Windigo to Rock Harbor via the Minong 21-28 May 2010

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Gimp
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Windigo to Rock Harbor via the Minong 21-28 May 2010

Post by Gimp »

This is a delayed and overly long trip report of my trip in May. I kept a lot of trail notes and could have said more, but decided to go for the short version:

Background: My last trip to Isle Royale was in mid-August of 2009 when I had taken the float plane into Windigo, and followed the Feldtman Ridge trail to the Greenstone, over to Mosky Basin and then on to Rock Harbor. It rained one or more times at some point every day and I was constantly wet from the showers and dripping thimble berry leaves overhanging the trail. At the end of my trip a severe gale delayed my float plane (as well as both passenger ferries) departure and I ended up spending an extra 2 ½ days on the island wondering when I was going to be able to leave. I unexpectedly lost 8 pounds during that week which I attributed to inadequate calorie intake in the wet conditions. It also explained why I’d felt extraordinarily run down at the end of my trip. I’ve had hypothermia twice in my life and wet / cold conditions always concern me. Knowing that I would be alone most of the time, and that May would be cooler I gave more attention to my meal planning, selecting freeze dried meals for two and even carrying 1,000 plus calorie military MRE’s to keep my energy up. The extra food along with extra clothing made for a heavier 45 pound pack at the start of my trip, but it was necessary. I selected my equipment carefully and by the time I was done with this trip I couldn’t point to a single thing in my pack that I could have safely done without.

20 May (Thursday) – I departed the Metro Detroit area and headed north on I-75. I stopped for dinner just outside of Marquette and then stopped for the night at Beaufort Lake State Forest Campground located to the west of Michigamme. This was about an hour out from Houghton. Except for a couple of vehicles launching fishing boats the place was empty and very quiet. Free of distractions I dumped my pack on the picnic table to conduct a final inventory and organize it one last time. The weather was projected to be warmer than I had planned so I made a couple of last minute changes to lighten my load. This included exchanging my warmer goose down bag for a lighter weight synthetic bag, and exchanging a heavier weight rain jacket for a lighter, single layer jacket.

21 May (Friday) – I finished the drive to Houghton, had a fast food breakfast and headed to the Houghton / Hancock airport arriving at 9:15 for my scheduled 10 AM departure. The only life in the lobby was a young couple with backpacks that would be on the flight with me. They were essentially new to backpacking with new packs and boots and they were ambitiously going to tackle the Greenstone Ridge. The airplane arrived early and we were able to load up and were lifting off by 9:34. I was happy to have the right front seat with a good view. On my previous trip I had ended up in the rear seat with a poor view so this made up for it. The flight over was quick and the sky was very clear. We made a smooth landing in Washington Harbor by 10 AM. Valerie from the ranger station met us at the dock and walked us up to the headquarters to get us briefed and issue permits. She said that she remembered me from last year.

My plan was to stay at Washington Creek that night so that I could day hike the Hugginin Cove Loop on my arrival day. I had my pick of the shelters as there was only two other lone hikers present. After an early lunch I started off to Hugginnin at 12 PM. The temperature at my shelter was 65 degrees, it was sunny and a nice day for a walk. When I arrived at Hugginin Cove the temperature was 10 degrees cooler and there was a very strong wind blowing in off of Lake Superior. Camping there would have been a bit uncomfortable. I explored the area and then continued on the loop arriving back at my shelter at 3:30. The rest of the afternoon was spent exploring the area, unsuccessfully fishing from the dock, and reading.

A few minutes past 9 PM I heard splashing in the creek below my shelter. It was a cow moose stepping through the mud and water. A few minutes late a second cow and yearling calf joined the first one. They seemed to be very nervous about my shelter as I stood in the shadows behind the screen. After I stepped out and sat at the picnic table they calmed down and began to graze. When I went back inside they got nervous again and moved further away. I guess they preferred to know where I was. At around 10 PM a single frog croaked and was suddenly joined by dozens of others in a concert that lasted all night long. I was glad that I had brought my ear plugs.

22 May (Saturday) – A crow on top of the shelter ensured that I was up at 6:30. The temperature was 58 degrees at that time. By 8 AM I was packed and on my way to the Minong Ridge trail. It was just as I expected from trip reports that I’d read with a lot of ups and downs. I was fresh and full of ‘first day energy’ so it didn’t bother me too much. This early in the season the trail hadn’t seen much activity. The fall leaves covered it in many places so that I couldn’t see the roots and rocks or detect sharp turns in the trail. That required extra vigilance on the ground in front of me.

About an hour out from Washington Creek I ran into a cow and a Bull Moose grazing. The cow was unconcerned but bull kept a wary eye on me as I passed. When I arrived at the open rocky ridgelines I was extremely thankful for the stone cairns. Even with them to guide me I lost the trail in two places. Once I had to drop my pack and walk a couple of 360 degree circles around a cairn to find the trail. That was a frustrating 10 minutes. It was completely obscured by leaves and vegetation. After lunch along the trail I ran into a couple and two young men coming in my direction from the North Desor campsite. We compared travel times and I don’t know who was more disappointed to learn how much further they had to go. I told them they had five hours of walking ahead of them and they told me that I had three hours ahead of me. From that point it seemed that the trail became rockier and rougher. I was quite happy to see the sign directing me to the North Desor campsite. I had my choice of spots and ended up being the only one there that night. My closest neighbors could be seen across the lake at South Desor.

