$1400
Nope, your eyes aren’t deceiving you – we’re doing TWO Isle Royale trips this year! On this trip, we’ll traverse 45+ miles across the entire island, north to south, from Rock Harbor Visitor’s Center on the Michigan side to Windigo on the Minnesota side. This trek will follow part of the Minong Ridge, the hardest hiking on the island, but with the absolute best views of Lake Superior. This trip includes a long ferry ride to the northern side of the island from Minnesota, giving you an almost complete view of the entire island from the water. And of course, we’ll still be celebrating post-trip with a celebratory dinner in beautiful Grand Marais!
Trip Itinerary
Tuesday: Arrive in Grand Marais, Minnesota and stay in a local hostel
Wednesday: Catch early morning ferry to Rock Harbor on Isle Royale; spend night camping at Rock Harbor Campground and exploring the area. Prepare packs for early morning departure. Note: The ferry ride on this end of the trip is long, close to 7 hours.
Thurs-Tues: Backpack across Isle Royale. Total hiking distance will be 45 miles, give or take.
Tuesday: Catch ferry back to Grand Portage. Travel back to Grand Marais, Minnesota and enjoy a celebratory group dinner and hostel stay!
Wednesday: Travel home
Trip Details
Adventure Rating: Challenging. Isle Royale is rough and wild terrain, and many days will be over 10 miles of backpacking.
Main activities: Hiking/Backpacking
Camping Details: Backcountry camping spots with some access to pit toilets. Participants must carry all supplies in and may have to dig cat holes for going to the bathroom. Water will be filtered from waterways.
Skills learned on this trip: Packing a backpack, properly fitting and carrying a backpack, filtering water, pooping and peeing in the woods, basic navigation and map reading, Leave No Trace, backpacking planning, preparation, and safety, backcountry camp cooking, fire starting, proper use of hiking poles
Backpacking with Wander Women: Things to Consider
Wander Women backpacking trips are physically exerting as you will be carrying up to 25-30 pounds of weight in your backpack while hiking in hilly terrain.
If you are looking for a trip where you can sneak away for lots of alone time, this is probably not the trip for you. Although, there will be chill time built into the trip.
This is a very hands-on trip. You will be expected to help with different aspects of setting up and tearing down camp, and general camp duties. This will all be done under the guidance of experienced guides.
There will be personal items you will need to pack. We will provide you with a detailed packing list prior to the trip.
Be prepared to camp in all types of weather (rainy, cold, hot, stormy)
About Isle Royale National Park
Surrounded by Lake Superior, Isle Royale National Park encompasses 850 square miles of natural wilderness, spacious lands, and aquatic life. A cool climate, crystal-clear waters, and the wild North Woods forest characterize Isle Royale National Park. The park encompasses a total area of 850 square miles including submerged lands which extend over four miles out into Lake Superior, and 99% of the land mass is federally designated wilderness. The archipelago is composed of numerous parallel ridges, the result of ancient lava flows which were tilted and glaciated.
Isle Royale has 165 miles of scenic hiking trails and 36 campgrounds for backpackers, paddlers, and recreational boaters. There is excellent fishing, historic lighthouses, and shipwrecks, ancient copper mining sites, and plenty of spots to observe wildlife. Isle Royale is accessible only by boat or float plane. Source: National Park Foundation
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Wander Women trips are designed to be restorative and relaxing, full of connection and knowledge building. Days are filled with activities ranging from skill-building workshops (like fire building or plant identification), hammock reading and card playing, to group hikes, impromptu yoga sessions and creek stomping. Nights are spent around the campfire sharing in storytelling, often digging deep into ourselves and our place in nature.
Please know that to us, there’s no right way to wander. We ask that you come as you are — you don’t need to have the gear, the knowledge or anyone else with you to make this trip great. We grant participants and ourselves the right to be imperfect or nervous, and encourage a “challenge by choice” mentality — letting you decide when you’ll step outside your comfort zone, knowing it’s often rewarding when you do. By the end of the weekend, we want you to feel confident in newfound skills, your place in the outdoors and your part in this community. That’s what these trips are all about!
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Each Wander Women trip has an Adventure Rating attached to the trip to give Wanderers a better idea of the activity level and physical requirements of the trip. These ratings are based on general Wanderer ability. If you have specific questions about a trip’s difficulty or specific accessibility questions, please reach out to us at hello@wanderwomenmidwest.com!
Beginner: This trip is designed for the low-key adventurer. Hikes will be taken at a leisurely pace and include small elevation changes on easy to navigate trails (wide, free of roots and other obstacles). Plenty of down-time built into this trip for participants to relax and create time for themselves. No prior outdoor skills required.
Moderate: This trip is designed for the adventurer looking for a jam-packed weekend or in-depth, hands-on skill building. Hikes will be longer (6+ miles) and taken at a moderate pace. There may be other recreation activities (paddling, paddleboarding, fishing, etc.) that are beginner-friendly but require moderate physical strain. There will still be plenty of down-time built in for participants to relax and create time for themselves, but there may be optional additional adventures offered. No prior outdoor skills required, unless otherwise noted.
Challenging: Participants are expected to hike, backpack or paddle long mileage days, often with weight on their backs or in their boats. Terrain will be challenging and have elevation changes or tricky parts to navigate. Previous hiking and paddling experience is strongly recommended.
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Your trip fee includes:
Delicious meals cooked for you all weekend
Campsite and/or cabin reservations (note: most out-of-Iowa trips will require car tags or park fees — you’ll be made aware when you’ll be responsible for those)
Guided, hands-on outdoor skills instruction and facilitation from our expert guides
A Wander Women swag bundle with goodies for you to enjoy during and after the trip
Communal gear, like camp chairs, cooking equipment, guide books, activity boxes, and more
Membership in our private Facebook group and exclusive access to Wander Women day hikes, educational opportunities, and other special events
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We are once again offering gear rental this year! We know that buying camping gear on your own can be very expensive and cost-prohibitive, so we’re excited to offer affordable gear rental while maintaining the highest standards for comfort and durability.
Choose between shared tent (Wanderers who opt to share a tent will sleep in a spacious 4-or-6 person tent with one other participant during their trip), solo tent or backpacking gear.
Note: All participants signed up for backpacking trips will have their own tent.
Gear Rental: What’s Included
Frontcountry trips: Tent (solo or shared), sleeping bag, sleeping bag liner, sleeping pad and/or cot, tent lantern, camp chair, dining mess kit
Backpacking trips: Backpack, tent, sleeping bag, sleeping pad, backpacking stove, utensil kit, water bottles, trekking poles
*At this time, we do not have the ability to rent gear a la carte. If you have a backpacking tent but no other gear, you will still need to rent the full gear package.
HOW IT WORKS
During sign up, select your gear rental choice as an add-on to registration right in the trip page. Super easy!
Gear Rental (Solo Tent): $40
Gear Rental (Shared Tent): $35
Gear Rental (Backpacking): $45
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We want our trips to be accessible to all Wanderers. If you’re not able to afford the full trip fee now, WeTravel (our booking platform) easily lets you make a downpayment (this is also your non-refundable trip deposit!) and pay in installments throughout the year! There is NO fee for choosing the payment plan option!
All participants are subject to the Wander Women Trip Cancellation Policy.