2007 trip to ISRO, 2nd time Solo

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jerry
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2007 trip to ISRO, 2nd time Solo

Post by jerry »

Left Dayton, Ohio at 3:07 a.m. on Monday August 6, 2007. Took a break about every two hours, give or take a half hour. Took I-74W through Illinois. Then took I-80W into Iowa. Went north on US61 until I took the back highways of NE Iowa. Got to Winona at a little after 3 p.m. Took a short break at my old college. Got to Minneapolis at 6:10 p.m. Stayed at my friend’s house.

Visited with my sister and some of my high school classmates during the stay. The weather was warm with no rain (their drought was worse then Ohio’s).

Left Minneapolis at 5:50 a.m. on Thursday August 9. Couldn’t take the I-35N bridge, since it is the one that collapsed. Took several back road highways through Wisconsin and Michigan. While driving on Wisconsin Highway #77 I drove through a National Forest that had warning lights flashing that indicated Caribou were in the area. Never saw anything like that before and didn’t see any of the animals. In Michigan I saw four very large turkeys along the highway (they were almost as big as those I’ve seen in the backwoods of Kentucky). Arrived at Houghton, Michigan just before 1 p.m. Camped across the river at the Hancock Campground (it was 80 degrees in the shade when I arrived). Had a quiet evening of reading and a few brews. Got up early (it was 60 degrees) and arrived at the dock where I would take the ferryboat to Isle Royale at 6:47 a.m. on Thursday August 10. (Isle Royale Day 1)

The ferryboat left at 8:58 a.m. There were only 58 passengers (120 is the capacity). The ranger said the boat would be packed on its return tomorrow. We took the channel out to Lake Superior from Houghton. There were two eagles on the south shore just as we were leaving the channel. Saw Isle Royale off in the distance just before noon. Talked to several folks on the boat. One young guy was going for a backcountry permit. He’s in his second year at Western Michigan U. (I heard later from a young couple that this kid was chased by some moose in the back-back country and lost some of his equipment.) There also were two older couples that would be boating at Isle Royale. We arrived at the island at about 2:45 p.m. The Lake was relatively calm on the way over to the island.

Was able to hit the trail at about 3:09 p.m. My backpack weighed approximately 35 pounds (it was about 29-30 when I left the island). I took the Tobin Harbor Trail and there were four hikers coming from the other direction as I headed west. I saw a black snake with white strips in addition to a loon with her three chicks along this trail. It took 42 minutes to get to the Suzie Trail (1.8 miles). Got to the Suzie Cave at about 4:02. It took 13 minutes to get to the Rock Harbor Trail (.2 miles). It took another 30 minutes to get to Three Mile Campground (another .9 miles). All the shelters and individual sites were taken. I decided to camp in the group campground. Had my site all to myself. It was sunny and 82 degrees when I got there. While I was putting up my tent I saw a large woodpecker and another large bird (never seen that type before) checking each other out. Thought they might fight, but that never happened. Went for a short evening hike before it got dark. Hiked about 4.8 miles for the day. Went to bed between 9 and 9:30. There were shooting stars when I woke up in the middle of the night. Also heard a loon/loons many times during the night. I heard some night animals nearby as well. Slept until about 3:20 a.m. So I got about 5 to 5 and a half hours of sleep.

Saturday August 11 (Day 2). It was partly clouding and 61 degrees when I got up. It took me about an hour to break camp and pack my bag. I hit the Rock Harbor Trail at 6:51 a.m. heading west. A fox was walking toward me on the trail sometime after 7. I took a picture of it. It went in the bushes until I walked past it; it then got back on the trail after I walked past it and it continued on its eastward trip. Came across two people and then a little later a party of 9 scouts and their leaders. Took a couple of breaks before I got to the next campground. I came across another person, plus moose tracks before I got to the Daisy Farm Campground. It took me 2 hours and 11 minutes to cover the distance between campgrounds (4.4 miles). I put my stuff in shelter #20. It was near the trail I would use the next day to head up to the Greenstone Ridge. There's a dock at this campground. I went down to it to replenish my water stock. There were a couple of scout leaders that I saw on the boat ride out at the dock, along with two students from the U of Minnesota and two from the U of Wisconsin (Madison).

I went out for a day hike for about two hours covering about 3.5 miles. When I got back we had light rain from 1:30 to about 2:30. It was 68 degrees at 2 p.m. At 6 p.m. the temperature got up to 72 and it was partly cloudy. We had a presentation from Rolf Peterson and his wife Candy down by the dock. He's the biologist who has studied the moose and wolves at Isle Royale for the past 30 years. There were about 20 of us learning a little more about the place. They had numerous skulls of moose, wolves and fox, plus a few bull moose racks. The moose population is 385 the lowest on record, and 21 wolves per Rolf. (I hiked 8 miles on this day.) It was 67 degrees when I went to bed (sleeping pad and sleeping bag). These shelters could probably sleep six if need be. It was very windy overnight. I was thankful for the shelter. I heard a loon overnight. Woke up a little after 4 a.m. after about six hours of sleep.

