9/18-25/2010: 1st trip to Isle Royale, surely not the last!

[upnorthjeeper]

In the following days I will update this thread with details/pics of my trip to Isle Royale last week.

[fonixmunkee]

We await your report anxiously.

[upnorthjeeper]

I sincerely apologize for the delay, I've been swamped at work since my return...

For now I'll leave you with this wonderful sunrise photo from Daisy Farm...



Thanks for your patience...

[yankee60]

Upnorthjeeper -

Are you still downloading your photos? Where is that trip report? I'm getting curious...

[Krisqo]

Hey J

Looking forward to seeing some pics! And some weird squirrel action...

Nice meeting you on the boat too.

Kris

[upnorthjeeper]

No disrespect good people, I apologize for the delays. I've been going through a lot of stress recently at work and just haven't had the time nor will power to complete my TR. I'll leave you with another photo at this time.

I saw this fox between 3 Mile and Daisy Farm my first day on the Isle....


Being on Isle Royale was one of the happiest moments of my life. Thanks for all the help everyone!

[yankee60]

Did you meet Mr. Fox after stopping by our camp at Three Mile (for water break)? I've had them in camp before where they sit with you like the family dog. I've heard the fox will borrow things and not bring them back. I've not experienced that, but don't doubt it.

I hope things calm down at work for you and that your holiday season is special. I wish the same for all others on this board too!

[upnorthjeeper]

I don't have my full TR ready quite yet, but I am starting up a blog for my trip reports and have also uploaded a few hundred of the 2,700+ photos I took in the Isle...

Blog: http://upnorthjeeper.blogspot.com/
Isle Royale Photos: http://picasaweb.google.com/upnorthjeep ... directlink

I'll let you know when I update the blog with my TR

[jerry]

Thanks for the great pictures! Look forward to your TR.

[Backpacker534]

Very nice sunrise photo. I almost feel like I am there right now just by looking at it.

[upnorthjeeper]

I saw the fox about 1/2 mile before Daisy Farm. Thanks for the positive comments on the pictures, and yes things have become a little less hectic at work. I actually planned updating my blog with the Isle Royale trip report, but of course now that I have the time I cannot find my notepad! I had a pocket sized notepad that I wrote in once or twice is a day, it is somewhere around here.

[conmcb25]

Great pictures!

[upnorthjeeper]

Great news folks! During my preparations to move from the Detroit area up to Marquette (da UP eh!) I've come across my trip log! I'm going back to school at NMU to finish something I started 10 years ago I'm leaving my stressful as heck corporate job to pursue a dream I've always had

I'm pretty sick right now, recovering from an ear infection that mushroomed into a semi-collapsed lung! I'm recovering well though

I'm glad you all like the pictures... it might be a couple weeks until I've got the report up, but rest assured it is on its way! I've got a lot to do between finishing work next week and then making the actual move.

[Blackdog]

Great Pictures!

It's a tough thing leaving a job to pursue your dream...and it's very cool, I wish you the best of luck!!

[upnorthjeeper]

UPDATE: After some feedback from my classmates I've decided to make some big changes to the report, please check it out again!

"Part 1" is only about the ride over... hope you enjoy it regardless! The rest fill follow in due time

Operation ISRO
Part 1: Getting There

The warmth of the rising sun never felt so good. The air felt so pure and crisp as the breeze blew across my freshly buzzed head. My stomach turns awry, and I rush to the back of the boat. I’m taking a ride on the notoriously nauseating Queen IV to Isle Royale National Park. During my countless hours researching the trails, mountain tops, inner lakes and more, I had completely fallen in love with this archipelago of ancient islands. I was sure that it was meant for me to go there, just as certain as the moon and the stars on a clear northern autumn night.

I got to the dock just as everyone was boarding the Queen, nearly missing out on a trip that I’d been planning for well over 6 months! I nearly drive my car right onto the ramp of the boat and rush into the office. I hastily throw over a hundred dollars onto the desk and ask the burly looking attendant “Room for one more?” in a slightly sarcastic tone. The clerk smiles back and says, “Sure, but get your car off the loading dock and into the back lot NOW and bring your ass back here ASAP, we’re about to launch!”, as if I didn’t already notice that. I quickly park my car and run back to the boat, the sun is just barely starting to come up.