I had planned on trying my luck at fishing but a very strong wind picked up and thwarted my attempts at casting. I finally gave up and occupied myself with my book out of the wind inside my tent. It was my first time using my new MSR Hubba tent and the bright yellow fabric seemed to double the intensity of the natural light. I should note that my previous tent hadn’t held up against the constant rain last year.

23 May (Sunday) – The wind finally calmed down and the morning was much warmer than I expected. I was packed and on the trail by 9:15. I wasn’t feeling as fresh as I had the day before and the trail was much rougher. It was warm, sunny, there wasn’t any breeze and the exposed rocky ridgeline seemed to go on and on. The mosquitoes also seemed to like to hang out on the ridges and they kept me moving. Occasionally the path would dip down from the rock into the trees. The softer dirt and the shade were always welcome. Kudos to whoever spent the time to build all of those stone cairns as that was usually the only evidence of the trail.

I finally left the ridgeline and reached the Little Todd trail intersection at 12:15. Little Todd was my planned lunch and water stop. As I walked downhill the temperature dropped rapidly, the wind picked up, and the sky was turning gray. By the time I reached the fire ring at the campsite it was getting uncomfortably cool. I filtered water, had lunch and was on my way by 1:30.

I reached the Hatchet Lake trail intersection at 3:30 and that was encouraging. It was getting more overcast, the barometer was dropping and a few stray drops of rain came through the trees. I was anxious to get to Todd Harbor and get my tent set up while I was still dry. I arrived at Todd Harbor at 4:10 feeling pretty tired. A few other people were already there and the single shelter was occupied, but a nice fire was being tended in the fire ring. After setting up my tent I explored the area a bit. The wind was pretty strong and the temperature had dropped to 54 degrees so I put on all of my layers and began to wonder if it had been a mistake to go for the lighter rain jacket. As I finished eating dinner it began to rain and I retired to my tent for the evening. I found that the tent did a good job of protecting me from the elements and my concerns over staying warm were abated.


24 May (Monday) – It rained all night and into the morning hours but finally began to abate at about 7 AM. A squirrel chattering and rooting around next to my tent helped to get me up. Everything was wet from the rain, and there was a heavy mist over Lake Superior. It was the coolest morning since I had arrived. After breakfast I walked to the nearby mine pit and water fall to take pictures. I was only walking 6 1/2 miles to McCargo Cove that day so I had a late 10:20 departure hoping that the trail would have dried out. The trail should be described as easy, but it seemed to be the longest 6 ½ miles I ever walked. The two previous days had caught up with me and my legs felt like lead. I ended up taking a lot of breaks and it was 1:30 before I arrived. One shelter was occupied by a backpacker who was leaving, and once he was gone I had the place to myself. I investigated all of the shelters and picked one that I felt had the best view of the water.

After a late lunch I took a nap and awoke to the sound of a squirrel climbing across the screen wall looking for a way in. All was quiet and I looked down to see a cow moose cautiously approaching the water for a drink. Shortly afterwards I heard a boat approaching. It was a ranger who was coming in to check on things at McCargo and West Chickenbone. He was stationed at Amygdaloid Island. He mentioned that the fishing wasn’t very good at McCargo. I was done with walking for the day and there wasn’t much else to do so I pulled out my fishing gear to try my luck. While the ranger was on the trail to W. Chickenbone I landed the largest Northern Pike of my life. I was happy with my accomplishment and it made me feel a lot better about carrying the rod and reel. The fish wasn’t in my meal plan so it was quickly returned to the water. I went back to my shelter, read my book, took another nap and awoke to see the ranger’s boat was gone.

After dinner two young men arrived at the site to filter water and prepare their own dinner by the fire pit. They had also come from Todd Harbor with West Chickenbone as their final destination. It was already getting late (about 8:00 PM) and I encouraged them to stay at McCargo as I thought it was a better place. They decided to do so. As they were consuming Ramen soup I walked down to the pier to fish again. With my first cast I had a very strong tug on my line. I ended up pulling in another Northern Pike that was larger than the one earlier in the day. The young men came over to watch me pull it in. I told them that unless they were really hungry I was going to release the fish. They eyed the fish, looked at each other and decided it would make a very nice supplement to their soup. As they were cleaning it I cast my line into the water one more time and had another immediate response. Once again I pulled in the latest, largest Northern Pike of my life. I was really felt quite pleased with myself. It was also released back into the water for another day.

