Hiking the roughly 42 mile Greenstone Ridge Trail in Isle Royale National Park was both the most exhausting and the most exhilarating thing our family has ever done. Sure, we’d been backpacking before and spent time on the Superior Hiking Trail and other backcountry locations. However, Isle Royale was our lengthiest adventure in backpacks (yet). A trip of this magnitude takes a bit of planning and preparation and a whole lot of flexibility.
Trip Preparation
Before ever placing a single item in a pack, we scoured online resources and read a well-known guidebook to determine our route and needed time on the trail. We planned to start on the western side of the island at Windigo and spend 5 days hiking the Greenstone Ridge Trail to Rock Harbor. Our planned campsites were; Island Mine, South Lake Desor, Hatchet Lake, East Chickenbone Lake and finally Rock Harbor. Our adventure on the Greenstone Ridge Trail became a goal hike.
This goal hike would include five days on the trail with daily mileage ranging between 5 and 13 miles per day. We planned to save the longer distances for further into the trip after we had gained our “trail legs.” Trip planning also included planning and packing all our meals. Dehydrated meals for breakfast and dinner as well as separate packages of dried meats, peanut butter, granola bars and other snacks for lunches and trail treats. We took special care to weigh each bag before we set foot on the island so no one was carrying more than 25% of their body weight.
Getting to Isle Royale
Isle Royale National Park is one of the least visited parks in the country, partly due to the fact that it’s difficult to get to. The two options to get to Isle Royale are via passenger ferry or seaplane. Passenger ferries from Minnesota can take between 2 to 5 hours to get to or from the island. Seaplane travel is about 30 minutes. Though arriving on a seaplane is more than double the cost, the time savings and thrill of the flight were the reasons we chose this option.
Day 1-Rocky start
Our trip to Isle Royale got off a rough start. Our seaplane was delayed more than 9 hours due to fog and the subsequent backlog of travelers being shuttled to and from the island. Turns out we paid twice the price to get to the island far later than planned.
Arriving several hours later than anticipated (see flight video here), forced us to get creative and be flexible. We could not hike the planned 6.75 miles from Windigo to Island Mine when we arrived given there were just 2 hours of daylight left. Instead, we would camp at Windigo and hike both day one and day two legs of our trip during our first day on the trail. I zipped up my sleeping bag that night, anxious for the 12 miles we needed to trek come daylight.
Day 2-Windigo to South Lake Desor
Our first full day at Isle Royale began just after breakfast as we laced up our hiking shoes determined to traverse 12-miles to South Lake Desor. Though not how we intended to start our trip, we were in good spirits. It took a few miles to get our backs adjusted and comfortable. Though not steep, the hike to South Lake Desor did require an elevation change of about 1,000 feet.
We learned the hard way to not wait to eat lunch on the trail. Despite being ready for a break, we pushed onward on empty stomachs looking for the perfect place to have lunch. Mistake. Hangary hiking is not recommended.
First steps onto the Greenstone Ridge Trail
By late afternoon, we were exhausted and excited to finally reach South Lake Desor. It took our last bits of energy to set up camp and begin filtering water. With one of our harder days behind us, we enjoyed our camp supper and lake access near campsite #1. We were thankful for overcast skies and the cool water to wade into after a grueling first day on the trail.
Lake Desor
Day 3-South Lake Desor to Hatchet Lake
On our second day of hiking, we needed to cover just 8 miles. The day before our pace was about 1.5 miles per hour, so with fewer miles to hike on day two, we allowed ourselves to sleep in a bit. We broke camp around 9:30 am.
The highlight of our trail time today was a conversation of a Yes Day. We bribed the kids to keep moving and if they didn’t throw any fits on the Isle Royale hike, they could have a Yes Day when we got home. The boys walked ahead of us chattering for hours about what to include in their possible Yes Day.
By mid-afternoon, we arrived at Lake Hatchet. It was gorgeous. Despite being at the campground fairly early, we could only find an open spot in group campsite #3. It was very close to the water and allowed for a bit more elbow room. The boys built a Monster Truck track out of sticks and bark they found near our site. After dinner, a moose was spotted grazing on the other side of the lake.
Lake Hatchet
Lake Hatchet from the campsite 
Moose across Lake Hatchet 
Day 4-Hatchet Lake to East Chickenbone Lake
Day four on the Greenstone Ridge Trail was another shorter day; 8.2 miles. But first, we had to hike out of Hatchet Lake. The path back to Greenstone Ridge was about 3/4 of a mile and almost straight up. Once passed this hard incline, the rest of the morning hike was fairly flat. Around lunchtime, fog rolled in and by early afternoon we were digging rain gear out of our packs and slogging through mushy trail on the way to East Chickenbone Lake.
The straight-up out of Lake Hatchet
We couldn’t control the weather but we could control our attitude. We trekked on and got soaked. When we reached East Chickenbone Lake, the skies cleared and we enjoyed resting in our tents with hot chocolate. The sunshine and light breezes were much needed as our pants and boots were trenched.
Day 5-East Chicken Bone Lake to Rock Harbor
By the fourth day on the trail, just 13 miles separated us from Rock Harbor. Thirteen miles between us and a restaurant that serves juicy cheeseburgers and gooey pepperoni pizza. The prospect of non-dehydrated, real food, as well as flushable toilets, motivated us to finish our Isle Royale adventure. We were confident for this last leg as we’d done 12 miles on our first day and had persevered two back-to-back days of 8 miles each.
The first 10 miles of the hike were fairly painless. At this point in the trek, we’d developed a system. Using our Garmin inReach, we’d hike 2-3 miles, the boys leading the way and then take a break for a trail treat. By lunchtime, we’d reached the Three Mile Trailhead. The next 2 miles would be downhill until we reached the Tobin Harbor Trail. We opted for the Tobin Harbor Trail instead of the Rock Harbor Trail because Tobin is flatter and known to be an easier hike. When we reached the Tobin Harbor Trailhead we were just three miles from completing the journey.
At this point, I was exhausted. I’d developed two massive blisters on my heels when my feet got wet the day before. No amount of Moleskin was helping. The three miles to Rock Harbor were the hardest miles of hiking I’ve ever done. My husband and boys had hiked ahead, as I was moving slowly at this point. When they reached Rock Harbor, the boys plopped down on the boardwalk. My husband ran back and carried by pack the last 200 yards. My legs were shaking. Shaking because this was one of the sweetest gestures and because it was out of gas.
We finished!
We’d completed the Greenstone Ridge hike. The burgers and pizza we enjoyed that night were the best ever. We spent one more night on the island before taking an early morning seaplane flight back to Minnesota.
It was such a sense of accomplishment to complete the Greenstone Ridge hike on Isle Royale. The experience was hard and fulfilling as well as frustrating and beautiful. People often ask, “Would you do it again?” To that question I say, I’ll need those gigantic blisters to heal first, but you’ll see me back in the backcountry soon.
Happy Adventuring, Rochelle
What an adventure!! You are teaching your boys some pretty great lessons….
We hope so! We worked on flexing our resiliency and perseverance muscles for sure on this adventure.