Isle Royale Forums

For what it's worth, the most difficult stretch of IR trail, by far, in my experience: the Tobin Harbor trail, when choked with deadfall. Huh. I would not have guessed that one for you, as you have wingèd feet. On the wrong day, and with little sleep, Windigo to Island Mine can feel like a death ma...

W. Chickenbone to Moskey = straightforward. Moskey -Daisy Farm is an unexpectedly rough 3.5 miles or so, up and down off rock outcroppings, little shade, etc. This will be at the end of your day. As long as you know that, and manage your energy accordingly. I've met many hikers who are exhausted an...

I've started adding photos into the TR, including sun prints.

Lol. Our faculty meetings have been, and will continue to be, virtual. Flapping arms might not even be seen, as our platform seems to work best with video off for all but the meeting chair, if there’s more than about 4 people in the meeting. We're having a backyard faculty meeting next week. That w...

What a wonderful trip and report! Sunprints! Gnocchi!! You are a genius. (I hope there will be pictures of each.) About the bonus days at the end due to grounded (<--seems like a category mistake---maybe harbored?) seaplanes. It sounds like you were already dipping into your emergency rations durin...

IncaRoads wrote: ↑

Thu Aug 13, 2020 3:35 pm

Great trip report!

I liked the ample use of layover (zero mile) days.

Thanks! Zero days are the best!

Hobbes wrote: ↑

Thu Aug 13, 2020 2:10 pm

Thank you for this TR! Sounds like a great trip. I know you were East-ending, but did you happen to hear anything from Rangers or visitors about the status of Siskiwit dock replacement?

You're welcome! I didn't hear anything, and I didn't ask.

Our last three days on the island were a medley of seaplane updates (tip: if you see fog in Rock Harbor, the seaplane is probably not flying, so you don't need a ranger to tell you what's happening), drying out some more, day hikes to Scoville Point, reading, playing cards, and conversation. The sto...

And then. At 5:57 am the rain began to fall. And fall. And since neither of us were in an hurry to break camp while it was raining, we waited an hour. And still it rained. So we ate breakfast and broke camp anyway. In our haste to leave I forgot to clean up my twig stove spot. Sorry Isle Royale! The...

I woke at 1:15 am and was mighty pleased to discover that I had slept that whole stretch from the time I went to bed until then. Then I promptly went back to sleep.This is notable because of the insomnia I suffered from during most of the trip. At 1:35, TC woke me with "Wake up! There's a moose!" An...

On this first zero day at Lane Cove, we moved from site 1 to site 4 due to its better lake view. Everyone left, so we had our pick. In the afternoon, we made sun prints using sun print paper I'd brought. We improvised a fixing basin out of a dry bag. Our images included cedar, thimbleberry leaves, b...

Sometime in the middle of an often-sleepless night, I began to wonder if I was eating enough calories. I'd been puzzling over my relatively neutral reaction to yesterday's moose encounter. Over the years, I've slowly been reducing the quantity of food I take on backpacking trips, and on this trip I ...

Today's hike back to Three Mile wasn't a bad hike, but my feet hurt. A big bonus was the wild blueberries that had ripened since we last passed this way a few days earlier. After eating a few handfuls, we picked some for later. As we drew near to Three Mile, TC startled a moose on the trail (TC was ...

On our second zero day at Moskey, TC decided that she'd like to day hike to McCargoe. Yesterday she'd been making noises about day hiking to Chippewa Harbor and this new idea seemed a little further out there. I am not a fast hiker (more of an ambler, or maybe a plodder), yet I was intrigued by the ...

Our first zero day at Moskey dawned free of rain. TC took off for a day hike to Lake Ritchie, while I slept in. By the time I woke up, I had the place to myself. I spent much of the day exploring around Moskey and looking for good reading spots. One reading spot is good; several are preferred so tha...