TR:Feldtmann Loop & Huginin Cove, August 26-30, 2020

[JPlant]

My hope was to schedule my flight so it would be the last one of the day and fly back on the earliest flight to avoid human interactions as much as possible. Availability dictated that I would spent a night in Hancock and catch the earliest flight, instead. I got my bag packed and was sitting at just about 40 pounds with 7 days worth of food, but no water. 7 days of food was a stupid mistake on my part. Because my initial plan was to spend 5 nights on the island, plus the seaplane's recommended 2 extra days of food, I had packed way too much. It wasn't until the ranger orientation that I realized that I was only there for 4 nights.


Tuesday, August 25th
I drove up to Hancock on Tuesday arriving at dinner time and made my first stop the Hancock Recreation Area Campground, where I had reserved a site for the night. The campground is primarily for RVs, but they do have a separate section of tent sites. The campground was totally adequate for my needs, but I wouldn't like to spend a lot of time there. The tent sites were right on top of each other, offering no privacy from your neighbors. I got a salad to go from The Ambassador and a six pack from Keweenaw Brewing and relaxed around the campsite until it got dark.

Wednesday, August 26th
I slept very poorly because of the rain and storms moving through and awoke at 6:00 AM to make it to the seaplane dock by 7:15 for my 8:00 flight. I had pre-ordered breakfast from Suomi Bakery the day before so I could grab my to-go pannukaku and be ready to fly on time. While waiting for them to open, I got a call from Isle Royale Seaplanes letting me know of the first of many weather delays that day. I ate inside at Suomi then spent some time at the NPS headquarters buying a t-shirt and some stickers. They kept delaying the flight, so I grabbed a turkey and cranberry pasty from Roy's (highly recommended!!!), and napped in the car for a bit. We finally flew out at about 2:30 and landed on the island at about 3:30.

After the ranger orientation I was able to start my hike at about 4:30. This was much later than I had hoped to leave. I asked if I could make it to Feldtmann Lake that night, but the ranger recommended Island Mine with a clockwise hike, instead. Near the ranger station, I got to see the new store they are building. It looks like it'll be much nicer than the old one, and have a more expansive kitchen. We will have more than just freezer pizzas and beer when we get to Windigo!

The air was super humid after all the storms earlier in the day and there were times climbing the Greenstone Ridge that the atmosphere took on an eerie mistiness. I stopped to chat with a hiker who was out with his teenage son headed back in to Windigo. Later, I saw the skull of a moose sitting on the side of the trail. When I was most of the way to Island Mine, I passed a beaver pond on the south side of the trail, and there, veiled in mist, was my first living moose sighting. She hung back in the fog and remained nearly invisible except by her movements.

I rolled into camp around 6:30 or 7:00 and found only one other site occupied by a nice young fellow named AJ who offered to let me share his campfire. I set up my campsite and boiled some water for dinner. As I was preparing camp, two other groups arrived at Island Mine. Dinner in hand, I wandered over to AJ's campsite. I was grateful for his fire because everything was so wet it had been difficult for him to get it started, and as tired as I was, I wouldn't have put in the effort. He had a rather ambitious plan to hike from Windigo to Rock Harbor and back. I hope he had success and enjoyed the rest of his trip. After chatting for a bit, my exhaustion got the better of me and I went back to my tent and crashed.

Thursday, August 27th
I slept in until 9:00 this morning. After the poor sleep the night before, I needed the rest. I really didn't need to rush off anywhere anyways. I was only hiking the 4.4 miles down to Siskiwit Bay. After breakfast and packing up, I had just hoisted my pack at about 11:00 AM when I heard a wolf howl three times from just about due north of the campsite. I waited around a little longer before hitting the trail. Between the campground and the mine, I ran into a group of middle aged women who had left Siskiwit Bay that morning. We exchanged trail beta and continued on our separate ways. At the mine, I stopped to take a few photos and poke around the slag piles, then continued southwards. The trail followed a pretty little stream for a bit that babbled away then straightened out into what had been the old road to the mine. Just before reaching the beach of Siskiwit Bay, I snacked on some thimbleberries. They were not exactly plentiful, but easy enough to find.

