June/July 2010 Minong

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jerry
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June/July 2010 Minong

Post by jerry »

I won't be going solo for this year's trip. A professor from the college that I teach at is going to keep me aimed in the right direction.

Arrive on 6-26 (Sat.) via the V2 at McCargoe
6-27 (Sun.) go to Todd Harbor
6-28 (Mon.) go to Little Todd Harbor
6-29 (Tues.) go to Lake Desor North
6-30 (Wed.) go to Washington Creek
7-1 (Thurs.) day hike over to Huginin Cove
7-2 (Fri.) day hike around Windigo and take the Wenonah back to Minnesota
7-3/7-4 travel back to Ohio

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Re: June/July 2010 Minong

Post by Blackdog »

How was the hike? I made my first trip to the island this year and I'm planning to hike the Minong next year
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Re: June/July 2010 Minong

Post by jerry »

I'll have to get my notes together and post my TR. The Minong is a challenge, but I'd do it again if I have a chance to come back. I had a person who knows how to use a compass with me.
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Re: June/July 2010 Minong

Post by jerry »

A word of warning from an old guy, I suggest you don't do the Minong by yourself. And again I want to thank all those who gave me advice this past winter. I used almost all of their ideas/suggestions.

Isle Royale NP June/July 2010 trip

June 24-25

I didn’t go solo this year. A veteran hiker came along to experience ISRO. After being on the highways all day, we decided to camp at Wissota State Park near Chippewa Falls, Wisconsin. We had a nice restful evening and got up very early (6 a.m. Ohio, 5 local time). A nice trip thru northern Wisconsin and then into northeast Minnesota followed. By the time we got to Grand Marais it was raining pretty good. We had a doughnut at the World’s Best Doughnut shop and some pizza at Sven and Ole’s. We decided to camp at Judge Magney State Park. We went for a nice day hike up the Brule River for a few miles. That evening we ate at My Sister’s Place in Grand Marais (good food).

June 26 (Saturday) Day 1

We got up early and headed northeast to Grand Portage. We were one of the first folks to arrive. It was a nice morning; cool (50 when we got up) and a somewhat calm Lake Superior ahead of us. We left a couple of minutes early. We had fog for about an hour before arriving at the dock. We went from calm to 1-2 foot waves during the fog. There were only 16 passengers going out, 7 got out at Windigo (a family of five from Janesville, Wisconsin were hiking to Rock Harbor). We arrived at 9:25 a.m., the temperature was 62 under partly cloudy skies. This is the first time I wasn’t included in the LNT exercise. We left for McCargoe Cove at 9:53 a.m. We were in the fog again for most of the trip over. We arrived early at 12:38 (1:38 ISRO time). It was 72 and sunny. We picked shelter #6 for our evening stay. We dropped our gear and decided to go for a day hike up to the Greenstone.

It was sunny and warm (75 on the Greenstone). We left McCargoe at 2:19 p.m. It took 14 minutes to cover the .5-mile to the East Chickenbone Trail. We saw old moose and wolf scat along the trails. On the first hill we stopped and listened to something moving in the brush nearby. About 15 to 20 minutes before the East Chickenbone Campground we came across fresh moose tracks. It took 48 minutes to cover the 1.6 miles to the campground. We got to the Greenstone Ridge Trail at about 3:30 p.m. Heading west we came across the portage after 23 minutes, the Indian Portage Trail 17 minutes later. There was some moose scat along the Greenstone. And again we heard movement in the brush north of us. It took 6 minutes to get down to the West Chickenbone campground (.2 mile). There was a dead garter snake as we were leaving the campground. We came across several live garter snakes as we headed back to McCargoe, as well as numerous amounts of wolf scat. It took 54 minutes to cover the 2.2 miles to the junction with the East Chickenbone Trail. And it only took another 11 minutes to get back to the number 6 shelter. Four guys moved into one of the other shelters. There were no moose or otter visitors during the evening. Lots of loons and frogs were in the area. We had to use the head nets due to the flies and mosquitoes. A hare visited us when we were eating just before 6:30.

