Route: Feldtmann Loop (MI)

Ethan Kennedy submitted the route:

The Feldtmann Loop is a popular hiking loop on Isle Royale National Park. The Loop includes part of the Greenstone Ridge Trail, the Island Mine Trail, the Feldtmann Ridge Trail, and the Feldtmann Lake Trail. The distance is 30 miles. 

Beginning at Washington Creek Campground (Windigo), and going clockwise, the first 6 miles is a very steady climb up onto the Greenstone Ridge. This is one of my favorite trails on the island with large Maples all around. The trail is very well kept and popular. You will likely see backpackers on this section. At about 6 miles up on the Greenstone Trail, take a right onto the Island Mine Trail. This trail descends off the Greenstone Ridge Trail for 4 miles until it hits Siskiwit Bay. Some trail maintenance has been done on the descent. There are sections of cleared vegetation followed by longer sections of overgrown trail. Still, this section of trail can be run very quickly. It's a good spot to open up the legs and fly. If you have time, check out the Island Mine pits and tailing's piles. 

The Island Mine Trail then follows the shoreline of Siskiwit Bay until it meets up with the Feldtmann Ridge Trail at Siskiwit Bay Campground. It is about 2 miles long. This part of trail is completely flat, but incredibly tough. When I hiked this section in May, the trail was very wet. Beavers have completely changed the layout of the trail. I had to step over some beaver ponds and flowing creeks. There are a lot of spots to lose the trail, so make sure you are focused and looking ahead. When I ran this part in July it had completely dried out, but the vegetation growth was nearly impassible. Beach grass was about 4 to 7 feet tall and encroached all over the trail. The final half mile is on the sandy beach, which is never fun to run on. This section is very short, but can take a long time. 

After the beach, the trail turns onto the Feldtmann Ridge Trail. The first 4 miles of this section is dead flat and follows the old logging road of the Mead Pulpwood operation in the mid 1930s. The forest is relatively young with an abundance of Birch and Apsen trees. I would highly suggest running in May as the vegetation has not grown in yet. I basically bushwhacked this 4 mile section because the vegetation was so thick in July.

The trail then begins to climb gradually up onto the Feldtmann Ridge. This section is more runable. At the top of the ridge is a fire tower. On a clear day, you can see the Minnesota/Canadian shoreline, Rock of Ages Lighthouse, Siskiwit Bay, Greenstone Ridge, and Feldtmann Lake. The views are spectacular. You run on the ridge for about a mile and then descend towards Feldtmann Lake. Feldtmann Lake is a good spot to see moose and resupply on water. 

From Feldtmann Lake it is roughly 9 miles back to Windigo. The trail is flat for the first 5 miles. It snakes around and has good rhythm too it. Most sections are runable. The final 4 miles of the loop is pretty tough. You climb up another ridge near Grace Creek. Both the climb and descent are pretty steep and rocky. After the short, steep descent the trail follows the shoreline of Washington Harbor back to finish at the Windigo Dock.