25 May (Tuesday) – I was up at 6:40 and on my way by 8:30. It was already 62 degrees out and the air was heavy and humid as I made my way up the trail to West Chickenbone. I passed through the campsite at 9:30 and only saw one tent. From the packs I could tell it was the couple from the float plane. I continued on over the Greenstone and headed down to Lake Richie which I reached at 11:00. On the way I ran across four men who described the Chippewa Harbor trail as “buggy”. It was getting warmer and the mosquitoes at Lake Richie were attempting to make my acquaintance so after a water break I decided to keep moving on to Chippewa Harbor.

The Chippewa Harbor trail was more than “buggy”. The pests were thick and persistent. I was only protected by shorts and a T-shirt that had seemed appropriate earlier, so they had lots of places to swarm me. I didn’t want to stop and moved as quickly as I could to deny them an opportunity to settle. They didn’t let up until I was just short of Chippewa Harbor where a strong breeze and cooler air drove them off. It was a fast trek without a stop due to my tormentors and I arrived by 12:30.

I was initially the only person there so I had my choice of shelters again. After exploring the area that afternoon I went down to the water to fish (without luck) and noticed a canoe approaching from further up the harbor. The couple onboard pulled in and took one of the shelters for the night. They told me that they had started their trip at Malone Bay. We talked a bit and it was obvious that they knew the island extremely well. They seemed familiar and I later figured out that they were John and Ann Mahan. I have to add that they really know how to handle a canoe.

26 May (Wednesday) – I was up at 6:30 and anxious to make an early start before it got too warm. I planned to speed march the mosquito gauntlet without stop. This time I would be fully prepared with legs and arms covered, bug juice liberally spread on my exposed skin and a forgotten head net to top things off. Fully armored, I left Chippewa Harbor at 8:15 and reached the Lake Richie trail intersection at 9:45. I continued on in the direction of Moskey Basin arriving at 10:30.

I’d spent a night at a tent site at Moskey last August and found it to be an overly popular place. Now it was silent and apparently empty. The pier was badly damaged from ice during the winter and I could see that the water level was much lower. I took a water and snack break, explored the shelter sites a bit and then proceeded to Daisy Farm.

I arrived at Daisy Farm at 12:45 and picked a shelter close to the water with a view of Edison Fishery. There were several people at Daisy and it was the most crowded place I been to on the island. The “crowd” was really only about an dozen people, and the majority of the shelters were empty. I had lunch and then took my camera up the 1.7 mile trail to the tower on Mount Ojibway. The air was extremely clear and I was even able to make out the Keweenaw Peninsula from up in the tower. After returning to Daisy Farm I had dinner and spent the evening watching loons and reading.

27 May (Thursday) – I awoke at 6 AM and was packed and on the trail to Rock Harbor by 7:40. This would be my last full day on the island. My plan was to follow the water to Three Mile and then cut over to the Tobin Harbor Trail as I didn’t want to deal with the ankle twisting section between there and Rock Harbor. Somehow I missed the trail intersection and didn’t realize it until I reached the Three Mile shelters. I decided to continue on to the Suzies Cave intersection to cross over. I didn’t miss that intersection.

It was 10:30 when I arrived at Rock Harbor. Most of the shelters were empty and once again I had my pick. By the end of the day all of the shelters had been filled with people who were departing the next day. The couple from my flight had made it as well. After lunch I took a hike out to Scoville Point. It was a very nice trail for a day hike and worth the walk even after covering the length of the island.

After I returned I met two guys who had been tending the fire at Todd Harbor. They had run across a wolf on the trail a couple of days earlier and had captured it on video. I was a bit jealous as I’d only seen wolf scat. To balance things out they were a bit envious of my Bull Moose photo. The Rock Harbor store wasn’t scheduled to open until the next day, but it had opened early and I was able to enjoy a few chips with a cola. The lady at the register said that she remembered me from last August when I’d been marooned for a couple of extra days. That was the second person on the island who remembered me from last year.

28 May (Friday) – I awoke at 6:30 had breakfast and packed my gear into my backpack. With my food mostly depleted there was lots of room inside now. At 8 AM I dropped off my back country permit at the ranger station and noted that there were about half a dozen rangers standing by looking ready and eager for business. It was Friday of Memorial Day weekend and the first big group of visitors for the season was about to arrive on the Queen. I walked over the ridge to Tobin Harbor and was soon joined by one other passenger at the float plane dock. Our departure time was 9 AM. The airplane arrived early with two passengers who were planning on hiking the Greenstone to Windigo and departing on Monday. They were in a big hurry to get on the trail. We quickly loaded the plane and lifed off by 8:30. By 9 AM I was next to my car and pulling my boots off while watching fresh backpackers file into the airport for the outbound the flight.

The drive back to Southeast Michigan was uneventful as I was headed n the opposite direction of the weekend traffic. When I reached West Branch the opposing traffic was heavy, and by Saginaw it was crawling. I was glad not to be in that mess. After 70 miles of walking and a 600 mile drive it was good to get home.
jerry
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Re: Windigo to Rock Harbor via the Minong 21-28 May 2010

Post by jerry »

Nice report, thanks!
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