National Parks 100th Aniversary - Adventures on Isle Royale

National Park Adventures of Two Middle Aged Cousins

Prehike

In my college years I did a fair amount of backpacking at locations across the country.  I am really happy when I am in a nature environment and with the daily grind of work, kids sports, and stressors I need to reboot in nature.  My cousin Stephen and I did a trip to Colorado in 2011 and had talked about going to Isle Royale even back then so when he asked if I was game in going with him this summer I was intrigued by the option.  Once we set a date we were in planning mode.  I was in a wreck in May and wasn't sure how my shoulder would do and of course planned to do some local hikes with pack weight ahead of time but alas only did one.

Stephen on the boat

I drove up through Iowa and Minnesota.  I spent a little time stretching my legs at a lovely park in Duluth later afternoon along the way.  I picked up a geocache or two as well amongst all the Pokemon users.  Stephen and I met at a hotel casino on the American side of the Northwest tip of Minnesota and tried to guess how much stuff we could cram into our packs and stay at or under 40 lbs.  The boat we rode over on (Voyeger II) is shown to the left and we rolled out early the next morning to catch the boat.  I spent most of our ride over to the Island reading a book about the history of the Island in the quiet lower level of the boat.  We had Canada off to our left and Lake Superior all around us. As we got closer to the island we saw smaller islands around it.  There was a stop at the Windego ranger station where we picked up our backcountry permits and then we hopped back on the boat to wait for our stop at McCargo Cove.

McCargo Cove

It was a warm day when we put in at McCargo and we got our packs first and chugged up the hill to find shelter as McCargo had almost a dozen little shelter available to stay in.  After checking one side we found a group moving from one shelter to another so we took their vacated space and threw down our gear.  We filled our water bottles and then since it was early afternoon we took an couple of hours to explore the trail and visit an abandoned mine nearby.  We ended up sharing the cabin with another couple and had quite a windstorm that night so I had some restless sleep.

One entrance to part of the mine
and we walked through this.

The glorious thimbleberry

One great thing about the island is it fed us along the way and we ate a lot of thimbleberries as well as blueberries and raspberries where we could find them.  The thimbleberries got to brightening our days as we got farther into the trip across the island.  The first official day on the trail it was breezy, sunny and a bit more warm and humid than we were expecting.  We took our time and enjoyed the views coming over part of the Minong Trail.  Fortunately the hot weather week was the week before we got there so we only caught the tail end.  We were a bit loopy by the end of this day and as we were looking for a campsite nature got the best of me. 

 

First day on Minong

First day on Minong -
Photo bomb??

Small lake north of Minong
before Todd Harbor

Canada in the far ground.
Minong Trail

We stopped on the Minong a couple of times for snacks and water.  Then had a late lunch at Todd Harbor and enjoyed the views and lake breezes.  From the ridge line, lakes that look small on the map look quite large in real life.  I don't know what these lakes are called without looking on a more detailed map however they were small for Isle Royale.  After stopping in Todd Harbor we turned south off the Minong trail to head to Hatchet Lake for our overnight stop.  I spent much of the day with the view below letting Stephen set the pace.  My shoulder was nagging a bit throughout the day with the pack weight pulling on it and I was pretty certain the hiking boots I was using (normally reserved for snow shoeing) were giving me blisters.  We were hot and tired after around ten miles on the trail.

Finally coming into Hatchet Lake

Rock Cairn on Minong Ridge Trail

Campsite at Hatchet Lake

Cool Moose Antlers in the
Hatchet Lake campsite

Mother Nature decided to mess with me at this point, and as we bushwhacked our way into the Hatchet Lake campsite. I must have hit a root running parallel with the trail and the next thing I knew I was cursing from the Thimbleberry bushes.  There was a huge pop in my ankle when I went down and this is the same ankle I tore up in 1996 and 2012  so I was fearing the worst.  Yes this was the end of the FIRST DAY on the trail. 

Lake Hatchett

Stephen found a campsite for us while I whimpered and cursed next to the trail on a rock.  I gingerly followed him up to the site and then powered through the first setting up of the tent for this trip and made myself a walking stick.  I found my way to the outhouse and met a lovely couple from Rock Island, Illinois who later took mercy on me and gave me an ace wrap (yes I normally carry one with me but transitioned to a new pack for this trip and didn't transition my ace wrap... GRRRR!)  Once we were set up, had fresh water, and had eaten I assessed my toes (small blisters on my pinky toes were rehabbed) and ankle, and then read quietly for a bit before heading to bed.

First views from the Greenstone Ridge
Hatchett Lake in the background

My walking stick
on the Greenstone Ridge

The next day (day two on the trail) we had a quick breakfast and filtered some more water.  Then I broke down the tent and got a head start while Stephen finished his morning routine.  















I figured he'd catch me eventually gimping along. The first half mile was switchbacks straight up the side of the Greenstone Ridge to get to the Greenstone Trail.  I powered up that trail with my trusty stick and then stopped to admire what would be our waning views for the day.