I followed the advice of the ranger and the women from earlier that day, and avoided the trail in favor of following the beach. Apparently the trail is really overgrown through there making the beach a better option. I stopped about halfway to Senter Point and rinsed my shirt and pants in the water. While they dried, I ate a few tortilla sandwiches and relaxed on the beach. I had been warned that the water near camp had been churned up by construction, so I filled up on water as well. I tried to find the trail that crosses Senter Point, but the boardwalk disappeared under water in a swamp. I ended up bushwhacking across the point and locating the trail near the shore on the other side. Soon I gave up on the trail and went back to the beach until I encountered the Siskiwit River. That required a bit of backtracking and bushwhacking to locate the trail that led to the bridge. Once across, it was a short time until I got to the campground.

On arrival, I noticed some large construction equipment including bulldozers and diggers. Everything was quiet when I got there, though. I thought I had gotten lucky and they had the day off or were done early for the day. I had my choice of the two shelters, so I took the one with a view of the dock and settled in. Soon afterwards, the workers were back at it serenading me with the not-so-gentle sounds of diesel generators, bulldozers, and welders. The ranger had warned me about the construction, but said they should finish up by 5:00. They kept at it well into the evening when a barge arrived. The captain was having trouble docking it and kept using the very loud loudspeaker to give instructions to his crew and the workers on the dock. They finally quieted down when they ran out of daylight. My hope for a restful quiet day was dashed. I did get to see a very friendly fox who kindly posed for some pictures around dinner time. I had decided earlier that day that I should eat as much as possible to eliminate some of the load on my back. As soon as the workers were done, so was I. I went to bed early so I could be up relatively early for the 10.3 mile hike to Feldtmann Lake the next day.

Friday, August 28th
I got up about 6:00, made coffee, and walked down to the beach to watch the sun come up. As I was there, I saw some of the construction guys had the same idea. It was glorious light, so I snapped a few photos and prepared breakfast while packing up. It decided to start raining while I had breakfast, nothing serious, just enough to soak all of the underbrush. I made a strategic decision to wear my rain jacket, but not the pants. I rolled up the legs on my normal pants and put on my gaiters. I figured I should keep my core warm with the rain jacket, but be able to vent heat through my legs. So much for the plans of mice and men... The Feldtmann Lake Trail was completely overgrown from Siskiwit Bay to where it begins to climb Coyote Ridge. I was soaked almost immediately and my gaiters failed miserably at keeping my socks dry. I was warm enough, though, as long as I was moving.

About halfway to the point that the trail starts to climb, there is a large beaver pond to the south of the trail that is full of a thicket of small, dead trees. I managed to catch a glimpse of a bull moose before he disappeared into the thicket with an unholy racket of crashing and sploshing. His noise scared up at least one other cow that I was able to glimpse a little further along the pond. With all of the noise, there could have been several moose in there for all I could tell.

I continued my slog through a dense underbrush of thimbleberries and raspberries that left my shins scratched up until finally the trail ascended up the ridge. On the top of the ridge I encountered an old wooden fire tower that had completely collapsed followed by the more modern metal tower. I was able to climb to the top level, but there was a locked gate preventing me from walking around the building at the top of the tower. I considered stopping for lunch, but the wind was picking up and it was beginning to sprinkle. I didn't want to be caught in the open on top of the ridge if a storm moved in. I gulped down some water and a few handfuls of gorp.

The trail descended gently into the woods. I startled a bull moose about 50' off the trail. We locked eyes for a moment before he bolted behind a fallen tree. My reflexes weren't quick enough to get a photo. A little further along, there was a swampy area that looked so desolate that it reminded me of the dead marshes from The Lord of the Rings. It looked catastrophically dead. I soon discovered the reason it was like this. There had been a beaver dam that the trail used to cross that had completely washed out. There were branches, vegetation, and mud strewn about below the little cliff that the dam used to occupy. I had to do a bit of bushwhacking to pick up the trail again. When I did, I saw a dead moose, south of the trail and just east of the wash-out, that had obviously been there a while.

A bit further on, I encountered two clusters of a group of 9 guys, ranging in age from about 9 to about 50, who told me they had canoed about 20 miles across Lake Superior from Grand Portage in a large voyageur canoe and were staying at Feldtmann Lake. One of them was kind enough to fix an issue I had with the mounting clip on my camera so I could change my battery.

I had begun to despair that the Feldtmann loop lacked any of the grand vistas that I had seen on other parts of the island when the trail approached a towering cliff that overlooked Feldtmann Lake and the valley below. What a gorgeous place to take a rest and enjoy the view! I crawled up to the edge on my belly and took a few photos. From there the trail made a steep decline down to the level of Feldtmann Lake. After crossing an exceptionally sketchy boardwalk crossing below a beaver dam with two collapsed sections, I was almost at camp. It had recently begun to drizzle and I was already soaked.

