources: People that I know personally that hiked Isle Royale, Reddit, IsleRoyaleforums.com, Nat Geo Map, Youtube, NPS website and few other trip reports from google search.
Trip Summary: 31Aug- Took off early from work. Left Columbus, IN at 2:30 PM and arrived Houghton, MI past midnight. Bought couple of first aid items at Walmart and slept in my car for few hours next to few campers at the end of parking lot. Houghton visitor center(Ferry) is only 12 minutes from Walmart.
1Sept- Ranger III ferry departure from Houghton, MI at 9 AM. 6 hours travel in ferry and arrival at Isle Royale at 3 PM. Since the pack was transported, I repacked to ensure everything is okay for my adventure when I claimed my pack at the island.
Here is the picture taken just before I suited up for adventure. Started my hike at
3:40 PM at Tobin Harbor Trail to take Greenstone Ridge Trail(longest trail of Isle Royale-40 miles). There were some up and downs but nothing seem difficult with the amount of energy and excitement I had on day 1. Reached my planned campsite
little after 11 PM. Set my tent and quickly finished my dinner.
Distance: 14.8 miles Elevation in ft: +1588 -1526 Trail condition: Starting from nice forest trails next to lake, few muddy sections, rocky trails to rocky exposed ridges with nice panoramic views(Canada not too far and visible from higher elevations). Wins:
Fox and moose on trail. Hiked as planned. Fails: None. Maybe no wolf sighting :p
2Sept- Started early in the
morning since it was going to be a long day hike. It started to rain from 5 in the morning and continue all day per forecast so it will be a challenging day. Put my rain jacket and polycro as kilt and started hiking. Rained throughout the day and my shoe and pants under knee level are soaked. Although I had
rain glove, my hands were soaked from wrist level since I had to remove the glove to take pic, food etc.
Reached Washington Creek Campsite around 9 PM.. Finding a vacant camp spot was challenging since people arrive or leave island took all the shelters and almost all of the tent pads.
Distance: 26.9 miles.
Elevation in ft: +3369 -3425
Trail Condition: Mostly Rocky exposed ridges rest were Forest hike with some smooth trail and thick brush. Lots of ups and downs. But last few miles were all down hill
Wins: Hiked as planned.
Fails:
Foot and hands due to rain. Spoon Don't ask me how I ate my lunch and dinner
3Sept- First day that did not go as planned. My food for rest of the trip should be at the store for pick up but the ferry did not arrive yesterday due to all day thunderstorm. Ferry just arrived that morning so I picked up my package at the visitor center at 9:30 AM. I went to store and got some
extra calories.. Things did not go well after previous day's hike condition. Cold and fever symptoms slowed my pace. To add to the pain, it rained heavily in the night when I was about to set up tent. Everything was soaked including my inside of my tent.
Distance: 19 miles.
Elevation in ft: +2379 -2083
Trail Condition: Mix of extremely rocky ridge walk and some thick brush forest hike. Few beaver dam crossing. I love rocky trails!
Wins: Food package without any delays and some extra food at store. Got the same spoon for free at the store!
Fails:
Weather and Health. Calorie consumed is probably less than 1600 calories since I was not feeling well. Less than planned mileage too because of all the fails.
4Sept- Second day that did not go as planned. The rocky ridge hike was challenging so it kept me entertaining. But I could feel burning sensation in my eyes(feverish symptom). My calorie consumption was better than previous day but did not meet my planned 2300+/day intake. Probably the
toughest section of the Isle Royale according to me. Some of the rough ridge rocks started to poke through my shoes. My foot hurt. Partly due to the way I hike rocky terrains. I get excited when I see rocky terrain and hike like a mountain goat rather than taking it slow. Total calorie consumed was still less than 2000.
Distance: 18.2 miles
Elevation in ft: ++1768 -2054
Trail Condition: 85% of extremely rocky and exposed ridges hike. Rest is mix of everything else(thick brush trails, beaver dams crossing, stream crossing and rooty trails).
Wins:
Moose sighting. Not like the shy moose I saw on the first day that ran immediately after seeing me. Dried my tent!
Arrived early at the campsite. But this was not an objective so does not count as a win.
The views were great! Cons: Wet foot and overall health. Less than planned mileage.
5Sept- Back on track? Maybe. I took some medicine the previous night and this helped me a lot. Slow pace initially, then picked up the pace little before noon and early afternoon. Three mile and Moskey Basin stretch was extremely wet and swampy. I really did not want to get my foot wet like other days. So took it slow and dodged most of it. Last few miles were again rocky. My foot were hurt but I just kept going since I love rocky trails. Reached campsite early. Did not find any individual tent spots, so took a group campsite. With more time on the clock, I went to hike Stoll Trail on the East side of the Rock Harbor. This leads to famous Scoville Point that many recommended during my planning interaction. Turned out to be a
night hikesince all the people I met in the ferry stopped to talk to me.
