May 10 / Thursday @12:00 p.m.
    Leave Warren, Michigan (work)
    Arrive in Brimley, Michigan (Brian Evans House) (342 miles / 5 hours)
May 11 / Friday @? p.m.:
    Brimley, Michigan to Grand Portage, Minnesota (550 miles / 9.5 hours)
Day One / Saturday:
    Boat to Isle Royale  (22 miles / 2.5 hours)
    Arrive in Windigo
    Windigo to Feldtmann Lake Campground  (8.8 miles map / 9.2 miles gps)
Day Two / Sunday:
    Feldtmann Lake Campground and Rainbow Cove  (0.8 miles map / .75 miles gps)
Day Three / Monday:
    Feldtmann Lake campground to Siskiwit Bay Campground  (10.3 miles map / 10.6 miles gps)
Day Four / Tuesday:
    Siskiwit Bay Campground (0 miles)
Day Five / Wednesday:
    Siskiwit Bay Campground to Island Mine Campground (4.3 miles map / 4.4 miles gps)
Day Six / Thursday:
    Island Mine Campground to Lake Desor South Campground (5.5 miles map / 6.4 gps)
Day Seven / Friday:
    Lake Desor South Campground to Malone Bay Campground (10.8 miles map / 11.5 gps )
Day Eight / Saturday:
    Malone Bay Campground (0 miles)
Day Nine / Sunday:
    Boat from Malone Bay to Windigo (33.5 miles gps / 2.5 hours)
    Boat from Windigo to Grand Portage, Minnesota (24.5 miles gps)
October 2 / Monday:
    Grand Portage, Minnesota to Port Huron, Michigan (850 miles / 14 hours)

    These are from my notes I wrote while on the journey.  They deal with miles walked with my GPS, weather and time involved.  I tend to leave later in the day and get into camp later in the afternoon.  I like to enjoy the morning.  It's whatever you personally like to do.  It is mainly here to give you some idea of time involved, hiking times and conditions that I found.  Adjust it based on your speed and departure times.