It was 67 and sunny when we decided to hike up to the Minong mine. It took 25 minutes to get to the post indicating where the mine is and about another 5 minutes to get down to the first big shaft. Those guys moved a lot of earth back in the 1800s. We came across moose scat in the area. When we returned to the Minong Ridge Trail we came across some wolf scat that was fresh (it wasn’t there earlier). This mine is worth the visit. The forecast was a chance of rain. We decided to go to sleep early and head out early.

More later when I get my notes reviewed.
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Re: June/July 2010 Minong

Post by Tom »

Great start, Jerry, can't wait to read it all. I think we hike very similarly... I tend to keep track of times and durations as well. I like that I can always determine where I should be on a map just based on time on trail.
Looking forward to the rest!
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Re: June/July 2010 Minong

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June 27, 2010 (Sunday) day 2

After about 5 hours of sleep I got up early. It was cloudy and 56 degrees. We hit the trail early (6:42 a.m.). The Minong Ridge Trail is not easy, but is doable for a lot of folks from McCargoe to Todd Harbor. Granted there are a number of ridges one has to climb. After about 50 minutes we took a breakfast break. We tried to take as many breaks as possible on the ridge tops (looking for a breeze to keep the bugs off of us). Our next break came 1:23 later, when we came across a solo hiker that was heading east. He was in the middle of the trail making some casts of the wolf tracks that were less then an hour from Todd Harbor. He told us about some guys that had gotten lost between Desor and Washington Creek on the Minong Ridge Trail. At this point, I’m thinking thank God Pete came along. Pete’s good with a compass, map and has good common sense and the training needed for a trail like this one. It’s cloudy and 58 degrees and I’m sweating. We’re in a tree-covered part of the trail so the bugs encouraged us to get going again. So far it hasn’t rained since we arrived at Isle Royale. So, after 15 minutes of hiking it finally decided to start raining. We got our rain gear on our packs and bodies and headed out again. It mostly rained lightly, but a couple of times it did try to rain hard. Luckily we only hiked 28 more minutes and there was the Todd Harbor shelter. We threw our gear into the shelter. We arrived at 10:16 a.m. The temperature was 56. Hiking time was 2 hours and 56 minutes, for the 6.6 miles. Not bad for this old timer. Yesterday we covered approximately 9 miles.

It was 55 plus it was still raining at noon and the wind had picked up. Pete had his hammock up and under a tarp so that he could take an afternoon break/nap. We had drizzle at 2 and fog at 3:30. Sometime during the afternoon a boat approached the dock. I told Pete a ranger would be checking our permit in a few minutes. Not even a few minutes later a female ranger (?) walked by and didn’t stop to check our permit. A few minutes later a guy came up to our shelter to check our permit. I asked the ranger who the woman was. He said she is a naturalist checking scat, bones, etc. He said she was camped east of us. We never saw her again. It was 58 and partly cloudy at 6. Pete was our chef again. Hot food hit the spot again, along with the mocha. After dinner I hiked out to the group site and back. Since there’s a fire ring an evening fire was in order. It was cloudy at 10 as the sun was going down. No moose, very few birds were heard from. At least the loons were about. We each got in some reading time as well as map checking. It was a very relaxing day for me. We plus the naturalist were the only campers at this location.
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Re: June/July 2010 Minong

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June 28 (Monday) 3rd day

There was some overnight rain between 4 and 5. I also heard wind and the waves coming in all night long. I’m normally a light sleeper, so I got about 5 to 6 hours of sleep. When I got up at 5:30 it was 54. We were able to get on the trail by 6:42. It took 35 minutes to cover the 1.4 miles to the junction with the Hatchet Lake Trail. About ten minutes later we hit a stream that challenged the Gore-Tex in our boots. My socks were now officially wet. Due to yesterdays and the overnight rain we also have wet pants (I know I’m old, but I don’t need Depends yet). Somewhere along the trail a beautiful green caterpillar attached itself to my sleeve. We took a breakfast type break at 7:55. Actually this morning turns into a good training day for tomorrow. Five or six minutes after our break comes another stream. About five minutes before 9 we cross another stream. It’s all the way up to 57 with sunny skies. Pete and I are just plugging along. Sometimes, we’ll say something, but mostly just moving along the trail. We take a break about once an hour.

