Anybody have suggestions as to the above thoughts? We've talked
about hiking on Isle Royal for 20 years now and I'm thinking we
might lean that direction, but we've discussed canoeing the
Boundary Waters for 18 years too.
Hmm. Two very nice choices. Here are my experiences in the BWCA
(non-paddling) and on the Ilse.
Ilse Royale is a great place to spend a week or so. You are probably
already aware of this, but be sure to plan sufficient time to be there a
day early, or depending on where you live, drive all night because you'll
have to be there early enough to catch the ferry to the island. If you are
ferried in from the Minnesota side, then you'll have to take a boat in and,
if memory serves, they run every other day if you are going to be dropped
off. Thus, when it comes time to leave, your itinerary will have to
flexible enough to deal with the every-other-day schedule of boats. If
you're flying from the Michigan side then disregard 8).
As far as a trail to walk on, my advice would be to stick to the ridge
trails (e.g., Feldtman, Minong, and Greenstone). These trails give you
beautiful views of the island. If you plan to cover the entire island,
you'll have to be on at least one these trails from quite a while anyway.
You can walk a nice loop starting in Windigo that will cover all three and
give you views of the southern and central part of the Ilse.
Moose and wolves are another reason for sticking to the southern part of
the isle. The rangers there said that the wolves tend to stick in the
southern part of the ilse - in and around the Feldtman ridge trail. They
also mentioned that moose seem to be more heavily concentrated on the
southern part also. I saw lots of wolf scat and heard some during the
night. We saw moose on every day on the Ilse as well.
You could get dropped off in Rock Harbor and then walk the entire length of
the island too. The Minong trail was a b**ch. Lots of bouldering and
scraped butts and knees on that one. My party and I must be wimps because
the ranger made it sound like a walk in the park.
Lots of people recommend the book: "Ilse Royale National Park" by DuFresne.
I read that thing carefully and brought it along with me, but I can't say
that the book ever closely matched my experiences on the Ilse. Seems to
have many minor errors...
I've also done some hiking in the BWCA along the Pow-Wow trail and
elsewhere. The PW is very primitive hiking only trail that is lots of fun.
The loop isn't that long so you may run short of real estate on a weeks
trip, but you do have the option of paddling a few days too (if you can
store you canoes safely). The Pow Wow is a mix of beaver dams and not so
well-maintained trails at the southern border of the BWCA. The trail is
maintained by the Kekekabic trail club.
http://www.kek.org/index2.html
The PW is a nice loop. The majority of the lakes are not at all in use by
the BWCA paddlers. If you see anyone, it will probably not be more than a
handful of hikers. You will, however, see a lot of weekend paddlers in the
few lakes that do get paddlers - Horeshoe and Quadga lakes. Don't let that
scare you, though. Quadga is a beautiful lake. If you go you will also find
it very helpful to see if you can download a copy of the latest trail
report. they provide up to date information on the state of the trail. If
you tend to get lost easily, a GPS would be great too 8).
http://briefcase.yahoo.com/kekekabic2000
I think I've said enough. If you want more details, please contact me off
list.
-dean
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