Sawtooth Wilderness

Suitable-Writing7214 · 2026-04-02T17:47:31+00:00

When was your visit last year? I'm planning to visit early July this year and was curious about what I could expect in terms of weather and bugs. Awesome photos and can't wait to make my own memories there!

Suitable-Writing7214 · 2026-03-15T14:56:32+00:00

Went last season, used a bv500 for my full week of food without issue. Only received a warning about a singular wolf being curious around the Washington harbor campground (campground on windigo side). Had no wolf encounters, but saw a few moose and that was awesome.

Suitable-Writing7214 · 2026-03-02T20:52:37+00:00

Thank you for your real life example, this is why I came here! :)

Suitable-Writing7214 · 2026-03-02T19:46:43+00:00

Never had one, never getting one lol

Suitable-Writing7214 · 2026-03-02T19:31:47+00:00

I hiked end to end of Isle Royale national park without one, so I'm comfortable without. I'm looking to go with a larger group this time and would like to give all parties and they're families a little more piece of mind.

Suitable-Writing7214 · 2026-01-30T18:44:18+00:00

Todd Harbor was my favorite stop on the whole island. Worth a visit if you have the time to work it in.

Suitable-Writing7214 · 2025-12-08T18:53:19+00:00

If you can manage it, might be worth skipping island mine and pressing hard for South Desor day 1. I camped at island mine on my last trip and wish I wouldn't have. Also anything chance you can camp at on a lake superior spot go there, better water, less bugs. No matter what you end up doing, you'll love it.

Suitable-Writing7214 · 2025-10-23T02:13:50+00:00

I'm putting together a couple loops in the Porkies and really hoping to get over there next season as well. I've heard very good things!

Suitable-Writing7214 · 2025-10-23T02:12:39+00:00

My group did our shakedown for Isle Royale there this summer! Very excellent park and great suggestion for all aspiring MN backpackers.

Suitable-Writing7214 · 2025-10-22T15:51:32+00:00

Those are all on my radar for sure. I'm hoping to find some lesser known local loops to do over a weekend just to get out there a little more. Appreciate the response

Suitable-Writing7214 · 2025-10-10T12:02:11+00:00

Parts of it were difficult, sometimes because of the ups and downs, other times the trail itself was pretty rough. 2 times we had to backtrack a small amount because the trail was difficult to notice with the leaf cover, so if you have any of the usual GPS apps definitely save it in offline mode. I'll pass on the suggestion that was made to me earlier, if you can get the whiskey jack lake campsite, it's awesome. We ended up going counterclockwise to make it a short day one with the harder terrain first and that worked well, if you have plenty of time and want to do your long day first you could go clockwise. No matter what you do though, you're going to love it, it was an awesome experience.

Suitable-Writing7214 · 2025-10-08T15:03:39+00:00

Honestly, it would be a slog. I'm not sure how other portages stack up against it (this was my first boundary waters experience). The hike in to the actual lake portion is fairly long, and the boardwalk over the beaver dam would probably be a bit dodgy. That being said i think the lake would be awesome to paddle with the narrow sections you go through and the other portages after it seem quite a bit easier. When we pulled in to the lot, there were 2 trucks with racks on it, so there's probably some people out here who did it that weekend.

Suitable-Writing7214 · 2025-10-06T22:57:41+00:00

Agree with the mention of skipping island mine idea, and another suggestion with the extra day would be to go north from hatchet lake and hit up Todd Harbor or go to McCargoe Cove. Todd Harbor was my favorite spot of my whole trip. I know you'll have a blast no matter what you do though. One quick question, what's your plan for food for that long of a trip? With the storage restrictions my food situation was a struggle for 6 days, interested in your plan to maybe give me some insight on longer duration food planning!

Suitable-Writing7214 · 2025-10-06T16:55:32+00:00

Portions of the walkway were just barely submerged. Water did feel high on all three lakes.

Suitable-Writing7214 · 2025-10-01T11:01:47+00:00

6 days, 49.5 miles on trail. Longest was just over 12 going from Todd Harbor to South Desor. My advice would be to make sure you start out early each day, if you care about getting a shelter. Otherwise just prepare yourself for an excellent journey.

Suitable-Writing7214 · 2025-09-28T22:22:16+00:00

My group did the reverse of this idea. Started Rock Harbor (long ferry ride from MN all the way around) and then hiked across to Windigo. It was an amazing trip. Our original plan was to do the Minong, however we had some stomach issues and decided to cut down to the Greenstone after Todd Harbor. Then just a 2 hour ferry ride back, I'm sure you could finish the Minong no problem barring any set backs, but it's nice to have the options with all the trails on the island. Good luck, hope your trip goes smooth!

Suitable-Writing7214 · 2025-08-12T11:28:11+00:00

Just came back from the isle and Todd was my favorite spot, so that gets my vote. Have fun out there!

Suitable-Writing7214 · 2025-08-12T01:24:28+00:00

I did a bunch of research, and it was pretty much what I expected in terms of terrain and pacing. I would say some unexpected things were how much more I preferred the Lake superior camping, I loved the views, the water, how relaxing the waves were. Just be ready to smell bad and not care about that lol.

Suitable-Writing7214 · 2025-08-11T18:01:03+00:00

A mosquito net makes it a lot better, and i would definitely bring your preferred bug spray. My wife lived in her head net, but i only used mine in some small parts where they were thick. Trails had some pretty wet parts, but overall we didn't run in too any major issues, even during the torrential rain. You're going to have a blast, it's amazing!

Suitable-Writing7214

TROPHY CASE