As soon as I got to camp and stopped hiking, I immediately began to feel chilled. I changed out of my wet clothes and put on my long johns and rain pants and rested under a dense pine tree that kept off the rain remarkably well. After heating up some water for a meal of chicken gumbo and hot coffee, I was feeling much better. I set up my tent in the drizzle and climbed inside to rest and warm up. The rain let up for the rest of the evening, so I headed to Rainbow Cove. I collected water and had a light dinner while enjoying the beach. The voyageur canoe was there on the beach as well. I checked that out and talked to the guys some more. When the sun dipped below the clouds, just before sunset, I headed back to camp and turned in for the night.

Saturday, August 29th
Over night, it rained pretty hard and my tent displayed the limitations of a single-wall shelter in humid rainy conditions. Single-wall tents are prone to condensation. When this is combined with a hammering rainfall, it can result in the accumulated condensation misting down inside the tent. I pulled my head inside my sleeping bag and went back to sleep, hoping the condensation wouldn't get my gear too wet. In the morning, my sleeping bag was a bit damp on the outside, but nothing to worry about. Surprisingly, the clothes and shoes I had left outside, under the pine tree were almost dry. I wiped down the tent, and had breakfast on the shore of Feldtmann Lake watching the sun come up again. I packed up everything, leaving the tent for last so that I could dry as much as possible before getting stuffed into its sack.

The Feldtmann Lake Trail was pretty uneventful for the first two thirds. I ran into a couple of students doing a survey of fox and marten scat. I have been using a Garmin InReach to check my progress this trip. At one point, I noticed that the actual trail started heading in a completely different direction than the (supposedly up-to-date) trail on the GPS. The trail crosses Grace Creek and climbs the ridge on the opposite side, where my GPS was showing the trail staying south of the creek heading west before turning north towards Washington Harbor. The GPS even shows a nonexistent trail that loops around the east side of Feldtmann Lake. I'm curious how long ago the trail was rerouted and how old is the data that Garmin uses for its maps?

Because the trail climbs the ridge, it offers some lovely views of Grace Harbor and the land below. There is a lookout not far from where the trail descends to Washington Harbor that seems to be a popular day-hike location for people staying in Windigo. There I met another friendly fox that is likely well fed by the visitors. The trail is an easy stroll down to the harbor where it follows the shoreline right into Windigo. I passed by the ranger station and dock, and continued on to the Washington Creek campground. It had started raining gently, so I claimed a shelter to heat up some lunch and allow my feet to dry out.

I decided I still had some energy left and I really wanted to get to Hugnnin Cove on this trip. The weather was supposed to clear and I hoped I might see the northern lights. I followed the east loop up to the cove, stopping to check out the Wendigo Mine and scaring up a moose who crashed across the trail like a freight train about 50 feet ahead of me. There's a really lovely beaver pond that has a boardwalk just below the dam. My favorite section of probably the whole island is the section of that trail that follows the northern shore along Lake Superior. I love the rocky scrambles that are not too difficult, the huge variety of mosses and plants, the ancient craggy trees barely holding onto boulders, and the crashing of the waves along the cliff face of the shore.

I got into camp and checked out all of the sites. There were no other campers that night and there was a stiff wind coming from the north. In spite of this, I chose campsite #2, the most exposed site there. I really wanted to be near the water and hoped I wouldn't regret it. Once I got my tent set up, that wind dried everything right out. I had my dinner and used the last of my whiskey to make an Irish coffee. I set an alarm for 1:30 AM and 6:00 AM so I could check for northern lights, then get up and hurry out in the morning to catch my 11:00 AM plane. I left the front door open on the tent so I could look out at the stars and enjoy the now gentler breeze. I drifted off to sleep lulled by the waves and the noises of a stream next to my campsite.

Sunday, August 30th
I barely woke up for the 1:30 alarm, just enough to see that the sky looked hazy and there wasn't any sign of northern lights. When the 6:00 alarm went off, I hopped out of bed and began breaking camp. I quickly ate a Clif Bar for breakfast, collected a bit more water and hit the trail at about 6:50. I hiked with my headlamp on until the trail made its first big climb and continued for a mile or two before it became clear that the Clif Bar wasn't nearly enough food. I stopped for a snack and some water. Refueled, I continued to clear the trail of spiderwebs with my face.

