6-13 Drove up to Grand Portage, got a later than expected start and didnt stop at any of the state parks on the way as planned. But the drive was very scenic. Ate dinner at the casino resturant, it was very good. We then went to check out high falls in the grand portage state park, this was a very easy walk and a very cool falls. We slept in the car at the rest area... PS: dont let your friends talk you into saving a few dollars and sleeping in the car... I'm too old for this stuff!
6-14 Sunrise at 4AM... really?!?!?! Well ate my breakfast and we headed to the boat to watch the Voyager leave... they were late leaving, had some late arrivals. The Sea Hunter that we rode over on waited around before leaving also so we wouldnt have to wait as long for the voyager to clear the dock. It rained off and on all day but never too hard, most of the trip over was smooth and a nice ride. We went to get our permits and my buddy (single) overheard two girls trying to figure out what they were going to do (they didnt bring a tent). Heard that they were headed to Siskiwit since that was how far they had to go to get a shelter... He volunteered us to walk with them to make sure they got there. One of their packs was very heavy, and didnt fit well... they were rented. The hike to siskiwit was fairly long because of the pace we were going, I would have prefered to go quite a bit faster. After 3 miles we both took some weight from the girls and that helped some. Got to Siskiwit and pants, boots, and socks were soaked from all the brush and rain.
6-15 Slept great... probably because I didnt sleep much the night before. We have a zero day to fish Siskiwit which is good because everything needs to dry out, we also moved in the morning from campsite 2 to shelter 4... 2 was very nice and had plently of space to hang James's hammoc but the shelter let us dry easier. It thunderstormed part of the day and the wind was out of the east churning up the bay and making fishing futile. We still tried!
6-16 Got an early start (because the sun never sleeps here) heading to Feldtmann. Started out with rain gear on which was good since it was fogy and everything was soaked, part of the trail leading out of siskiwit is 6' brush... would have been very wet. As it turns out we didnt take our rain gear off soon enough and we were wet anyway from sweat. We stopped at the feldtmann lookout tower around 9 and let our sock and boots dry in the sun/ wind. It was very breezy. Continued on down and got into feldtmann around 11... Fish on for lunch! James gave up around 1 and went to cook ramen, shortly after I hooked into the first northern of the trip! So he turned off the stove and went back to fishing, I cleaned it and ate. He gave up again about the time I got done. Feldtmann was fairly productive for me. James probably just needs more fishing practice. In the afternoon we were fishing some more until I decided I wanted a drink so I went back to the campsite #2 and sat down next to my pack to drink from my hydration system. Saw a wolf trot through camp, I talked to it like you would a bear and snapped some pictures of it. Apparently it had run down the beach but James didnt see it... talk about making your heart pound. Went back to fishing and saw a moose shortly after that.
6-17 Another zero day for fishing and hanging out. Saw lots of animals in Feldtmann beaver, rabbit, moose, loons, eagles, ect. We ran into a couple park service employees that were taking water quality samples at the lake. Other than that hadn't seen anyone since leaving Siskiwit. Every night at Feltdmann the moose would have play time right outside my tent splashing in the lake... this makes the 4AM sunrise come even quicker.
6-18 early start again, the Feldtmann trail is very nice and fairly level for the first long ways following the ancient shoreline. Saw another wolf, this one much darker on the Feldtmann trail around 7:30, this time he didnt hang around long enough for a photo. We got into Windigo around 10:30 and went to claim a shelter as the Voyager just landed. Headed back to Windigo for lunch and a beer from the store... best dang gas station sandwich ive ever had! Went back to camp for a nap and some loon photos. After that we headed back in to see what was going on that night at the ranger station. Saw some people on the dock so we went to check it out. Jumping in the lake!! So my crazy hiking partner had to join them... I documented. We then went up to the store deck to hang out with them and play some cards (more beer might have been involved). We were then invited to a campfire by the employee housing, nice to feel welcome!
6-19 Huginnin loop the west side was very up and down... very much reminded me of hiking in the smokies, on the side of hills and lots of elivation. The campground was very nice. The east side was a lot more scenic hiking along the north shore with bolders and some light scrambling. We saw more people on the east side than the rest of the week. two people from the trail crew clearing downfall, and 4 day hikers. (we saw noone else on the trail the rest of the week)
6-21 Packed up and headed to the pavilian to play cards and wait for the boat. Valarie came down to tell us it wasnt coming and was supprised how relaxed we were about it. I told her there is nothing you or I can do about it, just deal with it and move on. We met some other guys that were waiting for the sea plane and played some cards with them. We sat through all the ranger programs, then we did the Jr Ranger booklet (something to do). We found out that the store has frozen pizza and for $9 including tax they will cook it for you! Needless to say we had there oven running all the way up to closing time trying to eat all they had. We talked the rangers into showing a movie that night in the ranger station, I cant remember the name but it was a wolf moose video from a few years ago. Pretty intresting.
6-22 packed up again hoping to catch a boat. The sea plane guys were still there also. Played some more cards went to some more ranger talks. The voyager got there right on time at about 12. Had a large number of people get on and we ended up sitting on the engine covers as all the seats were full... this worked out as I laid down on them and took a nap
I was missing my wife's family reunion because we got back a day late, but more than that we had a 9.5 hour drive home and had to be at work in the morning. Got home at around 1am showered, and hit the pillow sleeping.Overall it was a great trip! Ive heard lots of complaints about the footing on the island but I didnt notice that it was any different than the other national park trails except for the overgrown bushes and shrubs hanging over the trail. Maybe the east end is different? Or maybe people comapir it to state parks which have very groomed trails. Either way I cant wait to go back!!
Ok now for the pictures, Enjoy!! http://www.simslifephotography.com/gall ... oyale2014/
The rest of the site is under construction so excuse the mess, but the gallery should work.
Glad I was hasty with my assumptions. Sweet trip report and very lucky to see so much wildlife 