Day One, Saturday, May 12:
    Hike from Windigo to Feldtmann Lake is 8.8 miles on the map and 9.2 miles on the GPS.  3 hours 7 minutes actual walking time or, 3.0 miles per hour.  4 hours 57 minutes total travel time or, 1.8 miles per hour.  I counted around 35 trees down over the trail but nothing too difficult to go around.
    The weather in the afternoon was sunny with a temperature @62 degrees.  Had a few sprinkles in the evening between 9 and 10 p.m.  The low temperature saturday night was @40 degrees.
Day Two, Sunday, May 13:
    The weather in the afternoon was sunny with a light sometimes gusty wind.  2:00 p.m. temperature 63 degrees, barometer 29.40".  3:00 p.m. temperature 70 degrees.  10:30 p.m. temperature 52 degrees, barometer 29.40", wind east @5-8 mph.
Day Three, Monday, May 14:
    The weather in the morning was cloudy with light rain.  8:00 a.m. barometer at 29.30" and falling.  10:00 a.m. barometer at 29.25", rain slowing down to light sprinkles.
    Hike from Feldtmann Lake to Siskiwit Bay is 10.3 miles on the map and 10.6 miles on the GPS.  I had 4 hours of actual walking time which comes to 2.65 miles per hour.  I had 5 hours 15 minutes of total travel time which comes to 2 miles per hour.
    The weather in the afternoon was mostly cloudy with light, scattered showers.  The high temperatures in the low 60's.  6:00 p.m. barometric pressure at 29.20".
    The weather in the evening was cloudy.  10:00 p.m. temperature 46 degrees, barometric pressure at 29.15".
Day Four, Tuesday, May 15:
    Woke up to the sound of thunder at 7:30 a.m.  Sprinkles started about a half hour later.  8:30 a.m. temperature 48 degrees, barometric pressure 29.00".  10:00 a.m. temperature 52 degrees and sprinkles stopping.  11:00 a.m. temperature 55 degrees, barometric pressure 29.00", rain stopped, becoming mostly cloudy.  1:00 p.m. temperature 52 degrees, barometric pressure 28.95", partly sunny.
    7:00 p.m. temperature 52 degrees, barometric pressure 28.90".  8:00 p.m. temperature 48 degrees.  9:00 p.m. temperature 46 degrees.  10:00 p.m. temperature 46 degrees, barometric pressure 28.85" (still in a low pressure system).  11:00 p.m. temperature 46 degrees, barometric pressure 28.90".
Day Five, Wednesday, May 16:
    The weather at 8:00 a.m. cloudy.  10:00 a.m. temperature 58 degrees, barometric pressure 28.90", cloudy.  12:20 p.m. temperature 66 degrees, mostly sunny!
    The hike from Siskiwit Bay campground to Island Mine campground is 4.3 miles on the map and 4.4 miles on the GPS. Big Siskiwit river is .4 miles from the campground sign.  Little Siskiwit river is .65 miles from the campground.  Caribou Creek is 1.18 miles from the campground.  The cut off the bay inland towards Island Mine is 1.55 miles from the campground.  The Island Mine Cemetery is 2.65 miles from the campground or, 1.1 miles from the cut inland from the bay and lies approximately 100' west of the trail.  Island Mine is 3.2 miles from Siskiwit Bay campground, .55 miles from the cemetery or, 1.2 miles from Island Mine campground.  I had 2 hours of actual walking time which comes to 2.2 miles per hour.  This is pretty much all uphill so, that's not bad.
    Today's weather was partly cloudy with a high @70-72 degrees.  10:30 p.m. temperature 55 degrees, barometric pressure 28.40", totally clear sky with thousands of stars.
Day Six, Thursday, May 17:
    The weather at 7:00 a.m. was clear, temperature at 55 degrees, barometric pressure at 28.40".  9:00 a.m. temperature at 62 degrees.  11:00 a.m. temperature at 64 degrees, barometric pressure at 28.35".
    The hike from Island Mine campground to Lake Desor South campground is 5.2 miles on the map and 6.1 miles on the GPS.  Greenstone Ridge trail is .41 miles from the campground.  Mount Desor or, something resembling it (there is no marker), is approximately 2.5 miles from the Island mine cut.  The Lake Desor campground is .3 miles down from the Greenstone Ridge trail.  The group campsites are another .25 miles east of the individual sites.  I had 2 hours of actual walking time which comes to 3 miles per hour.  My total travel time was 2.5 hours which comes to 2.4 miles per hour.
    The afternoon weather was mostly sunny with temperature @69 degrees.  3:30 p.m. temperature 68 degrees, barometric pressure 28.65", sunny with dark clouds in the west and the sound of thunder.  4:30 p.m. temperature 58 degrees, barometric pressure 28.75", severe thunderstorm with very high winds.  6:30 p.m. temperature 68 degrees, barometric pressure 28.70", sunny with a light warm breeze.  7:00 p.m. temperature 63 degrees, barometric pressure 28.75", clear.  8:00 p.m. temperature 59 degrees, barometric pressure 28.75", clear.  9:00 p.m. temperature 57 degrees, barometric pressure 28.80", clear.
Day Seven, Friday, May 18:
    The weather at 8:00 a.m. was clear with a slight warm breeze.  10:00 a.m. temperature 63 degrees, barometric pressure 28.90".  11:30 a.m. temperature 68 degrees, barometric pressure 28.95", clear and sunny.
    The hike from Lake Desor South campground to Malone Bay campground is ? miles on the map and 10.7 miles on the GPS.  Ishpeming Tower is 3.6 miles from the cut to Lake Desor campground.  It is 7.1 miles from Ishpeming Tower to the Malone Bay sign.  Malone Bay campground is .2 miles from the trail sign.  I had 4 hours of actual walking time which comes to 2.7 miles per hour.  My total travel time was 5.5 hours which comes to 1.95 miles per hour.
    The afternoon weather was sunny and quite warm with temperature @68-70 degrees.  8:00 p.m. temperature 64 degrees, barometric pressure 29.20".
Day Eight, Saturday, May 19:
    The weather at 8:00 a.m. was clear, temperature 54 degrees, barometric pressure 29.25".  9:30 a.m. temperature 59 degrees, barometric pressure 29.25", sunny and warm.  3:00 p.m. temperature 67 degrees, sunny and warm.  9:00 p.m. temperature 55 degrees, barometric pressure 29.20".  10:00 p.m. temperature 45 degrees, barometric pressure 29.20", clear.
Day Nine, Sunday, May 20:
    The weather at 9:00 a.m. was clear, temperature 52 degrees, barometric pressure 29.15".  It is .2 miles from the campground sign to the dock.
    The boat ride from Malone Bay to Windigo took 2.5 hours and was 33.5 miles by GPS.

Last edited: February 25, 2002