Trip Report 8/16-8/20

[u/houseofgreat]

Day 1
10 am Seaplane departure; Departed Rock Harbor ~1230
Rock Harbor to Moskey Basin via Tobin Harbor Trail to Rock Harbor Trail at Three Mile
Lots of wolf tracks, thimbleberries galore and some blueberries. Trail was overall pretty straight forward. It was a long day and we arrived around 1830, we were in overflow area with 3 additional groups but there was space. Two separate bear boxes as Moskey.

Day 2
Moskey to McCargoe Cove; Departed 845; arrived 1400
All the shelters were taken, but the individual sites were wide open. Site 1 has a sign that said not to use due to wasps. Really liked this site, but the individual sites are up a pretty steep hill. The dock was deep enough to jump off and the sunrise here was awesome.

Day 3
McCargoe to Little Todd; Departed 0900; arrived 1700
We initially planned to go to Todd Harbor, but the shelter was taken (all other sites open), so decided to push on to Little Todd to make our penultimate day easier. Todd looked cool and has nice, spacious sites. Little Todd was super crowded and all sites were doubled up. Each site had fire pits and water access which was super cool.

Day 4
Little Todd to N Desour; Departed 0730; arrived 1130
This section on the trail was fairly up and down and through thick underbrush, but overall easy to follow. N Desour was cool. Good spacious sites and tons of waterfowl on the water. Only 3 sites that each have two spaces for different groups. We really enjoyed this short day and the ability to rest up before the final haul and hanging by the lake.

Day 5
N Desour to Windigo; Departed 0630; Arrived 1330
This section of the trail was the hardest in our opinion, but did have great views. There is a section between the two river crossings that is through a very dense bog and we did get lost, thankfully AllTrails got us back on the trail, but it really wasn't clear where we went wrong. The trail did have some cool views of the Lake. The Windgo store was a welcome sight and we really enjoyed the ice cream and food. We took the 1700 seaplane out.

PROs
Bugs were not bad. The worst experience with bugs was in the more boggy part on the trails and was manageable with bug spray. We never ended up using the bug nets we brought.

Probably 50% of the trail was coated in berries predominantly thimbleberries, but also raspberries and blueberries. They were all ripe and more than we could eat.

Weather was amazing. Humid at times, but sleeping temps were great.

We only saw a fox, wolf prints, and lots of sweet birds and waterfowl.

CONs
All the PROs above, I think it led to the campsites being crowded. While we didn't see many people on the trails, but we were doubled up on 3/4 nights. Most people were accommodating, but at Little Todd some groups were not as much. It was fun sharing stories and there was space away from the sites to have your own relaxation, but certainly wasn't the isolating experience that I thought it might be. In the future I would go during the shoulder season.

Overall, it was a really cool trip and I enjoyed the hiking, views, and berries. I would probably go during shoulder season in the future

[u/restinghermit]

Nice report. Thanks for sharing.