A few minutes after 9:45 a.m. we hit what I like to call the high tech bridge. A couple of you folks shared your pictures and it lived up to my expectation. I asked Pete for advice and he showed me that not going high was the best way to cover those branches. We again had wet boots, but we got over with minimal problems with this stream. (Remember to go left to follow the real trail. Again thanks to you folks that shared information over the winter.) About ten minutes later we hit another (this time a little) stream. At 9:58 we arrived at the post that indicates the way to Little Todd Harbor. Notice no mention of any hikers for this day. We were the only campers at this location for the evening. We arrived at where we set up our accommodations at 10:15. It was sunny and 55. There were waves caused by the wind that was coming in from the NW. Actual hiking time after subtracting out breaks was 3:07, not bad for the 6.7 miles.

There was wolf scat between sites 1 and 2, in addition to that which was in front of those sites. At 2 it was 58 and cloudy plus 61and cloudy at 3:30. I finally had to put up my tent, while Pete got up his hammock and tarp for his afternoon break/nap (?) and evening rest. Another fire ring, another fire. While we had dinner or shortly thereafter I heard a wolf howl that was between the ridge and us. I had another relaxing afternoon at Isle Royale. Read my book, checked the map for tomorrows trip, and just taking it easy. The sun is just going down at 10 and its 54 degrees. Due to the heavy wind and waves I got about four hours of sleep.

June 29 (Tuesday) 4th day

At 5:15 it was 50. We were on the trail by 6:38. It took about 18 minutes to reach the post for the junction with the Minong Ridge Trail. We took our breakfast break on a ridge at 7:29. This is definitely a challenge, hiking mostly on a rocky surface. Some jerks have been messing with the cairns ever since we left McCargoe. It can’t all be the moose or wolves knocking them down. At 9:36 it is sunny and 55. We came across two couples that were heading east. We arrived at the post indicating N. Desor at 10:21. We took 12 minutes to cover the last .5-mile to site 1. Two people headed out after we started setting up the hammock/tarp for Pete and my tent. Three guys arrived at 8:45 p.m. Until they arrived it was a quiet campground. It was 58 and sunny with a light wind at noon. Hiking time for the 5.7 miles was 3:12 after deducting the breaks. It warmed up to 64 at 1:45 p.m. There were loons again around the lake. The sound of wolves occurred around 3:30 a.m. Loons made a lot of noise about an hour later. The moon was out bright overnight. I got between 5 and 6 hours of sleep.
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Re: June/July 2010 Minong

Post by johnhens »

Good report jerry, keep it coming!
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Re: June/July 2010 Minong

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June 30, 2010 day 5

Before you head out to Washington Creek from North Desor make sure you are rested. At 6 it was 50 with clear skies. We left at 6:20 and arrived at the Minong Ridge Trail junction in about 12 minutes (for .5-miles). We took our breakfast break at 7:03. By 8:10 we came across a trail marker that was moose antlers. Also from time to time I saw the orange blaze that someone painted on the rocks from years past that the author Jim DuFresne indicates in his book. By 8:34 we felt that we already had gone about 3.5 to 4 miles. I think we both felt strong and the packs we were carrying were manageable. At 9:15 we came across the first beaver dam. I did slip a little once, but got across okay and decided to take a picture of that place. By 9:51 we felt we had covered about 6 miles. Temperature was up to 60. We’ve been taking breaks now about every hour or hour and a half. We got to the boardwalk at about 10:04. At 10:55 we took a lunch break. We were overlooking the next beaver dam/pond and felt that the distance covered was about 8 miles. I changed into dry socks (between sweating and the last beaver dam I needed fresh socks). I felt confident that we were doing everything correctly. There were two big possible ways to cross the beaver dam. I tried the one to the left and even though my socks were wet again, I made it across with minimal problems.

