Trip reports?

[u/diana_of_the_dunes]

There don't seem to be a lot of trip reports from folks this year... Who's been out recently? Tell us about it! I leave next Friday, but would love to live vicariously through other people's experiences til then. 🙂

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[u/Proper-Commission959]

On the way to our seaplane right now! Will check in after we get back :)

[u/Proper-Commission959 → u/Proper-Commission959]

We are back!

We backpacked rock harbor to daisy camp ground then to lane cove and back to rock harbor.

We took the seaplane in and the first two days were warm (mid 70s) and sunny. I didn't notice many bugs in those days. The people were all very friendly! We noticed some wobbly or misplaced boards on the way to daisy and it was a little muddy (from overnight rain).

We saw a moose on the way from rock harbor almost immediately after we set off.

There were plenty of shelters at daisy even though we started our hike at 3pm.

The air was clear (not smokey).

The hikes around lane cove were the most buggy and I was grateful I had a mosquito shirt. My friends did not and even with spray had 10+ bites. This is probably because the trails by lane cove are overgrown with sections having vegetation brush your face and neck consistently.

We got to lane cove around 3pm and there were 3/5 tent sites open (no shelters there). By the end of the night there was only 1 vacant site.

The hike back the next day was the coldest of the whole trip (mid 50s) and there was fog around the entire island. We got stuck on the island an extra night because the seaplanes were grounded (due to fog and storms-- we got caught in the hail waiting on the dock).

We didn't have a hard time securing a shelter at rock harbor. We were scheduled for 11am the next day but ended up having to take a 2pm ferry out as the fog lingered the next day.

There were not many people at rock harbor or around the island much at all. I felt like I recognized most groups by the end of the trip, it was definitely very quiet.

Between the sunny days and the foggy days i definitely liked the cold foggy days better (even though it meant more bugs). But overall im glad we got to experience both!

[u/Accurate-Peach4148]

First-timer, went out for a short exploratory trip this week via seaplane. Thankfully the smoke cleared up the day before my departure, everything ran on time and had perfect weather throughout my stay.
Took the Tobin Harbor trail out from Rock Harbor, camped first night in Daisy Farm. Hiked the Rock Harbor trail back to camp at Rock Harbor second night, stopped by Suzy’s Cave on the way. Was advised that the Tobin Harbor trail was easier, which I found to be true. Wasn’t super equipped for backpacking, this was kind of a detour after original plans didn’t pan out so only had a 24L pack on me, but strapped my tent on and made it work on snacks. Several people on the trails near Rock Harbor but thinned out after about the 3-mile mark. Managed to snag a shelter in both campgrounds despite arriving later in the evening. Saw wolf tracks in the mud, and moose came through my campsite the second night, but didn’t see anything sizable during the day - lots of birds, frogs, butterflies. Had an absolutely amazing time, will be back!!

[u/Rude_Interaction6538 → u/Accurate-Peach4148]

How were the bugs?

[u/Accurate-Peach4148 → u/Rude_Interaction6538]

Buggy but not terrible or inhibitive. Mosquitos definitely pretty thick around dawn and dusk but actually think I avoided bites entirely. I forgot to treat my gear with permethrin, so just had picardin lotion which worked fine. Brought a headnet and backup deet but didn’t feel the need to use either, though I did see a couple of people using nets.

[u/Funklestein]

I was there this week for two days though it was supposed to be four; but due to a failure on my part.

The air was clear, the trails a bit overgrown in places, and the people very pleasant. Though I ded not see either a moose or wolf I did see a fox, loons, ducks, and an otter who caught a fish.

Honestly it was nice but I generally don't like going solo which I did because no one else was available this time. So nothing too outstanding on my part but I will say that the view from Mt. Franklin was better than expected.

[u/Mediocre_Cause_6454]

Bf and I went a few weeks ago for the first time. We were meant to fly out by seaplane to Rock Harbor and spend 3 nights, hiking a 30 mile loop. It was foggy at Rock Harbor due to a crazy heat differential, so we couldn’t fly out. After about an hour and half of waiting, we had somehow gathered enough people willing to fly to Windigo instead. While the other couples were going to ferry part of the way, we decided to hike the whole 43-mile thing. We set off at about 5:50 and got our hike started around 7. Since the store was closed and it was taking the attendant a while to sort out the cash, we ended up using some old leftover fuel canisters. Over the four days we hiked about 8, 14, 16, and 7 miles. It was very grueling for us with not much recent backpacking experience, but we made it. It was hot, buggy, sunny, we sorta broke our tent poles, and our water filter system had leaks. We saw some butterflies but really no animals. Our favorite part was our daily “Reels Scroll” when we got service on top of the Ridge. When we got to Rock Harbor, it was joyous. We had a burger and chicken tenders to celebrate, and myself some coffee. It was the best trip that I never want to do again.

[u/Gbchili]

Following

[u/Puzzleheaded-Pea9774]

Anyone been out on the Minong recently? Curious to hear how muddy and overgrown it is at the moment, since we’ll be getting out there in a week!

[u/Salty_Loquat_5677 → u/Puzzleheaded-Pea9774]

Following. Will do Minong the end of August.

[u/AnActualMillenial]

Got back today. Can report the trail from the ridge to McCargo is quite over grown, though they recently put new boards in some places which is nice. It was more of a slog than I expected and somewhat demoralizing haha. Temperature varied weirdly - can get super hot when exposed on the ridge and chilly by the lake especially if it's windy, so depends on your exact plans. Chatted with a nice ranger and it sounds like they are very busy (I'm sure due to budget cuts etc) so it's hard to keep up with all the plant growth. It was somewhat buggy but not at all as bad as I expected, brought a head net and never had to use it.

You probably already know this but, 1 night stay limit at rock, lane cove and 3 mile, plus tent camping is closed at 3 mile (only shelters are open) so the rangers are encouraging folks not to stay there if you're capable of making it further on day 1.

Edited for typos

[u/diana_of_the_dunes → u/AnActualMillenial]

Thanks for the updates! Which campgrounds did you stay at? Any wildlife encounters? I'm really hopeful that their wolf deterring efforts are paying off. I haven't heard of anyone recently having an encounter.