Sunday August 12 (Day 3). It was windy when I got up and most of the day it stayed that way. At 6 a.m. it was 65 degrees. A fox visited me at 6:25 just before I headed up the trail. Couldn’t get a picture of it since it was too dark. Left Daisy Farm at 6:43 and it took me 55 minutes to make it up to the fire tower up on Greenstone Ridge (Mount Ojibway). Distance traveled was 1.7 miles. This ridge runs across the whole island from northeast to southwest. Came across a dead mouse on the trail up to the ridge, plus a live toad and two large birds that were the size of grouse (but the rangers indicated to me that there are no grouse on the island). Took a 20 minute break at the fire tower and took some pictures from up on the fire tower stairs. It was very windy up there. Headed east on the Greenstone trail. Saw fresh droppings from moose, fox and wolves along the trail. Stopped at Mt. Franklin at 9:12 for a few minutes after a hike of 2.5 miles. It was a nice view, a little better then that along the trail to it.

After another .3 miles I arrived at the junction to Lane Cove at 9:22 a.m. just as two people were coming up from the trail to that campground. First people I saw that day. Headed down the Lane Cove trail at 9:40 and met four people coming up the hill (it was pretty steep and had a lot of switchbacks). Took a short break with a party of six more who were heading up the hill. Arrived at Lane Cove campsite number 5 at 11:02, after a 2.4-mile hike. It took less then five hours to cover almost 7 miles. Put up my tent and got organized. I was the only person so far at this campground. At about noon went down to the Cove to filter some water and an older woman came walking up the shore at the same time. Neither of us expected to see anyone. She had walked out from the Rock Harbor Lodge, where she works, for a visit to the Cove (her round trip would be about 14 miles, not bad for someone at least ten years older then me). I had heard about her and her friend when I was at Daisy Farm (they had hiked out to where I was going tomorrow). She has been working at various National Parks for years during the summer months.

It got up to 82 degrees during the afternoon with lots of sunshine. During the afternoon a couple paddled into shore in their kayak. A little later a couple of canoes came in. Greg and Jen from Appleton, Wisconsin hiked in and took up a spot close to me. They shared some very hot tea at sunset. It was beautiful that evening. At 9:45 p.m. it was 67 degrees. I covered 7.7 miles on this day. Went to sleep at about 10. Woke Greg up at 2:30 to watch shooting stars. There were some unusual flaring and flashes. We stayed up until about 3:15. I got about five and a half hours of sleep.

Monday August 13 (Day 4). It was 56 degrees at 6 a.m. Not as windy as yesterday and therefore more bugs to bother me. Left Lane Cove at 6:25 for a day hike (I’ll be back for another night). Got up to the Greenstone junction at 7:39. It was 55 degrees and beautiful up on the ridge. There were great views of Lake Superior as I headed east on the ridge trail. The sun passing through trees was especially nice. I got to Lookout Louise (the end of the east/west trail) at 9:53. It took about three hours to cover 7.3 miles. When I arrived at the end of the trail the first thing I heard was not wildlife. No a jet was descending on its way to Thunder Bay, Ontario (about 15 miles northwest of Isle Royale). Within minutes several loons and hawks were flying by the ridge. At this point in time I hadn’t seen anyone yet that morning. Headed back to Lane Cove at about 10:19.

Met Greg and Jen, plus a father and son on the way back to the Lane Cove trail, in addition to a lot of grasshoppers. Got to the junction of the trails at about 12:33. Took a short break on a boulder. The temperature was 76 degrees. Left for the Lane Cove campground at 12:44 and arrived at 1:52 p.m. Put in about 14.8 miles of hiking for the day. When I talked to a ranger who checked my permit he said there was a 60% chance of thunderstorms overnight. It was 74 at 4 p.m. and was getting very cloudy. Jen and Greg had me over to help eat some of their food (they brought too much with them). The noodles with cheese and garlic sauce tasted great. While we were eating a wolf howled on the other side of the cove. Overnight we heard it or another one howl again. It cooled off to 65 by 9 p.m. and it felt like it was going to rain.