Just as we depart the sun is rising by means of a golden-red tone over some low wispy clouds off in the horizon. The captain warned us of four to six foot swells, but they didn’t come until about twenty minutes into our three hour tour. I recall, with great detail, looking back at the tip of the Keweenaw Peninsula, watching it get smaller and smaller as we begin our trek out into the mighty and majestic Lake Superior, or as I so fondly refer to it as “Big Blue”. I no longer smell the fall season. The air now is of algae and bird droppings.

The last time I was in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula was nearly ten years ago. That was since I had attended two semesters of college at Northern Michigan University, and this seemed like quite the fitting reunion for me and the great north. As we drift further out into the water all sorts of questions dash through my mind. Did I bring enough food? Did I bring enough batteries and memory cards? Would a rutting bull moose really run a backpacker up a tree? With my extensive research I knew that the answer to all of these questions was a big fat yes. Still, I was extremely anxious despite my thorough studies and meticulous planning.

Back home, just a couple of weeks prior I was promoted to a Team Leader position at the main Onstar Call Center. This was going to be a great break from all the new stresses I was experiencing. I meant to leave them at home, and little did I know at that time my backpack was weighted with all those tensions and worries anyway.

As I look around I notice one of the other travelers wearing the same boots. His were so well broken in that they made mine look brand new and out of the box, despite the fact that I had put over fifteen miles on them in practice. Thankfully, they were broken in enough for me to have avoided getting even a single inkling of a blister over the entire week of backpacking. Once we are far enough out to no longer see any land, the waves came. It was a very chilly and windy ride once we were out in the open water. I could feel the ferociousness of the gusts blaring within my ear drums, just like a fighter jet doing test runs over my fathers place down state.

At that point I decided to go back into the cabin of boat, and try to relax my mind. The waves grew bigger and bigger until the point that when I’d look out the window all I’d see was sky, then all water. If I didn’t have so much faith in the captain I would have swore that the boat itself was about to capsize. This cycle was very frequent, to the point that I saw a few very healthy looking young people turn a whitish purplish green, as they rushed to the back of the boat. Only minutes later I followed suit. Purging myself felt like a rebirth, I thought the madness was over, that I would be able to enjoy the next couple hours. Was I ever wrong! I spent over the next two hours going back and forth from my seat on the boat, with my head lying down, to rushing to the back deck, departing with my breakfast as well.

This was my first time experiencing seasickness, this was an extremely gut wrenching experience to say the least. I can only compare it to having an extreme case of food poisoning. One of the most vivid memories is my hanging over the back of the boat, watching vomit flail in the wind and get lost in the waves. At one point the product of my upheavals sticks to my chin, and then jumping onto they guy standing next to me. He didn’t appear even the least bit disgusted, he just patted my back and said “Don’t worry buddy, we’re almost there”. It was as if he absorbed my apology before I could even attempt to mutter it out between my labored breathes. The worst part is the fact that the waves were so rough I could hardly stand, let alone being that ill and try to make my way to the deck and back.

During the final hour I am a little better, and try to make idle chat with the man sitting next to me. Still, our conversation is interrupted by my less frequent trips back and forth to the stern of the boat. He tells me that he is going to the island to as part of a wedding party. His son is getting married on Isle Royale that weekend. This was one of the last trips to the island for the year, and I recalled reading that the Queen was generally close to empty after Labor Day. Not many people choose to visit now, because as fall comes it tends to be pretty cold that far north. The waves are also much bigger, sometimes making travel impossible. The wedding fully explained why the boat was nearly packed, and with people who had dreamy eyes of love, not the awe of a forthcoming weeklong adventure. The wedding party was going to stay in the lodge by the visitor’s center, unlike us backpackers who would pitch tents or stay in the three walled shelters.

Once the island is in sight and the waves calm I instantly feel better. This time, I grab my camera before heading off to the deck. I start happily snapping away at the growing land mass we are headed to. My mind is full of wonder and excitement as we pull up to the dock. All my worries cease. The island looked everything, and nothing, like I had imagined.