Minong Stories

[alecto73]

I'd like to continue the discussion that started here:"http://www.isleroyaleforums.com/viewtop ... f=3&t=1798". My trip is getting close and I'm barely thinking about anything else these days. So for those of you with stories of your time spent hiking the Minong I'd be interested to hear them. Thanks in advance.

[MikeT]

OK, here we go. Not sure if anyone else will be interested in this, but Jess and I will both be taking the first boat out together and he is doing his first Minong Ridge "solo". So, I thought I would post scribbling’s from my first "solo" Minong journal. Anyone that has done "solo" backpacking should be able to relate. It is a whole different experience. It can be scary. It can be a re-birthing. Regardless, it gives you a new perspective. You can think of yourself as a small spot in the world, yet alone the universe (which we are) or, you can realize or, you do realize, that it is the spot that matters in your life and the lives of those around you. Regardless of where you end, it is another beginning of sorts. It is perspective. Either way you go. It is thinking pure thoughts at the ultimate. Free from reality and living in a new reality. It is silence a full volume.

So I will put these scribbles out daily until we leave (in theory anyway).

May 2009, Day One:
[I wrote this in my head while walking down to Chickenbone Lake from McCargoe Cove after arriving on the island. I then sang it out loud after arriving at the beginning of Chickenbone Lake and sitting down.]

"In Another Dimension"

In this anti-world.
In this other dimension.
The silence is loud.
But it is not noise.

Listen to the quiet.
Can you not hear it?
Listen to the quiet.

It is so loud.

Listen to the silence.
Can you not hear it?
Listen to the silence.

It is so loud.

Listen to them both.
Together in silence.
Listen to them both.

They are so loud.

Listen to me sing.
This song above them.
Listen to me sing.

I am so loud.

In this anti-world.
In this other dimension.
The silence is loud.
But it is not noise.

[drobarge]

My goodness I just might move my May trip up by a week. Thanks!

[fonixmunkee]

It was about 10am, and we just got up onto the Minong Ridge out of Tod Harbor. It was already 70 degrees and the ridge was in the sun, and it was twice as hot there. We were scrambling along the ridge, up and down the rocks, and even in between some of them, when we ran into a gentleman who had jeans, a sweatshirt, a winter camp, and an external frame backpack on. He was coming from North Desor and was already this far. He must of got up at 4am to start his hike! Either way, he said he had fallen asleep on some rocks about 50 yards behind him (so, ahead of us) and he woke up to a wolf staring at him about 10 feet away! He sat up and the wolf didn't move. They stared at each other until the wolf eventually meandered off into the woods.

We didn't end up seeing the wolf, but we were on high alert for a long time. We forgot about the hot weather and beating sun for a bit, too.

On the same trip, we were nearing North Desor, but were still on the Minong Ridge. We just finished a brutal scramble up the ridge and were to the top where only a single, dead pine sat to offer us shade. We had five people, and we were hot and sweaty. We all huddled under that tree in the shade and drank in the beautiful view of Canada and Lake Superior. We talked about how tired we were from the long day of hiking, and then my friend lit up a cigarette. It was weird to have us all huffing and puffing out of air from hiking and have him light up a smoke. Although he said it was the best-tasting smoke, because it was on that ridge in the middle of nowhere with 360 degrees of beautiful scenic views.

[jerry]

The high tech bridge (the trees shown in the previous picture) is great. My friends enjoy my picture of that bridge. I don't remember the difficulty of this trail (I was 66 when I did it), I remember the beauty in all directions. Hearing a wolf to the south of Little Todd CG while a camp fire is blazing during our evening meal I felt was to be expected at ISRO. Walking on the trail and not seeing another cairn when all of a sudden there below me to the left is a moose rack. The trail goes down into the woods again. A quiet afternoon resting in the sun at N. Desor while the boots and socks dry nearby. That night we heard wolves in the distance after midnight (and we had a full moon). The next day is a long walk to Wash. Cr. Remember there are only two beaver dams to cross. In a couple of minutes after the second one, the trail goes up and to the right. We didn't, we found foot prints going into a third bog and wasted about an hour. The stories I could tell about that, oh well. The sandwich at Windigo was great that afternoon along with the hot shower. That evening a cow and her twins ate there evening meal near our shelter. The next morning near day break a wolf woke me up. What a great trip!!!!!!

[JonG]

Thanks for asking.... I did a solo hike from Rock Harbor to Windigo on my first visit to IR in September of 1999. First night, Daisy, Second night, McCargo and then on to the Minong. I enjoyed a beautiful sunset at Todd on night 3. Next day was drizzly,but I continued on toward Little Todd, and on one of the many dips into the forest between climbs to the ridge I stopped and stood on the trail and ate my peanut butter on bagel sandwich for lunch. As I paused quietly soaking in the quiet and solitude, a long wolf howl wafted down from the ridge above and in front of me. Several shorter wails followed the first. I was amazed when down from the ridge and right toward me on the trail a lone wolf came running. Our eyes met and we just stared at each other for a few beautiful moments, then he turned and ran back up the trail from where he had appeared. His tracks were present in the soft muddy sections of the trail almost until Little Todd. I shared Little Todd campground with a lone kayaker from Colorado who had come over on the Queen III on the same day as I, and was circumnavigating the island clockwise. Little Todd to N Desor is about as tough a trail as you'll find on IR, lots of ups and downs but the views from the ridge are ample rewards for the hard work.I had N Desor to myself that night and slept like a baby after the arduous days hike. N Desor to Washington Creek is long and the trail is interesting in a few places such as walking over beaver dams and logs over creeks. I had a bull moose block the path by the research shed a couple of miles from Washington Creek campgrounds, and we just eyeballed each other for what seemed like 15 or 20 minutes. He just browsed on leaves and on one occasion kind of trashed a small conifer tree with his rack. I believe his rutting hormones were just starting to flow, however he never seemed aggressive toward me.
Well, you are about to see the best trail on the island, imo. It can be challenging, but the rewards of beauty, and ruggedness, and the chance for solitude are great. Have a great trip and please post a report.

Jon

[Midwest Ed]

Its not quite a "story" and certainly not mine but an IR hiker named "erikaustinwaxx" has posted a series of GPS located photos of the Minong Ridge Trail on Google Earth. In the Layers Options, turn on "Photos" and then turn on "Panoramio." On my computer I have noticed that if I am zoomed in too close the photo markers can sometimes disappear.

[shutterbug6]

Its not quite a "story" and certainly not mine but an IR hiker named "erikaustinwaxx" has posted a series of GPS located photos of the Minong Ridge Trail on Google Earth. In the Layers Options, turn on "Photos" and then turn on "Panoramio." On my computer I have noticed that if I am zoomed in too close the photo markers can sometimes disappear.

Erik would be my boyfriend, very cool to have stumbled across this posting on here! We will be back in two weeks for our fourth adventure to the island together!