Greenstone Ridge

It was less humid and cooler, however the afternoon brought light drizzle.  We ate our lunch under the observation tower at 1377 ft on the Greenstone Ridge trail chatting with many of the people we had been camping near over the last couple of nights.  We created trail nicknames to keep them straight between the two of us.  There was party of six from Minneapolis which were part of a hiking club from there.  They usually blew by us pretty quick.  There was party of 4 from Illinois who were two grandpas, a son and grandson and they usually headed out around the same time as us or passed us early on.  Then we ran into several groups of two along the way like the one who gave me a wrap.  I think their nickname related to them taking the float plane to the island.  We enjoyed chatting with them along the trail and in the campsite each night.

Lake Desor land of the mighty mosquito

The end of the second day of hiking, around 8 miles, brought us to the very large Lake Desor, land of the mosquitoes.  We did not spend much time outside of the tent in our camping space because it was very buggy.  

We did however hang out on the beach with the multi-generational crew for a while and listened to their stories of many, many trips (11 and 18) to Isle Royale over the years.  Isle Royal is one of the least visited National Parks because it is difficult and expensive to get to, but one of the most revisited National Parks because it is beautiful and offers many different paths to traverse.

Despite the discomfort I had been in the entire day I was already formulating a plan to come back in a couple of years with my kiddos.

Me and Lake Desor... still smiling

Have to stay hydrated

At 24 hours later...
toes and ankle purple and swollen

We turned in early this night because the drizzle that eventually gave way to rain and lots of it. Surprisingly I slept pretty good with the nearly constant patter of rain on the tent... and the buzzing of mosquitoes outside.  In the morning it was still raining so we waited a little bit for a lull in the weather and broke down camp as quickly as we could and set out with an extra five lbs of damp tent on my back for good measure.

Soggy and miserable...
pausing for nourishment
not quite halfway there

The last day of hiking on Isle Royale was a mental and physical challenge.  The trails were wet, slick and muddy in places.  I didn't take my camera out much this day but did use my phones a couple of times to capture things here and there.

We spent much of the 11 plus mile trail day in rain of varying intensities but also trying to find the highest point along the trail so I could get a screen shot to submit for an Earth Cache I was working on.  Most of the hike was  walking through maple forests and bushwhacking through berry bushes.  Needless to say we were very soggy all day.  I had chosen to wear my quick drying shorts that day but it ended up allowing water to pour into my boots all day.

Whenever one of us would get hangry we would take a couple of minutes, regroup, and have a snack.  With the persistent rain and no shelters along the way we mostly just trudged along.

My pack was trying to stay dry too

We knew from the grandpas that once the forest changed from Maples to Evergreen trees along with a persistent down slope in trail that were were getting close to our final destination.  However we weren't sure how close and it felt like those last couple of miles took for ever.  

Wonderful Dry Shelter

The final challenge was finding a shelter in the campground.  Since Windigo is a popular day tripping and base camping location they have a lot of shelters there.  The trick is finding a shelter with the current inhabitants in it to see if they had room for two more.  After checking 10 or 12 of them we finally found one we could move into.

Clean and fed before I caught
 my boat to the mainland

The cabins are basically three sided with a roof and raised floor for you to put your sleeping bag down.  The last side is screened in so it is essentially protected from the weather and larger critters.  We stayed in one of these two out of four nights and it was a nice respite from the close quarters of our two person tent.

Windigo was a wonderful oasis and functions as a tiny city.  It has a store, a ranger station, potable water, laundry and SHOWERS!  After being wet all day we could hardly wait to get clean.  Stephen was staying on the island for a few more days to solo hike and decided to do a load of laundry so I left Isle Royale smelling fresh with a pack full of clean clothes.

Beautiful Flowers

That evening we went to an interpretive talk at the ranger station to learn about the geology of Isle Royale... I know... you totally didn't expect me to be excited about that but it was fun.  For an added bonus a lady from one of the boats docked there gave me a bag of ice and so, on the third day after 20 miles on the trail I finally iced my swollen bruised ankle.

My ride to the mainland

My last day on the island we explored a bit, went to two more ranger talks, one on the lighthouses and sunken ships around the island, and one on the animals of the island.  I also did another Earth Cache and got to meet the cache owners, friends of a friend, and talk geocaching. Despite being there for nearly a week we only saw signs and sounds of animals but did not spot any moose, fox or wolves.  We did see tiny squirrels but that seemed fairly anti-climatic.  

Mid afternoon I bid farewell to Stephen and the island.  I wished I had a couple more days to stay and explore from Windigo.  The boat I returned on is a day trip vessel and half of the people on it were only on the island for four hours.  The other half were hikers like me heading for home.  I was able to catch up with a father and son from Miami who we had come to the island with and we got a close up shot of on of the lighthouses.  Despite my aches and pains, and the mixed weather, I really enjoyed my time on the island and will certainly be going back in a couple of years.  While it is a challenge to get there, it is definitely worth the journey.

Funky mushrooms

Funky mushrooms

Thank you for reading along.  


“The nation behaves well if it treats its natural resources as assets which it must turn over to the next generation increased, and not impaired, in value.” – Theodore Roosevelt