June 1-7, 2011 - McCargoe Cove to Chippewa Harbor

[IncaRoads]

Name: Mark
Hometown: St. Paul, MN
Arrival Date: June 1
Departure Date: June 7
Coming From/Via: Grand Portage via the Voyageur II

Background: Daily trail miles will be short so I can concentrate on fishing. This trip further illustrates the importance of working at least one weather delay day into your schedule. I had planned on 2 nights in the Chippewa Harbor area but it was reduced to 1 night because of the delayed outbound departure to the island.


Day 0 – June 1 – Delayed by Weather

After a long spell of cool but uneventful weather, Mother Nature conjured up some gale force winds the day of my planned departure. Lake Superior was expected to get 11-14’ waves. I had a phone conversation with Capt. Don and he thought that there was a good chance that the Voyageur II would be delayed a day. He was realistic in saying the boat could depart as scheduled if the weather cooperated. I decided to take a chance and leave St. Paul a day late. I am glad I waited as another call with Capt. Don revealed the weather was a mess and the Voyageur II did not make the outbound trip as scheduled. I was also informed that the boat would then leave at 5:00 am on Thursday June 2. It was scheduled to make both the outbound and inbound trips in one day and they wanted to get an early start.

I left St. Paul after lunch and made it to Grand Marais by 6:30 pm and stayed at Nelson’s Travelers Rest. After a good meal and a malted beverage, I went back to the room and repacked for the final time. Got to bed a little on the late side. All the preparations, travel, and delays got me pretty worked up.

Day 1 – June 2 – Windigo to McCargoe Cove (via the Voyageur II)

Alarm went off at 3:15 am as I had to be at the dock by 4:30 am and I still had a 40 minute drive from Grand Marais to Grand Portage. When I arrived at the dock the Voyageur II engines were running. The packs were quickly loaded, and we were off. Light winds, smooth seas, and a beautiful sunrise made the trip over quite easy. Met fonixmunkee and his crew; we spent most of the trip on the rear deck of the Voyageur II discussing itineraries and past trips. We would cross paths again the final day of my trip at Chippewa Harbor.

There was a short stop in Windigo for the LNT orientation and preparation of permits. Said goodbye to fonixmunkee, took on a few passengers, and then departed for the north side of the island. In transit to McCargoe Cove, I asked the newly boarded hikers if the black flies had started hatching yet; everyone was quick to show me the multitude of bites on the arms and legs and on the forehead near the hat line. I was told that the bugs were the worst in the interior, especially around Chickenbone Lake; luckily I was staying on the coast 4 out of my 5 nights. Saw a few chunks of ice still embedded in the shady crags of the north shore.

Arrived in McCargoe Cove at 10:00 am to an empty campsite and a greeting party of a few black flies. After picking a shelter and unpacking a few things, I decided to take a short but much needed nap. Upon awakening, I assembled my fishing gear and hiked to the north arm of Chickenbone Lake. The blowdowns along the Indian Portage Trail were terrible and quite frequent. Fished for several hours but did not see any action. As time went on, the black flies were getting worse, and my headnet was back in camp. Made it back to McCargoe Cove for dinner and then resumed fishing from the dock. Just before dusk, a cow moose came out of the creek and started feeding in the waters around the dock. She was not too concerned about me so I continued fishing while keeping a watchful eye on her position. I was the only person at McCargoe Cove that day and night.

Day 2 – June 3 – McCargoe Cove to Angleworm Lake (Backcountry Camp)

Awoke to temperatures in the mid 40 degrees. After a leisurely breakfast and some rearranging of my pack, I started off along the E. Chickenbone Lake Trail. Blowdowns were bad and frequent. Saw another moose near one of the creek crossings. Passed the E. Chickenbone campsite and then proceeded east up the Greenstone Ridge Trail to the first vantage point thinking that the breeze would keep the bugs at bay. They were worse on the ridge where I stopped for lunch; I had to put on the headnet. After a few more miles I bushwacked to Angleworm Lake and found the campsite where I stayed some 35 years ago. Upon removing my boots I heard a soft grunting sound coming from the lakeshore. I stood up to investigate and saw a calf and then a cow moose not more than 35’ away. I calmly made my presence known, the cow moose watched me for a while, and then she quickly walked away with her little one.

