Feldtmann Loop Thoughts

Here are my thoughts regarding the FELDTMANN LOOP:

1) It is tougher now than it was several years ago. It is now more grown over and has beaver activity that has caused detours and wet spots.

2) A friend and I have each hiked all of the Isle Royale trails multiple times. Just for giggles, we listed our 5 toughest sections of trail on Isle Royale. ("Tough" could be physically tough, mentally tough, and/or 'tough' because of where the section falls on many people's itineraries). We agreed on which five sections were the "toughest" five sections of trail on Isle Royale (in our individual opinions)--but we disagreed on the order of the five toughest sections. TWO SECTIONS OF THE FELDTMANN LOOP MADE IT ONTO OUR LISTS OF FIVE TOUGHEST SECTIONS OF TRAIL ON ISLE ROYALE!

3) This means that we ranked parts of the Feldtmann Loop as being as tough or tougher than parts of the Minong Ridge Trail. (Note: I have hiked the entire Minong four times and smaller sections of the Minong several other times).

4) I don't know if I would recommend the Feldtmann Loop for children or for people who are out of condition or people who are brand new to backpacking. Part of the challenge is, at least two of the trail sections on the Feldtmann Loop are among some of the longest uninterrupted sections of trail on Isle Royale. There are no campgrounds to stop at for the night between Feldtmann Lake and Siskiwit Bay or between Feldtmann Lake and Windigo. (Note: Various people report that their GPS readings show these sections of trail as being longer than indicated on some of the "older" maps.) Thus, if you hike the entire distance between Windigo/Washington Creek and the Siskiwit Bay dock in two days--you will cover 20+ miles in those two days---and that is not the easiest 20 miles of trail on Isle Royale. So again, I am not certain if the Feldtmann Loop is appropriate for most children, most people who are out-of-shape, or most people who are brand new to backpacking. (Of course, there will always be exceptions to such "norms").

I am confident that various people will disagree with this assessment--especially people who have not hiked the Feldtmann Loop in either 2019 or 2020. FYI: Most recently, I hiked the Feldtmann Loop in 2017, 2018, and 2019. Beaver activity and trail maintenance challenges have caused the Feldtmann Loop to be a "different" trail than it was 10+ years ago.