Sometimes you find something strange...

Questions on general information and things that do not fit into any other categories.

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srparr
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Sometimes you find something strange...

Post by srparr »

This year one of my hiking pals found a waterproof digital camera in his pack, but only after the water taxi dropped us off at Chippewa Harbor for our first night. We thought it might have been a surprise from his wife, but it had a couple pictures on it showing some stranger near a cottage? The best we could assume was that while his pack was at Rock Harbor waiting for the water taxi someone put the camera in his pack by mistake. At the end of our trip he left it with the rangers at Rock Harbor, and we found out someone had reported it missing.

Other things found over the years: pair of smartwool socks at North Lake Desor, bag of tent stakes at Daisy Farm, a full ziplock bag of leftover spaghettios someone left at Hatchet (that was disgusting to carry out), a fish shaped grill-basket at McCargo Cove, and a "used" playboy magazine at a Rock Harbor shelter.

What about it? What strange stuff have you found on the island?
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Re: Sometimes you find something strange...

Post by Tampico »

A couple of old cars on Sand Island in the APIS.

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Re: Sometimes you find something strange...

Post by MikeT »

Hey, those are my Smartwool sox :)

That brings up the reverse of that in a way. What things have you lost while on the island?? And, to expand, do you know where you lost them?

Myself, off the top of my head:
- A small folding "ultrapod" tripod. Lost on an evening walk to Blakes Point sign. (Lost in Spring, 2012 after it making every trip there since 98')
- A pair of prescription sunglasses. Lost on the Greenstone between Island Mine trail and Windigo. I know exactly what log I left them on when resting and have walked by it twice and had to stop and dig around abit :)
- A "Wheatland Music Org" baseball hat. Lost on Minong between Desor North and Windigo. On a high ridge the wind whipped it off my head and took it in the air a good 20' up and off the ridge into a valley. Could not even see where it landed. I've pictured a fox or a wolf wearing it. :lol:

There is the occasional tent stake, but I believe I have broken even on these because I seem to find them also. Maybe an Isle Royale Zen thing :)
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Re: Sometimes you find something strange...

Post by Richard1961 »

And sometimes something strange finds you.

It was not on the Island but three and a half years ago I took my family tent camping at Copper Harbor. On the second night there I was sitting by the firering watching "the world go by" Well at about 1:30 in the morning I banked what was left of the embers and climbed into my bag. Of course that woke up my lovely wife of over 30 years, as she works third shift it was her normal lunchtime so she got up to fix herself a snack. She went out to our bearsafe food box(the car) and fixxed herself a cheese sandwiche. After the snack she pulled a couple of cold beers out of the cooler and sat at the table that was about 12 feet from what was left of my fire in the ring. She calls this "listening to the quite". Well about two beers later she heard a noise in the next campsite. as the moon had set already it was a dark night. She heard the noise get closer and then noticed she could no longer see the embers of the fire and noticed the outline of a black bear between her and the embers. It was close enough to touch as he/she stuck her head into the firepit and nosed arround. It then moved on to the next site where it found its mid-night snack. At this time she called out to me for help. All I could say was "What do you want me to do?" After all she wouldn't have been much safer in the tent.

Well the next day my wife had to retell her story over and over as the news of the mid-night visiter spread arround the campground. After seeing what the bear did to some of the coolers left outside the night befor, my wife had to say that for the first time in 30 years that I was right because she thought I had been wasting my time when the night befor I had locked up the food and took all the scraps to the dumpster.

Well its three and a half years later and nothing has changed. Its 2:00 in the morning and I am again sitting up watching the world go by while my wife watches rerunns of little house on the praire and has her snack and brew. I might be on my porch in Green Bay but my thoughts are on the island. What is going on there as that wonderfull place makes it yearly change from hiker playground back to the quite of the long winter season. What are the camp foxxes thinking as their free handouts go away for the winter? Have the few wolfs that have been hiding in the back country moved back to reclaim all the island as their own again? And what are the moose calfs thinking as the season changes and they approach their first winter? Oh what I would give to have a small cabin with a big woodpile and to be able to sit there and watch the change in person.

So thats my 3 cents worth as I along with the rest of you wait for the upcoming band buster of a trip report from you know who. I eagerly await the long discriptions of his few days at that wonderfull place at the end of anouther season. With the park closing for anouther winter I can see in my mind the empty campgrounds and cann't wait till next season for my return.

On anouther note next week I have to travel back to lower Michigan to visit anouther blasted doctor so on the way there and back I will get 2 last nights of sitting by the fire this year. I have reserved a waterside site with a view of the big bridge at the Straights State park for the way there and a site at Fayette State park for the return. Its not the island but it will have to do till the island reopens next year,
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Re: Sometimes you find something strange...

Post by Midwest Ed »

That was hilarious Richard.

Strange things found?

I guess this doesn't qualify as exactly strange as in something lost or abandoned. On the Minong Ridge trail coming in from Hatch Lake, on a warm Autumn afternoon, laying right in the middle of the trail was a half eaten cow moose. All the entrails and both rear hind quarters were missing presumably dragged off. It was covered by what seemed millions of flies but I didn't see any maggots. What was the most strange thing about this was the fur that was everywhere. The entire ground was completely covered for about 15 to 20 feet in every direction by a layer of what could have passed as goose down. If the moose hadn't been there I might have thought there had been a huge pillow fight.

Things stolen (I substitute stolen in place of lost because this is what happened.)

1) A complete Mountain House pouch of Chili MAc, water already added, waiting for me to take the first bite as it sat directly in front of me seated at a picnic table. I turned to the side to speak to my son as the Daisy Farm fox swept in to make the extraction. He was gone and out of sight before my son's shriek got me to turn around. I only have his word as to the truth of this story.

2) Half the contents of a Zip Lock bag of peanuts extracted from a side pocket in my pack after the squirrel chewed a hole in the material.

3) My knife and compass actually stolen from my pack in a shelter. The compass was eventually returned to me by the adult group leader of a bunch of young kids. He discovered the incident after he noticed they didn't know what the compass was.
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Re: Sometimes you find something strange...

Post by Richard1961 »

On my way to the doctors office in lower Michigan I camped overnight at Straights State Park. As it was raining on and off and cold that late in October my wife and son stayed in a motel and left the camping to the only one of the three not smart enough to stay out of the rain. Even in state park campgrounds that are in the middle of a town you can still find nice sites. The site I chose was in the southeast corner of the park and right on the shoreline. I pitched my tent on the grass right at the edge of the sand beach. To one side was a path for the other campers to get to the water and on the other a big clump of trees that screened the next site from the water. As night fell it was nice to sit out under the trees on the edge of the beach and watch the boats cross to The Island, and the big Great lakes ships passing under the bridge. So there I was, middle of the night, sitting out watching the world go by and a group of campers that after passing the bottle around the fire a few too many times decided to go skinniny dipping at 2:30 in the morning. I am a polar bear and have went swimming in 4 out of 5 of the great lakes on new years day, It surprised me how long they stayed out there. I think it was the amount of anti-frezze they must have consummed befor going in. In the dark they never did see me sitting under the tree and I didn"t want to spoil their fun. Well the next morming I made a quick job of breaking camp and went to join the rest of the family for a little fudge shopping befor hitting the road again.
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