About halfway along the trail, I was crossing a plank bridge when I glanced up to notice a mother moose and her young, probably 20 feet ahead of me. I scampered back to the safer side of the bridge and watched them. I waited about 15 minutes, hoping they would wander off into the woods. They seemed utterly undisturbed by my presence. They seemed to want nothing more than to enjoy their sunny clearing, munching on leaves and grooming themselves. The mother was alert, but didn't seem at all agitated by my presence. The young moose had wandered off to the far side of its mother, and I had a plane to catch. I pulled out my trekking poles to use as weapons if necessary and slowly crossed the bridge. The trail took me to within about 15 feet of the mother, but she kept her ears up and never appeared agitated. I thanked them for allowing me to pass and to see them so closely.

The rest of the trip back was pretty uneventful. I encountered two pairs of people and warned them about the moose and her young so they wouldn't startle them. I wandered through the Washington Creek campground in case there were any more moose in the creek, but there weren't any, so I headed to the restrooms in Windigo to wash up before I had to be in a plane with other humans. I checked out at the ranger station and went to the seaplane dock to wait. I heated up a cup of coffee and enjoyed my last hour or so on the island before the plane arrived.

On the plane, I was offered the co-pilot's seat up front. That was a neat experience to see everything from the pilot's perspective. It is a cool plane that the pilot was obviously very proud of. It's a 1952 DeHaviland Beaver. Everything about it is totally analog, except for the iPad they have mounted on the dashboard for navigation. The flight was smooth as silk. The takeoff and landing especially so. On water there is very little vibration difference between floating and flying.

Back on land, I texted my wife and began the long drive home.


What did I learn?
-Before I left, I cut a section of a CCF sleeping pad that was the width of the inside of my pack. That was an amazing thing to have. I will never backpack without it again. It was a soft warm seat when I was chilled and a clean surface to kneel on getting into and out of my tent.
-I debated whether to bring camp shoes or not. In the end, I brought a pair of lightweight barefoot running shoes. After my shoes got soaked on Friday, it was so nice to be able to put on dry socks and shoes. Bring camp shoes to Isle Royale.
-Get better gaiters.
-If you buy a new Peak Design Capture Clip for your camera right before your trip, make sure that it doesn't block your battery door. If it does, bring along the allen wrench to remove it, otherwise you can't change your battery without begging for help.

My setup is this... Tarptent ProTrail supported with REI Traverse Shocklight trekking poles. Older REI Flash 55 pack. BA Bootjack 24 degree sleeping bag. BA Q-Core SLX Insulated pad. Platypus Gravityworks 4L filter. MSR Pocket Rocket stove. Small titanium pot with silicone lid. Fujifilm X-T1 with stock 18-135 lens. Other odds and ends.

Edit: Link to some photos...
https://imgur.com/a/ErwVZMp

[Midwest Ed]

.
....The voyageur canoe was there on the beach as well.
.
.
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The GPS even shows a nonexistent trail that loops around the east side of Feldtmann Lake. I'm curious how long ago the trail was rerouted and how old is the data that Garmin uses for its maps?
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.
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On the plane, I was offered the co-pilot's seat up front. That was a neat experience to see everything from the pilot's perspective. It is a cool plane that the pilot was obviously very proud of. It's a 1952 DeHaviland Beaver. Everything about it is totally analog, except for the iPad they have mounted on the dashboard for navigation. The flight was smooth as silk. The takeoff and landing especially so. On water there is very little vibration difference between floating and flying.

I very much enjoyed reading.

Did you get a photo of the large canoe?

I don't know when the eastward swamp trail to Feldtman Lake was abandoned but it was after 1977. I used it a couple of years earlier and remember an unusual amount of boardwalk. My estimation is it's maintenance became too great.

The Beaver is still a great plane.

[JPlant]

I’ll try to get some photos posted later. I did get one of the canoe.


Thanks for posting photos of the map. That is approximately what my GPS showed.

It still astounds me that Garmin’s maps could be so out of date. I encountered something similar bikepacking gravel roads in the Manistee National Forest. I went down a clearly marked road on the GPS only to find it blocked by a rusty barrier and dead end sign beyond which was a clearly mature beaver pond.

[Ingo]

It still astounds me that Garmin’s maps could be so out of date.

