Hey Reader,

We were barely a mile into day one. Our backpacks loaded up pushing 45 pounds each, already struggling, and we looked at each other with the same thought: what did we get ourselves into.

This is the story of how we made it to Isle Royale, our 46th National Park in our journey to visit all 63.

Quick facts about Isle Royale National Park​

• Located in Lake Superior, a few miles south of the Canadian border city of Thunder Bay
• The main island is about 50 miles long and 9 miles wide, with over 400 smaller islands making up the rest of the park
• No roads to get there, you can either take a ferry or seaplane in or wait until winter when you can snow mobile in (which sounds like quite an experience)
• Rock Harbor has a lodge and a visitor center, and Windigo has a store and its own visitor center
• It's the least visited National Park in the lower 48, but it's also one of the most revisited (not sure how that's determined)

It was Katie's first backpacking trip ever, and mine in well over 20 years, and since we are incapable of easing into anything, we signed up for a 7 day trip across one of the most remote National Parks in the entire system.

This trip had been on the books for months, and we thought we were ready. We flew into Minneapolis, where we were met with the smiling faces of Adam and Kathryn (@AdventuresOfAplusk). We grabbed our rental car and made the multi-hour drive to Houghton in Michigan's UP, where we met up with Jen and Elliot (@SchoAndJo).
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A final packing and weighing of bags (we posted a funny video on Instagram about this) and we were on our seaplane, headed to be dropped off at the Windigo Visitor Center on the southwest side of the island.
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The next morning we'd start a very long trek across the island. The Greenstone trail (AllTrails Link) wasn't technical, but it was long, the bugs were horrible, and we had never done that many miles with bags that heavy on our backs, ever.

I'm sure you don't want a day-by-day breakdown of the trip, but I wanted to share a few of the highlights.

• The views from the seaplane (we used Isle Royale Seaplanes) were stunning: beautiful water, a massive rainbow, and the smoothest landing we've ever had in a plane.
• There are a few campgrounds inside the National Park with wooden shelters almost perfectly sized for the 6 of us to stay in. Lots of great laughs and games played inside while we waited out a storm.
• We saw so much amazing wildlife: a fox running through our camp, a moose hanging around the visitor center, and a wolf on the trail that seemed very curious as to what we were doing there.
• The coldest Cherry Coke we've ever had was waiting for us on the last night of backpacking, at the restaurant inside the lodge (somewhat of an inside joke to keep our motivation high)

We learned a lot about backpacking on this trip (check out this post on Instagram about the lessons), but a few of the top ones:

• Pack what you'll actually eat. It's easy to pack for the trip on paper and not the trip your appetite is actually going to want five days in. Bring food you're excited to eat, not just food that's easy to carry or the food that has the most calories.
• Mileage is sneakier than it looks. The Greenstone Ridge is roughly 40 miles on the map, but between the terrain and our side trips, our watches had us closer to 65-70 by the time we reached Rock Harbor. Plan for more than the trail sign says.
• Good gear, not expensive gear. The right gear really makes a real difference when you're out there, but you don't need to drop a fortune to get it. We shopped the outlets and REI's Re/Supply shelves and grabbed a few things:
  • ​Sawyer Water Filter​
  • ​Altra Boots​
  • ​LEKI Hiking Poles​
  • ​Gregory Backpacks​
  • ​Bug Nets​
  • ​Zaca Recovery Tablets​
  • ​Tailwind Nutrition Hydration Packets​
  • ​Here's a list of our backpacking essentials​
• Go with experienced backpackers, especially if it's your first trip. We'd be lost without the guidance and motivation from our friends.

When we stepped foot on the seaplane in Rock Harbor to head back to mainland Michigan, we were so excited to take a nice long shower and not think about pitching a tent for quite some time.

Now that it's been a few weeks, we're ready to start thinking about our next backpacking trip. Maybe a shorter one though.

Want the full story in video? Adam and Kathryn's vlog on this trip is already up, and like all their videos it's wonderful. Watch it here.

As for what's next, the 6 of us weren't done with this trip. We had a new National Park to explore together, this time in Minnesota.

Until next time,
Joe and Katie

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