Isle Royale National Park 2025
Tina and I intended to visit IRNP in August of 2024 as our "honeymoon" trip, but I neglected to research/book the boat soon enough. When the time came I could not get boat tickets. I vowed not to make the same mistake in 2025: I booked tickets in February. True to what I've read, the logistics of a trip to IRNP are challenging and costly, but not impossible. The park is popular for 2 different wilderness sports: backpacking and canoeing. Some of the campsites in the archipelago are only accessible by boat. I think this fact is one of the reasons why IRNP claims to be the most revisited national park (while simultaneously being one of the least visited overall.) Tina and I want to experience this gem both by foot and by paddle. This first visit will be on foot.
This year we plan on spending 8 nights as we travel the entire length of the island, criss-crossing it multiple times, to total 67 miles. Daily mileages will be modest with the longest day being just 10.4. And while it is an island, the parallel ridges that make it up - individual layers of rock jutting out of the Lake Superior syncline - provide enough topography to tally 7,250' of elevation gain over those 8 days.
We will fly to Minneapolis-Saint Paul, get a car, then drive all the way to Grand Portage, Minnesota (just 42 miles from the Canada.) After staying overnight, we awake the next morning for a 2 hour boat ride to Windigo Visitor Center. The next 8 days we will wind our way from lake to bay to lake to bay, finally ending in Rock Harbor at the northern end of the island before taking the boat back to Windigo and then Grand Portage.
There will be no resupply on this trip. Tina and I will have to carry everything to support ourselves for the entire 8 days. There is nothing but wilderness between Windigo and Rock Harbour: true, absolute wilderness. The island is famous for its moose population. We are just as likely to see them as we are other humans.
The dehydrator has quit running, and I've finished packaging up all the meals. The pictures we've seen and the YouTube videos we've watched have us salivating. Already made my Lighterpack list. Can't wait!
Hike on, my friends