Arrived late to campground Distance: 26.3 miles
Elevation in ft: +1594 -1568
Trail Condition: Mostly rooty, rocky and swampy trail but less elevation changes.
Win: Views were great by inland lakes and lake Superior. Weather. Full moon hike by the lake.
Fail: Did not take care of foot. Some hot spots and ball of the foot started to hurt.
6Sept & 7Sept: Boarded ferry at 9 AM and arrived Houghton at 3 PM. Started my drive at 3:20,
grabbed a nice post hike food on the way and munched on the drive. Took a nap on the way and arrived Columbus the next morning at 5:30 AM.
Gears: Exos 58 pack: Only 65-70% of the pack was filled during any trip. The side pockets(front facing) were great help to store and retrieve all day snacks, water bottles, and even my meal container. I am 5'7" and ~120lbs and use Small pack and have issues with hip belt. The hip belt could have been even more adjustable. Sometimes the hip belt is bit loose.
Altra lone peak 3.0: Started using from July this year. About 250+ hiking/backpacking miles including this trip. At times, when I am on rough trails I feel like the rock plate could absorb even more strikes. Wet terrain performance is good but not best. Not sure how many more miles are left but the toe bumper is already starting to come off. Before LP 3.0, I was using Adidas Trail runner. Adidas had great outer sole. Super grippy in almost all conditions including loose gravel. But my swollen leg after long hikes does need more room at the toe area. Altra seem to be better than adidas so far even after long hikes. On 5Sept, I adjusted the lace to offer some more room for toe box. Also, Adidas was not zero drop shoe. So after long hikes, my foot becomes uncomfortable and rarely hurts at the ankle due to heel strikes.
Altra gaiter: This is my first trip using this gaiter and I want to return it or at least replace for size small. Medium was recommended size based on shoe size but both the bottom and top openings are too loose. The bottom opening often slides up and offer no real protection from dirt. Before Altra gaiter, I was using REI Alpine light gaiters. They were great but were too baggy for me. They are also not very light option. I want to know any personal reviews of Altra Gaiter.
CMT Carbon Fiber Pole with quick locks: Started using this pole only from April this year. Before that I never used poles. Pole usage helped me increase my hiking pace tremendously in all types of terrains. 400+ miles so far including this trip. The carbide tip is holding good and probably will last at least 400 more miles if not more. Cork handle is helpful for my sweaty hands. Rattle is an issue esp when I use the pole extensively to increase my pace but that does not directly affect any of my experience.
Thermarest Z lite: Insulates okay and easy when setting up or packing up. But I have damaged the pad quite a bit doing some off trail hikes and trail hikes at Isle Royale where there were thick overgrowth on trails.
Darn tough: Needs no reviews here. Like all most all here, I love DT. I need to pick up some ultralight/thinner version so that the socks can dry overnight in the camp.
Sawyer Squeeze: Worked with no issues. I had to backflush once at Windigo but I should have backflushed again on 5Sept morning when the flow rate was bad. Since I drink directly from the filter on move, I just sip for couple of minutes.
REI Quarter Dome: Works okay in terms of condensation. But before I could put the rainfly, the tent body was soaked on 3Sept. Not sure if I could have done anything different to avoid this. I am going to buy a tarp bivy system soon to get my BW less than 8lb.
Some Challenges: - Transportation/Scheduling: Isle Royale being an remote island, ferry schedule made it very challenging to plan.
- Remoteness: I did not get any mobile phone service(verizon) at the Island. It was difficult to convince my parents(in India) when I shared my plans. Although some people mentioned that they got some mobile service at few areas, I told my parents not to expect any response from me from the Island. Glad I told that or else it would be worse them being in a different country.
Overall, Isle Royale was a great experience. When the weather turned bad, I could have easily cut my miles by taking the shortest path back to Rock Harbor. But what is the fun and adventure in doing that? Except for the soaked tent, I was expecting everything. However, I managed that soaked tent night too as I had dry sleep socks, dry sleeping bag and light fleece jacket to keep me from cold/hypothermia. Fleece was little warm but I used it anyway so that I feel comfortable in the early morning when temp usually drops the lowest.
Note: I am not sure if this trip report is helpful right now with the content I have presented. If you have specific questions, please let me know. I have included pics as hyperlinks so that you can view only if that interests you. Also apologize for the bad formatting here.
I am open to hear anything that you would have done differently or suggestions to my gears. My future upgrades are tarp+bivy system, 20F quilt, inflatable pad and <40L pack to achieve <6-7 lbs base weight. Thanks
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