Now a word of warning is necessary at this juncture. We both are on the trail after the beaver dam. We start following the boot tracks that are there. And follow them, and follow them, etc. And then I’m on top of a third beaver dam. I’m trying to remember the advice given during the winter. I can’t remember if there are two or three dams. I follow the tracks right into the middle of the third pond. It was necessary to say, “Pete we can’t go any further, there is water here in all directions.” So we try going right. Doesn’t work. We try going left and Pete finds some more boot tracks and a well-defined track/trail. We follow that until the trail dead ends in the forest. Thanks to Pete’s previous experience and training it is decided that going back to beaver dam/pond number 2 is the best course of action. Keep in mind I have fallen at least three times in the muck and have used all the cuss words I know, plus I made some up. It’s difficult to get back up when you have a backpack on in one of these bogs. When we get close to second dam, Pete sees the real trail going up hill. I am so relieved, but we have wasted about 90 minutes of the day. Philosophical Pete correctly states, we have the rest of the day to get there. Now if I had done this trail solo as I originally was thinking of doing back in January, I would probably still be out there somewhere. We are going east to west on this trail. When we got back to Windigo a guy who went west to east ended up in the same beaver dam/pond that we had. We might have covered an additional mile due to this mistake. I filed a report with the ranger when I got back to Windigo, maybe if the super gets enough of these reports a trail crew might be able to address this situation.

At about 1:16 we came across some kids with their grandparents. They were in the Minong Overlook area. We got to the post indicating the East Huginnin Trail at about 2:17. We reached the Greenstone Ridge Trail at 2:37 p.m. and shelter 13 at Washington Creek at 2:44 p.m. Subtracting for breaks and 60 minutes, (not the possible 90 during our detour) it took us 6 hours to cover the 12.6 miles. We dropped our gear and headed for the shower and oh it felt better then any I had ever taken in my entire life. Then I had one of those delicious sandwiches they make at the store with a V8, an orange juice and a diet coke. A nice relaxing afternoon followed on the deck near the store. It was mostly clear and in the 60s during the afternoon.

Ranger Sean gave an interpretive presentation at 8 p.m. He’s a good storyteller. At 9:20 the Washington Creek mother moose and twins stopped by our shelter for a short visit. I’ll try to figure out how to post the picture. Around 9:30 Pete got in his hammock. About 5 or 10 minutes later a fox came by the shelter and went over to investigate the hammock. I wasn’t able to get its picture. Overnight it was calm and clear.

July 1 (Thursday) day 6

When I got up at 6:30 it was 46. Shortly thereafter I heard the barking of wolves east of the campgrounds. We decided to head back early to Grand Portage. Ranger Cindy Crosby gave a morning interpretive presentation before the boat docked. She and Sean are good at what they do. She also was able to coordinate getting us on the roster of passengers for the trip back. It started to rain and was 54 when the V2 came into the harbor. The boat ride back was tame and several people that came out with us were on the boat when we boarded. The family from Wisconsin and a couple from a Minneapolis suburb were among them. Pete and I met up with a teacher from N.D who was on the boat. We all went back to Sven and Ole’s. Pete said I could have a few brews with my pizza, he would drive until we took a nap in Wisconsin. I'm already looking forward to my next trip to ISRO.
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Re: June/July 2010 Minong

Post by upnorthjeeper »

Amazing trip report, thanks for taking the time to share!
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Re: June/July 2010 Minong

Post by jerry »

You're welcome. Loved sharing it. I asked the folks at the Windigo store "where is the I survived the Minong Ridge Trail shirt?". They said the folks that make up the shirts probably have never been to the island or know anything about it. I wonder if there is a "I survived the Minong Ridge Trail shirt" out there anywhere? I'd probably buy it right now.
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Re: June/July 2010 Minong

Post by laqtis »

Great report! Me and my hiking buddy are hiking Windigo to Rock Harbor via the Minong and are definitely looking forward to it.
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Re: June/July 2010 Minong

Post by jerry »

laqtis,

About 4.5 miles from Washington Creek campgrounds you'll come across the first of two beaver ponds. The first one is on your left. If you go right to a beaver pond/dam you'll make the same mistake that we did. Minong is a nice challenge. Enjoy your trip.
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