Mid afternoon fishing action was good and I was able to keep a dinner size Northern Pike. My go to lure was the red/white Daredevil. Got to make a nice Thai fish soup for dinner that night. Black flies were terrible all day/evening and had to wear my headnet and tuck my pant legs into my socks. Weather was 65 degrees, sunny and breezy. I was tempted to leave the fly off my tent that night but better sense came over me. In the middle of the night a severe thunderstorm rolled over the island; heavy rains and very frequent lightning awoke me several times.

Day 3 – June 4 – Angleworm Lake to Daisy Farm

Clear skies and a hot morning sun baked me out of my tent earlier than I wanted. After losing a little sleep to the thunderstorm, I had hoped to sleep in a bit. Things were warming up quickly so I broke camp early and bushwacked back to the Greenstone Ridge Trail and continued on to Daisy Farm. It was about 80 degrees at mid-day and my pace was being slowed significantly by the heat. Blowdowns were still prevalent along the Greenstone Ridge Trail until I reached the Daisy Farm Trail. Much of the Daisy Farm Trail had been cleared of deadfalls.

Upon reaching Daisy Farm in the early afternoon, all of the shelters were open and available. I picked one close to the water and proceeded to wash up in the harbor. There were a bunch of scouts camped at the group site but they were far enough from me to be no bother. Around dinner time two more groups of hikers showed up and settled in nearby shelters. I spent much of the evening fishing off the dock. No action. The ranger said the lakers were currently in several pods near an underwater shelf where Rock Harbor narrows down at the mouth of Moskey Basin. A boat would be needed to fish them. The campground was very quiet that evening as the hot day seemed to wear everyone out. There were much less bugs closer to the cooler water of Lake Superior.

Day 4 – June 5 – Daisy Farm to Moskey Basin

I awoke to sunny skies and mild temperatures (above 50 degrees) and an extremely quiet campground. All the hikers had already departed and the scouts were heading up to Mount Ojibway for a day hike and were already gone. Spent some time talking with the ranger as he was departing for his daily activities via the park boat. He had spent the previous day helping the trail clearing crew removing deadfalls. He said only 20 miles of the 160 miles of trails have been cleared to date. After the ranger departed I was the only one in the Daisy Farm campground.

I made a leisurely breakfast and broke camp slowly. The temperature was warming slowly into the low 70 degrees as I progressed down the Rock Harbor Trail. The last time I hiked here in the mid 1970’s the trail was located along the water line. It has now been re-routed up on rocky ridges that parallel the water. Some of the trees had not leafed out fully so there were some nice semi-obstructed views of Moskey Basin. Some deadfalls had been cut in this segment of trail; those remaining were not too frequent or hard to navigate around. Made it to the Moskey Basin campsite just after lunch; once again the campsite was deserted and I had my pick of shelters.

As the day progressed the winds shifted and increased quite dramatically. Luckily, the sun was still warm and I made my way to the excellent swimming beach on the north side of the dock for a little wash up. Around late afternoon the temperatures started to drop and I had to put on my down sweater for the first time during this trip. I did some prep work for dinner and then headed out to do some fishing. No action. While finishing dinner a couple of tired hikers showed up at the campground wearing bug suits and head nets. They started at Hatchet Lake in the morning and were planning on stopping at Chickenbone Lake but the bugs were so bad they continued to the cooler shores of Lake Superior. Unfortunately for them, the black flies came out in large numbers during dinner, but quickly departed when the temperatures dropped below 50 degrees.

Day 5 – June 6 – Moskey Basin to Chippewa Harbor

I awoke at 4:30 am hoping to catch the sun rising over Moskey Basin. As I came into consciousness, I could hear the noise of rain hitting the picnic table. The skies were a solid gun-metal gray and it was in the low 40 degrees. Back to bed for me. It was still cold and raining when I pulled myself out of bed a few hours later. My raingear had not been used yet on this trip; I was not looking forward to hiking in the cold steady rain.

