response 1 of 27:

Nov 23 14:57 UTC 1994

I'll always remember cutting my toothbrush in half, to lessen weight.
Its been a while since I've done serious backpacking, but I have lived
out of my pack for up to a week, several times in the High Sierra. We
travelled "high and light": no tent (but a tarp); dried food; minimum
clothing; cook-kit (then, you could cook over a fire - now you usually
have to carry a gas or kero stove and fuel). I have a "Kelty" frome
pack, but sewed up the pack myself, with *extra* outside pockets. 
There are numerous books on all this now. What in particular do you
seek (and what weather will you contend with)?

response 3 of 27:

Nov 24 00:32 UTC 1994

The problem in Michigan is finding an enoyable route to backpack -
especially after the High Sierra. Up in the UP mountains is probably
the best bet. I've been over a few miles of the Bruce Trail in Ontario,
for a few days. Yes, dehydrated food is expensive, but consider all
the other expenses in backpacking (clothes, *good boots*, pack, stove,
cookkit, camera....), and how often you do it: its a small part of the
cost. But, do it! Some of the most enjoyable periods of my life were
in the mountains, dependent only upon myself (and the gear I had
packed!).

response 5 of 27:

Nov 25 06:12 UTC 1994

Hmmmm...in Michigan, with its all-night soakers, I'm inclined to carry a
tent. I'd rather enjoy myself, than prove I could (try to) stay dry with
'native camp'. In the High Sierra, in the summer, it rained a little every
afternoon between 5 and 6 pm - so a poncho was nice, but no tent was
needed. (There was the exception, however, when we linked all our ponchos
into a lean-to, for an all-night soaker.)

Here's another essential for Michigan camping - a "bug jacket". It is an
open mesh jacket, very light, which you saturate with DEET. It is much
better than slapping DEET on your skin, and makes life quite bareable in
the worst black-fly season (I learned of them from the Krugers, who canoed
from the Arctic Circle to Terra del Fuego, and had to survive the spring
bug season in the Canadian tundra).

Which reminds me of a week-long canoe trip down the Missinabe River
in Ontario. Not quite the same as backpacking, but there is some of
that, on portages. You do want to travel light. We scheduled that so
that a) the ice was out (well, most of it was...), and b) the bugs
were not yet in.

response 7 of 27:

Nov 25 13:16 UTC 1994

Ah, memories.  I spent a good chunk of every summer as a child
wandering around Isle Royale.  What a wonderful rock.

response 9 of 27:

Nov 30 13:37 UTC 1994

No, very few people "live" there.  My mother and father loved to
fish and each year we'd spend about a month on the island while
they trolled lake trout.  I did a fair about of hiking and what
I couldn't reach by foot I saw by seaplane.  One of my all time
places on earth is Duncan Bay, Isle Royale.

response 11 of 27:

Nov 30 16:57 UTC 1994

I've arrived by Queen, Ranger II, and seaplane.  And yes, by far
the most adventerous way is on the Queen.  You will have earned
your R&R if you traveled Superior, in rough sea, on the Queen.

I hear the island, of late, has become something of a skin diving
mecca.  One of these years I really should go back and see how much
smaller it's become.

response 13 of 27:

Nov 30 20:45 UTC 1994

Are skin diving and scuba diving the same thing?  They type of
diving they're doing involves wet suits and tanks and the
exploration of some of the old shipwrecks off Blake's Point.

response 15 of 27:

Dec 3 15:13 UTC 1994

Dry suits are the most common form of environmental protection used in
Superior diving.  At depth, the wrecks around Isle Royal are in water 
around 34-39 F, depending on season.
 
When I dive with my dry suit, I prefer water temps either  above 54 or
below 45.  In between, the exposed bits of skin around your mouth get
very very cold.

However, this item is about backpacking, not diving.

response 17 of 27:

Dec 6 00:12 UTC 1994

Above 54 they don't feel cold, below 45 they numb quickly.  In between, they
feel COLD.

response 19 of 27:

Feb 1 17:42 UTC 1995

I remember <sigh> the trip to Pictured Rocks. Lesson learned: don't take 
along novices if you are a serious hiker/camper. Or if you must take them,
insist that they have proper gear. I remember a certain gym bag...

response 21 of 27:

Feb 2 06:15 UTC 1995

Depends on how far you go and how long you stay. But *not* gym bags.

response 23 of 27:

Feb 3 07:00 UTC 1995

There's still a little hike left from the parking lot, but it's not
like it used to be.