7/12/21-7/18/21 [HIKING](Feldtmann loop)

[thesneakymonkey]

[thesneakymonkey]

[alicecw]

The video is great! I'm planning to do the Feldtmann Loop this next August so I appreciated being able to see the Senter Point detour that I've previously only read about.

[thesneakymonkey]

The video is great! I'm planning to do the Feldtmann Loop this next August so I appreciated being able to see the Senter Point detour that I've previously only read about.

Glad it was helpful! I was pretty anxious about senter point, and it ended up being no big deal! Not easy but definitely scenic and fun! You’ll like the feltdmann, it’s definitely worth it.

[thesneakymonkey]

Day 5: Windigo Zero Day

One of the best spots to spend a zero day is windigo! There’s so much to do, and plenty of space to do a whole lot of nothing if you want. I began the morning by thinking I heard a moose. “Would this trip really only have one moose sighting?!” I thought as I scanned the waters to see it was a crane making the ruckus. I filmed a bit of the sunrise and then retreated back to bed to snooze a bit longer.




Some of the other shelters had vacated in the morning and #15 (although great) was also home to a pilated woodpecker and he had plans to peck all day. So we decided to moved on down the creek to the second shelter. Our new location had an equally great view of the creek.




After the move, Matt made us some excellent coffee later in the morning and we enjoyed it by sitting by the creek watching the ducks go by. And by ducks we mean LOTs of ducks. Both goldeneyes and mergansers galore. And they all had ducklings with them. Cute adorable little ducklings, all diving and splashing. One merganser momma had SO MANY babies. We started calling her super momma and tried (and failed) to count all her babies. I think we cut about 25 min of footage because I just keep filming them haha. We watched them play “king of the hill” on the rock in the water near the walkway from Windigo to the campground. It was funny watching them try to all fit on what Matt dubbed “poop rock” (since it was covered in bird poop) haha.









We rounded out the afternoon with a stroll along the nature trail (something we surprisingly hadn’t done yet), located the moose exclosure (which unfortunately was closed), and attended a ranger program. We learned quite a bit on the nature trail and the ranger did a great job explaining how animals have evolved and changed on the island. Definitely recommend attending those programs if you have free time.



Then we made what could have possibly been the best meal we’ve constructed on the island haha. Or at least it tasted that amazing at the moment. We took one of our packit gourmet chili packs that we had not eaten yet, and combined that with some salsa, sour cream, and nacho chips from the Windigo store. As we enjoyed our creek side nachos we got a visit from one of the rangers. She had come to tell us that the island was just put under a fire ban. This didn’t affect us as we didn’t have plans to have a fire for the rest of the trip (we could still use stoves).

We enjoyed the rest of our evening watching the creek and making friends with our neighbors in the campground. What a great day indeed.

Video link for those interested:


https://youtu.be/Yoqdk_PVUEA

[torpified]

thanks for the awesome multimedia chronicle! The duckling king-of-poop-rock competition must have been a sight to behold.

concerning the munitions building (powder room?) on Senter Point---is the best way to find it to look for the restoration team's canoe, or are there other cues?

[thesneakymonkey]

thanks for the awesome multimedia chronicle! The duckling king-of-poop-rock competition must have been a sight to behold.

concerning the munitions building (powder room?) on Senter Point---is the best way to find it to look for the restoration team's canoe, or are there other cues?

Haha poop rock was so entertaining.

It’s easy to see from the shoreline. Instead of bushwacking across the point, walk the “beach” / rock hop the edge all the way around. The backside of senter point (as you head towards carnelian beach) about 1/4 of the way you’ll see the bricks through the foliage. Its not really visible from a distance and it’s tucked up on the small hillside. Fairly easy to see if you are walking right by though. Or you could use these coordinates

47.90116, -88.99887

[dcclark]

Thanks for the coordinates, that's something I've always wanted to see!

I believe it was a "powder house", where black powder (or possibly dynamite) was stored for the Island Mine. They are usually quite stout and several miles away from the mine site, for obvious reasons. There are many of them hiding in the woods on the Michigan mainland... I've spent a lot of time searching them out.

[thesneakymonkey]

Thanks for the coordinates, that's something I've always wanted to see!

I believe it was a "powder house", where black powder (or possibly dynamite) was stored for the Island Mine. They are usually quite stout and several miles away from the mine site, for obvious reasons. There are many of them hiding in the woods on the Michigan mainland... I've spent a lot of time searching them out.

No problem. I tried to mark a few notable gps points as we hiked on this trip. Glad I marked this one. The folks maintaining the munitions storage area gave us some cool info and were super fun to talk to. It’s definitely a large stout structure!!

[thesneakymonkey]

Somehow we missed the steam engine. I’ll trade coordinates with anyone that knows where that is

[torpified]

Somehow we missed the steam engine. I’ll trade coordinates with anyone that knows where that is

coordinates I don't have. But (and I hope you're sitting down) it's just on the other (offtrail) side of the mine tailings where you lunched the day you walked to Windigo from Siskiwit. I had lunch at the same place, in early June. There was a sort of use trail across the tailings, and probably less underbrush for the steam engine to hide in. So in June it wasn't hard to find. I'd guess it's 1-2x as far again from your lunch spot as your lunch spot was from the trail.

[thesneakymonkey]

DARN IT! It was probably obscured by underbrush. I knew it was in that area. I couldn’t see it. So close. Haha

[Ingo]

DARN IT! It was probably obscured by underbrush. I knew it was in that area. I couldn’t see it. So close. Haha

Yeah, I missed it too! Practically standing next to it!

[johnhens]

We have watched an Osprey hunt (successfully) in Washington Creek from the picnic table outisde the shelter!! Love the pics, will watch the videos later.

[glitch99]

The video is great! I'm planning to do the Feldtmann Loop this next August so I appreciated being able to see the Senter Point detour that I've previously only read about.

Glad it was helpful! I was pretty anxious about senter point, and it ended up being no big deal! Not easy but definitely scenic and fun! You’ll like the feltdmann, it’s definitely worth it.

We cut straight across Senter Point last August and had no issues following the trail. It was extremely dry everywhere on the island then so I can't say whether it's always the case, but we got through quickly and with dry feet. I thought there was a small signpost on the south side where the detour leaves the beach. Attaching a screen shot of my GPS track for reference.