Tuesday August 14 (Day 5). It was 65 degrees when I woke up at 5 a.m. Slept about five to five and a half hours. It took about an hour to pack up my gear. A thunderstorm was coming in my direction. I left in the dark as the thunderstorm hit. It was 6:15 and I eventually had soaked socks, pants and some of my shirt. I had a rain cover for my backpack. There were periods of rain on the trail up to the top of the ridge. The bushes were soaked so I never dried out. It took about a 1.5 hours to get up to the top (arrived at about 7:45). It was a 2.4 hike out. There were lots of mosquitoes dive-bombing me on the way up. I took the Mount Franklin Trail down to the Tobin Harbor trail (1.8 miles). It took me from 8:00 until 8:48 to complete this downhill hike. The rain finally stopped for good. It took me another 26 minutes to get to the Suzie Cave Trail (1.2 miles). Took it back to the Rock Harbor Trail and arrived there at 9:30. I took a few breaks after coming down off of the ridge. Arrived at the Rock Harbor campground at 10:21. It took another 46 minutes of hiking (1.8 miles were covered). Put my gear in shelter # 2.

Went over to the snack bar and ate a ham sandwich with chips and a diet Coke. It never tastes as good at home as it did at that time. The sun came out and it was 73 at 11 a.m. During the mid afternoon it was sunny and 76. Walked around the harbor after taking a nice hot shower. Some folks received a cold shower later in the afternoon (hot water heater ran out of the hot stuff). Decided to have a grilled cheese sandwich with chips and a few beers for my evening meal. Went to a Park ranger presentation on CCC camps that evening at 8 pm. On the way back to the shelter a fox was walking near the harbor. Covered about 10.9 miles on this last hiking day. Total mileage was 46.2 miles in the five days of hiking.

It was 72 at 8:45. I read until dark and got to sleep between 10 and 11. Got up at 5:50 to a cool 57 degrees. Overnight there was a chorus of animals at about 4:15. All sorts of birds and other animals let us know that we were not alone. So I had 4 to 5 hours of sleep. I didn’t see any moose or wolves during this visit to Isle Royale.

Wednesday August 15 (day 6). A pontoon plane lost the use of its engine trying to fly back to the UP of Michigan. Our ferryboat went out and placed it on its deck. Therefore we were 27 minutes late leaving the island. After leaving at 9:27 we arrived on time at 3 pm in Houghton. It was 76 and partly cloudy.

I decided to drive straight through to Dayton, leaving Houghton at 3:19 pm and arrived in Dayton at 4:42 am after driving 737 miles. Felt like a trucker. In the Upper Peninsula I was able to get 46 miles per gallon with our car. About an hour before the “Bridge” I almost hit a deer, thank God it turned around and headed back into the woods. About ten minutes later a bunch of us drivers had to slow down almost to a stop. We had allowed a porcupine to cross the road. The first one I have ever seen outside of captivity.

This trip felt like a religious retreat to me. I spent a lot of time by myself, giving me plenty of time to think about stuff. I’m lucky to have my health, my family (including those grandkids), my friends, my pension and my Sinclair Community College teaching position (32nd year).
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Tom
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Re: 2007 trip to ISRO, 2nd time Solo

Post by Tom »

Jerry - I love the precision in your trip reports. I do appreciate when people put times in, it helps me guesstimate how long or tough a particular section can be. I've never done August on the Isle... Something I've been contemplating doing. Sure, more traffic, but I'd imagine the warm nights are wonderful - Plus, perhaps like you, I could catch the Perseid Meteor Shower from the darkness of IR. Sounded fun to watch!
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Re: 2007 trip to ISRO, 2nd time Solo

Post by Kevinl »

I agree with Tom about the specificity of your writing. Sounds like a great trip.

Here's a picture of a big woodpecker (pileated) I found at Three Mile Campground http://outdoors.webshots.com/photo/2458 ... 1912SVnCPR

Thanks for sharing. I enjoyed reading it.
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Re: 2007 trip to ISRO, 2nd time Solo

Post by johnhens »

jerry,
Thanks for taking the time to write a great and detailed TR.
I wonder if you caught part of ther Perseid meteor shower.
Pretty cool that you were on the "Aircraft Carrier Ranger".
The detail of your time and distance is great, good reference for future trips.

Thanks jerry!
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head2north
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Re: 2007 trip to ISRO, 2nd time Solo

Post by head2north »

Jerry - thanks for report.

There is one thing i took complete notice of and that is you rise early and hit the trail.
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jerry
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Re: 2007 trip to ISRO, 2nd time Solo

Post by jerry »

head2north, I was 63 when I did that trip. An old man can't sleep when there is so much to see. One negative is my pants usually get wet from the dew, but you get some great views as the sun comes up when you're on the trail. Early arrival at your destination site, means you get to pick out sometimes one of the best places.

johnhens, The passengers of the plane had to ride back with us. Can't remember all the details that they shared, but I think they had flown a little past Mott Is. when they developed engine trouble.

Tom & kevinl, I enjoy putting down details so that others might compare their experiences and perhaps learn as I have from many of you. I'm looking for my pictures for this trip as well as my '08 and '09 trips. Looking for my notes also.
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