I took my time preparing breakfast and breaking camp. Just as I was finishing loading the pack I noticed some structure in the sky. I walked down to the dock and could see blue sky off in the distance coming my way. By the time I made it to the Lake Richie Trail about 0.2 miles away, the sun was out but the temperatures were still cool. No bugs until after I reached Lake Richie and started down the Indian Portage Trail. Temperatures were now in the high 60 degreees. No black flies but lots of mosquitoes. Deadfalls were not too plentiful along this stretch and the ones I encountered had not been cut up yet; hikers have trimmed branches on every downed tree.

I kept looking in the mud to see if fonixmunkee and his crew of 4 were on the trail in front of me. The best I could determine, there was just one hiker in front of me as I saw only one set of footprints. Got to the Chippewa Harbor campsite just 10 minutes after fonixmunkee, Johnny Mac, Don, Hodge, and Matt arrived. They were hiking in each others footsteps to avoid erosion in the muddy areas. We occupied the two shelters closest to the dock. There were motor boat fisherman in camp at one of the other shelters.

After unpacking a few items, I headed past the “old schoolhouse” toward the mouth of the harbor. I washed up and spent some time taking in the sights. Upon returning to the campsite, I joined up with fonixmunkee and his crew for a hike to the beached summer boat located along the harbor shore, about a mile or so further inland. On the return trip, Matt and I went to Lake Mason as we both had not been there before. After dinner we all convened at the top of the hill behind the Chippewa Harbor campsite to catch the last warming rays of the sun and watch the sunset. I had not been up there before and it has one of the best 360 degree panoramic views that I have seen on the island. We could make out the Greenstone Ridge in the distance and were able to visually identify the Mount Ojibway tower (about 6 miles away). In the waning hours of daylight I tried my hand fishing from the dock. No action.

Day 6 – June 7 – Chippewa Harbor to Windigo (via the Voyageur II)

I was awakened at 4:45 am CDT by the motor boat fisherman packing up and leaving. Actually, they did not make a lot of noise; I am a very light sleeper. It turns out that it was Isle Royale Rob and his buddy Steve. I got up at 6:30 am, made breakfast and ate it down at the dock. The Voyager II was scheduled to arrive at 9:00 am but I wanted to be ready in case it showed up early. At 7:30 am, as I was starting to organize my things, I noticed that fonixmunkee and his crew were still not awake. I stepped over to the adjacent shelter and awoke them from their slumber. All of us were down at the dock ready to go at 8:30 am when the Voyageur II showed up 30 minutes early. A small rainstorm greeted us during a portion of the return trip, but by the time we made it to Grand Portage the sun was out and the temperatures were pleasant. Loaded up the car, paid the parking fee, and talked a while with Capt. Don.

IncaRoads, fonixmunkee, Johnny Mac, Don, Hodge, and Matt all stopped at the Gunflint Tavern in Grand Marais for malted beverages and foods not dehydrated or freeze dried. They continued on to Superior WI / Duluth MN while I (IncaRoads) stayed another night at Nelson’s Travelers Rest in Grand Marais to decompress.


In Summary

Another great trip! The shorter trail miles and longer daylight hours gave me ample time to fish and day hike around camp. If at all possible, I would keep my springtime trips in May to avoid the start of black fly season. I hate black flies. The weather was definitely warmer than my past trips in early September. Include at least one extra weather delay day into your schedule and/or design a route that allows rescheduling. Good wildlife viewing this trip. In addition to the 4 moose, I saw lots of snowshoe hares, otters, a beaver, loons, and mergansers. And not a single pesky camp fox.

For the 2011 hiking season: be forewarned that deadfalls and blowdowns will slow your progress; plan to hike at 75-80% of your optimum pace in areas that are not clear of blowdowns.

[padraig777]

Nice work....one of the best trip reports I have ever read.