They're based on the USGS 1:24000 quad maps. https://store.usgs.gov/map-locator
They don't get updated very often--although these were updated in 2019, your Garmin maps don't reflect that yet. The previous version was 1985, which is what you see on your GPS. Virtually all topo maps are based on them, so it's not just a Garmin issue, although some are better at making their own updates along the way. Apparently the Isle Royale user base isn't large enough for them to be concerned with these. I'd guess that trail changes in more popular areas are pretty much kept up-to-date (say the Grand Canyon).

Hopefully Garmin and others will incorporate the 2019 updates for I.R. soon. And then we hope that they don't reroute any trails for 34 yrs .

FWIW, I live on a private road that's existed for about 35 yrs and Google Maps still doesn't have it right--shows a wagon trail from the 1800s I think ... If you look real closely you can find some of the old road bed shown on Google maps, but it's got some 2 ft diameter trees in it.

[Bobcat1]

The old Feldtman East trail was officially abandoned about 1990. My first trip to that part of the island in 1996, the trail was still on the map, and the unmaintained boardwalks were still there but decaying, and the trail junctions were still very obvious leading to the occasional hiker mistakenly getting to Feldtman on the wrong trail. By now, I hope the abandoned trail is fully overgrown. It was just too much to maintain through a very swampy route, according to the rangers at that time.

[torpified]

Thanks for this terrific report on a wonderful trip! You accomplished the rare double of bulldozers AND voyageur canoes! I didn't think it was possible to feel even more regret about not getting to the island this year, but now I do. I think it's because details of your report pushed some of my nostalgia buttons: I also really love the stretch of the Huginnin loop along the Superior shore, and my inaugural Isle Royale moose sighting featured a moose submerged in a beaver pond.

Do you know how much food you finished with? In this era of seaplanes and consequent uncertainty about arrival/departure times, they should have some COVID-aware system whereby those who planned ahead and didn't need their extra food could leave it for those who didn't plan ahead and did need extra food.

Looking forward to pictures!

[JPlant]

Do you know how much food you finished with?

I think I ended up with three breakfasts, two dinners, and an unopened bag of turkey jerky. I decided on my second day to eat as much as possible to avoid carrying it.

I don’t know about leaving food this year, but I have heard that on normal years, the rangers keep an extra stash of donated food and fuel for stranded hikers.

[Bobcat1]

If anyone does decide to leave food and fuel, please give it to the rangers so it can be stored properly. Abandoned food in the shelters will just attract nuisance wildlife and make them even more human-dependent than they would be. My last year’s trip, my last night, at RH, I found 2 fuel canisters, a paper lunch bag full of potatoes, three fire-starter pucks and a card good for a free half-day canoe rental, all left in the shelter. I would recommend to just take your leftovers home with you, understanding that you can’t take the fuel on the seaplane.

[dcclark]

I very much enjoyed reading your trip report. Fantastic writing! I too would enjoy seeing any photos that you have.

How do you like the Q-Core SLX? I've been looking at that (it's on a nice discount at REI right now...) but have been shy to commit to it. Too many reports of consistent leaks.

Oh, and hello from Grand Rapids.

[JPlant]

How do you like the Q-Core SLX?

It is really comfortable. I like it a lot. I especially like the pump sack that you have to buy separately. It makes inflation a breeze. The large exhaust port makes deflation quick and easy as well.

I can’t say how durable this one is. I haven’t had any problems with it as of yet. It is, however, a warranty replacement for an older BA Q-Core SL that had developed a slow leak that I couldn’t locate. So take it with a grain of salt.

[JPlant]

I posted the photos at the end of my post earlier. Here is the link...
https://imgur.com/a/ErwVZMp

[Midwest Ed]

Beautiful photos. How long do you think that canoe is? Nine guys? Wow!. I've never been to Huginnen Cove but that section of trail shown in your photo looks like it could throw one's back out while attempting to wind your way around the rock formation.

If we're giving shout outs to GR, MI .... I was born and raised there.

[JPlant]

How long do you think that canoe is?

I’m pretty certain it’s this model...
http://www.clippercanoes.com/langley/
If so, it’s 29’ long and holds 14 paddlers.

Hey there GR folks!

[kolo]

I posted the photos at the end of my post earlier. Here is the link...
https://imgur.com/a/ErwVZMp

JPlant,

Thank you for the great trip report and pictures! Those are some nice pictures. Sure brings back some fond memories! I was hoping to see a picture of the new store at Windigo. You are the first, I think, to post a picture. Can't wait to sit on the new deck, drink a cup of coffee, and look out over Washington harbor!

[fonixmunkee]

I can't believe I'm just now seeing these pictures. The foliage in the fog is beautiful.