Isle Royale Trip:  June 2004
Larry "Uncle Lar" Maka

First some background on me.  This was my 3rd visit to IR.  My 1st trip was in July 1999 and I hiked with my son on the east side of the island.  Then in July 2001, my son and I did the Feldtmann Loop in a clockwise rotation.  Neither of us were in top physical shape and found the trip very demanding.  The heat was a big factor, especially when going from Siskiwit Bay CG to Feldtmann Lake.
 
That brings me to this year’s trip.  A little biographical info on yours truly.  I'm 58 years old and am in better hiking shape than in previous trips.  My pack weighed 41 lbs. when I started my hike.  I used a pair of hiking poles whenever I was hiking with my pack.  In order to keep bugs at bay, I sprayed my hiking clothes with Permethrin and I used DEET on exposed skin.  This was my first solo backpacking trip.
 
Now for the trip.  I took the Wenonah to Windigo on her first trip of the season. I arrived at Windigo about noon. After the "LNT" lecture by the ranger, I went up to the visitor center/ranger station and got my permit.  After filling my 2 water bottles, I left for the Island Mine Campground at about 12:55 pm.  Though it seemed that the 6.6 miles hike was mostly uphill, I didn't find it too difficult and probably averaged about 2.5 mph.  I met no one on the trail.  At the campground, there was a family of 4 in campsite 1.  I took campsite 2.  It was quite windy hiking, keeping mosquitoes away.  Temperature was cool--very pleasant for hiking.  After setting up my tent and having dinner, I filtered water.  The water supply was adequate, better than for my 2001 trip.  The evening temperature was pretty cool.  I did put on some warmer clothes for the evening.  I made a small campfire to have coffee by and then snuggled into my sleeping bag and read for awhile.  I slept comfortably, even though it was pretty cold.  I have a good sleeping bag.
 
Sunday morning I was up about 6:30.  It was too cold, WINDY, and early to break camp.  I eventually left camp at 9 am for Siskiwit Bay CG.  It's about a 4.5 mile hike and I arrived there about 11:15 am.  The hike was relatively easy, and it always seems like I spend a lot more time going uphill.  But my legs were up to the task.  I met no one on the trail.  When I got to Siskiwit Bay, the campground was deserted.  There are two shelters there and I grabbed one.  I had planned to stay 2 nights here and since rain was predicted for Monday, I thought the shelter would be more comfortable than my tent.  It was extremely windy at Siskiwit.  Even though the sun was shining, the wind kept me off the dock.  When I was filtering water, I made sure that I found a place that provided me with shelter from the wind.  By late afternoon, a father and his 2 sons were in the other shelter and 2 or 3 of the tent sites were being used.  The father/sons group built a campfire in the community fire ring and invited me to share the warmth.  A fox and a moose visited the campground.
 
Monday morning, I was up around 6 am.  It was cold, overcast, and occasional ly raindrops were falling on the lake.  No serious rain though.  By 9 am., it looked like it would clear up, so I decided to pack up and head to Feldtmann Lake.  I decided I didn't need a "zero" day to recover from the previous 2 days of hiking.  I left Siskiwit about 10 am. for the 10.2 mile hike to Feldtmann Lake.  It was a much warmer day with little wind.  I got to the fire tower about noon.  I stopped there to have lunch.  High on the ridge, it was very windy.  But that was about the only time I noticed the wind.  After a 20 minute break, I headed off again.  I made it to the Feldtmann Lake CG around 2:30 pm.  The trail had lots of ups and downs, but I did the 10.2 miles in about 4 hours of hiking.  I passed one couple on the trail.  When I got to Feldtmann, 1 site was already taken.  By late afternoon, 5 sites were taken.  No problem with bugs on the trail.  The mosquitoes were quite annoying in the evening though.  Lots of moose in the campground.  I was planning to spend an extra night here, but again felt up to hiking out in the morning.
 
On Tuesday morning, I wanted to get an early start.  I had breakfast, filtered water, packed up and was leaving camp at 7:10 am.  I walked into Windigo, 9 miles later, at 10:20 am.  As with each of the hikes, the trail goes up and down a lot.  Bugs again were no problem.  I met one pair of hikers on the trail.  Rocks and tree roots in the trail were tough on the feet.  I sometimes get a little careless, so I had to be very careful not to trip on the roots.  At Windigo, I dropped my pack in a shelter, went up to the store and bought a shower token.  After a hot shower and a change into clean clothes, I bought a sandwich at the store and had lunch on their porch.  By 3 pm. I was on the Wenonah heading for Grand Portage.
 
That's pretty much it.  I shortened my trip by 3 days--partly because I missed my wife, but mostly because I didn't need the rest days that I originally put into the trip.  So I was carrying extra food and batteries for camera, headlamp, etc that I didn't need.  Have your 1st time backpacker keep his pack as light as possible and make sure it fits well.  Hope I didn't bore you with all the gory details.
 
Larry "Uncle Lar" Maka
(C)Copyright 2004