2006 ISRO NP First Solo trip

[jerry]

2006 IRNP First Solo Trip (Can't remember the dates) (I guess I solo hiked for 2 hours)

Camped at Grand Portage Marina (Minn.). Shared a lot of beer with a biker from Michigan. He was circumnavigating Lake Superior. Woke up early and headed out to the dock.

Day 1 - I was able to get on the Wenonah even without a reservation (lucky). It was going to be a warm day. A couple of guys from the Cleveland area were on the boat. One of them was a bird watcher. Just before the boat was getting ready to pull out a car pulled up and dropped off a little woman and a large/heavy backpack. The bird watcher said that the guy didn’t even help her onto the boat. The trip over to Windigo was uneventful. I was picked again to do the dog and pony show (LNT). The woman, the two guys from NE Ohio and yours truly were the only individual hikers. There were two scout groups (lots of girl scouts). The rest were just for a short visit. I was the first one on the trail and spotted a moose just before the Washington Creek campground. Headed up the Greenstone meeting some boy scouts and their tired leaders plus a park ranger along the way. Temperature was in the upper 70s and PC sky. I took a break about once every 60 minutes. During the second break (I’m sitting in the trail and no one would be able to get around me) the little woman with the heavy load stopped and said hello. She was 20 and from Nagano, Japan. Like myself she planned to solo the Feldtmann loop going to Island Mine first. We hiked the rest of the way to Island Mine together, arriving before anyone else. We set up our tents and went looking for water. The stream was low and tan in color. A huge owl was in the campground area. She shared her Japanese food with me and I shared stuff like beef jerky with her. She thought it would taste great with beer (she must be related to me). The Cleveland guys set up their tent nearby. Overnight, an owl woke me up at least three times. Each time I heard it in different parts of the campground. The bird watcher told me it was letting another owl where its territory was.

Day 2 – After we packed up our gear, we headed out just after sun up. It was pleasant and clear. On the trail down to Siskiwit Bay we made good time, stopping briefly to look at all of the sites. I showed my hiking partner fresh tracks along the trail. Wolf tracks and moose tracks. Didn’t see any moose this day. Not sure how my hiking partner could carry her backpack. She’s like my wife, about 100 pounds. I frequently helped her get the pack on her back (it weighed 40-45 pounds) until we reached Windigo. We got to the campground in good time (averaged about 2 m.p.h.). We were able to claim one of the shelters. We ate lunch (sharing our food again) and read out on the dock. After lunch we heard and saw 4-5 wolves north of us along the shore. That evening we had smores prepared for us by a family that had boated out to ISRO from Minnesota. Before sun down the wolves ran through the campground and headed out toward Feldtmann. There was a short shower before nightfall.

Day 3 – We woke up early to cool (50s), clear weather. Before we started up the ridge to the fire tower we hiked through some tall fields of growth. Had to constantly look down to make sure my boots were on a trail. It warmed up into the 70s as we climbed up the Ridge to the fire tower. Stopped for a long break plus an early lunch at the tower. Beautiful views. I already was thinking about coming back in 2007. After leaving the tower we encountered our first eastbound hikers and great views of Lake Feldtmann. After about six hours we arrived at the campgrounds. A couple from St Cloud, Mn. shared apples and oranges with us. We set our tents up next to the Lake. A hike out to Rainbow Cove that evening was pleasant. We had a beautiful sunset.

Day 4 – woke up early to a nice view of the sunrise. However, storm clouds were coming in fast, so we broke camp. It rained lightly for about half the time we were on the trail. About an hour after leaving the campground we heard a large animal to our right eating. Never did find it. About 15-20 minutes later we heard a similar sound on our left. A bull was eating its breakfast less then fifty feet of the trail. The saplings had no chance, it reminded me of us eating pretzels. My hiking partner took a lot of pictures. We did meet a family heading toward the campground about an hour later. Windigo looked great when we got there. Sandwiches were delicious and I had a V8.

The Lake was very rough on the way back. Half the folks turned green. I wasn’t a 100%, maybe 90% okay. Land looked good when we pulled up to the dock. Said goodbye to the young lady and meet up with the guys from Cleveland for dinner in Grand Marais. Spent the night at the Grand Marais airport with the Cleveland guys who were flying back early the next morning. Glad I stayed with them, one heck of a storm hit the area that evening (slept inside). There was a huge forest fire in the BWCA that summer, so after climbing Eagle Mountain the next morning I headed to Minneapolis to visit with my sister and a few friends.

[johnhens]

Jerry,
Glad you got out there!! You hiked at your own pace and sounds like you had great trip!!
Cool hearing and seeing the wolves. Were you able to partake in thimbleberries?
I love the views from the Feldtmann Tower, did you get any views of the meteor showers?

[jerry]

This was my report from a few years ago. Never posted it anywhere. My hiking partner ate lots of berries, I only had some of them that year.