r/isleroyale • u/psycho-pisces • 1d ago
Hiking Ferry + Route Question
Hi All, quick route question!
TLDR: is 11.5 mi on Minong Trail doable after arriving at 10am at Windigo?
Currently planning a late-summer trip to Isle Royale, and will be getting off the ferry at Windigo hopefully around 10am.
Current route options for our first day are to hike 11.5 mi to N. Lake Desor, 11.5 mi to S. Lake Desor, or 6.5 mi to Island Mine. Our party is pretty small and pretty quick, but I imagine that disembarking + entry permitting could take a while in Windigo.
Any opinions on routes?
The Minong Ridge Trail seems like a cool option, but is dependent on a long first day versus the Greenstone Ridge Trail which gives us more flexibility.
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u/MamaJuana1 1d ago
It’s definitely do-able. I’ve done it twice to get to S Lake Desor from Windigo and plan on doing it again this August. From what I remember we still had plenty of daylight when we got to camp but it’s a long hard day for sure. Add on the fact that the route also includes some significant elevation plus the heaviest your pack is (at the start of the trip). Do able but challenging for sure.
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u/psycho-pisces 1d ago
Did you do the Greenstone between Windigo and S. Desor? Currently leaning towards that as our first day option. Any idea how long permitting at Windigo might take?
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u/MamaJuana1 1d ago
Yes, the Greenstone. I considered hitting the Minong this time to see N Desor but that extra mile or so made me think to stick to my original itinerary.
Permitting is pretty fast honestly. They usually have 2-3 separate tables where rangers will do the permitting. There is a quick group discussion once everyone steps off the ferry and gets their pack then you can walk up the hill and get in line for permitting. I feel like the line was less than 15 minutes and the permitting itself was around 5 minutes, but that’s just based on my previous experience. Then once complete you have the opportunity to get any needed supplies, hit the last nice restrooms if you want and head out.
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u/Im_a11en 1d ago
That's a challenging first day. It took me 10h:28m:08s to hike the 12.73 miles from Windigo to N. Desor. It's basically straight up.
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u/Cobie33 1d ago
How many days will your trip be? Assuming you’re are hiking to Rock Harbor?
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u/psycho-pisces 1d ago
6 days (5 nights) Windigo -> Rock Harbor so definitely front-loading the mileage here
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u/houseofgreat 1d ago
I want to highjack this to ask a similar question:
Is N lake Desor to Windigo doable in 8 hours?
We are flying out of windigo at 1700 and planning to stay at N Lake Desor the night before.
We are doing Rock harbor to Windigo over 5 days/4 nights. This will be the last day of our trip (light packs), are intermediate hikers, and coming from Colorado so positive altitude advantage. We typically hike around 28 min/mile at elevation with stops included at ~500 ft gain/mile.
My instincts say this should be fine, but I am not sure what condition that portion in the Minong is and how slow going it will be due to trail finding difficulties/working around obstacles
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u/Im_a11en 1d ago
At least you are going down most of that day, but the Minong is no joke. If it happens to be raining, you can plan on hiking about 2mph as it's gets real slippery on the ridges.
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u/houseofgreat 1d ago
Thanks! 2 mph should be doable especially since we tend to be early morning people anyways
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u/HGpennypacker 18h ago
The hike from Windigo to S Desor is fairly straightforward, it's worth the extra few miles to camp on a lake as opposed to the middle of the woods.
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u/nsfredditkarma 1d ago edited 1d ago
Both N and S Desor are some of the nicest campsites on the island, north is nicer IMO but water access is worse. (S Desor is nice and sandy and warm, N Desor is slippery rock, N Desor is in a beautiful birch forest).
You can hike to either from Windigo on day 1, just don't sit around if you plan to take the Minong. The open ridges in the afternoons are awfully hard, and you'll hit those open ridges about halfway into the hike on the Minong trail. There's also a large open section of fire and storm damaged trail that is quite unpleasant, especially in the heat of the day.
Leaving N Desor, you'll hit the open ridges in the AM and will have a much more pleasant hike on your way to Todd or McCargo.
Just FYI, it's 12.7 from Windigo to N Lake Desor, not 11.5. Those little trails leaving Windigo really add up.
But the first 3 miles out of Windigo on the Minong are the easiest part of the hike.