Isle Royale Forums

Name: Mark
Hometown: St. Paul, MN
Arrival Date: September 2010, after Labor Day
Coming From/Via: Grand Portage via the Voyageur II

Background: This solo trip allowed me to experience some of the trails/campsites that I have not been to before. I now have hiked all the trails on Isle Royale except for a segment of the Greenstone Ridge Trail from Hidden Lake to Mt. Franklin.

Day 1 - Sept. 11 - Windigo to Island Mine

Ride over on the Voyageur II was moderately rough, with 4 ft. plus waves and a light rain. At the LNT orientation, it was mentioned that there was a severe algae bloom at Chickenbone Lake, Lake Richie, and I believe Lake Whittlesey; no drinking or contact with the water was recommended. Wolf encounters are becoming more prevalent. It was recommended that hikers scare off or "haze" any wolf as fast as possible to minimize wolf-human interaction time. We were warned that lots of trees were down due to several high wind storms in the last several weeks, and that travel along some of the trails could be slower than normal. The rain stopped by the time I made it to Island Mine. The mature maple trees were quite impressive and had a tinge of color to them. The creek was running strong due to the recent rains. Tended a small fire during the late afternoon and early evening.

Day 2 - Sept. 12 - Island Mine to South Lake Desor

A windy hike through an all encompassing maple forest. Could see whitecaps on Lake Superior from some of the Greenstone Ridge Trail vantage points. Many wet segments of the Greenstone Ridge Trail have been rerouted with surveyors tape; the trail will be moved to higher ground where there is less maintenance (i.e. no boardwalks to repair). The afternoon was warm enough to wash up in Lake Desor. Great sunset from the rocks down by the lake. For late season hiking I should bring a small foam seat pad to insulate my rear from the cold rocks.

Day 3 - Sept. 13 - South Lake Desor to Little Todd (off-trail from Ishpeming Point to the Minong Ridge Trail)

Another windy day. Made it to the Ishpeming Point tower for an early lunch. Fired up the GPS for my off-trail walk to the Minong Ridge Trail. Walked another 0.3 mi. NE along the Greenstone Ridge Trail before cutting over to the edge of the Greenstone Ridge. I initially came upon a good size cliff that was impossible to descend. I double checked my GPS coordinates and found that I was 200 ft. off from where I needed to be. Upon getting to the proper waypoint, I found a reasonable but steep way down off the Greenstone Ridge. After the descent was complete, I took a northernly route of about 0.8 miles and reached the Minong Ridge Trail. Crossed several small swamps en-route but they were mostly dry. Going was slow but not too difficult. The total off-trail distance was approximately 1.3 miles and took me about 2 hours with rest stops. Breaking brush was hard on my lightweight hiking pants; I ripped out a knee and got several other fabric punctures. If I were to do more off-trail hiking in the future, heavier duty pants or chaps would be a plus. And some safety glasses to protect my eyes from the myriad of tree and shrub branches. There is a wonderous but small paper birch forest just before reaching the Little Todd campsite, my favorite on the island. A bald eagle was fishing in the harbor.

Day 4 - Sept. 14 - Little Todd to Hatchet Lake

Continued high winds. Enjoyed walking the knife edge Minong Ridge Trail en-route to the Hatchet Lake Trail. Many excellent vantage points. Felt fatigued from the strenuous off-trail hike the day before. Upon reaching Hatchet Lake, the trail goes through a nice forest flanking the northern slope of the Greenstone Ridge. Washed up in Hatchet Lake upon arrival. In preparation for this trip I purchased a new Platypus 4L Water Tank as I could not find my old one. I use the Water Tank to bring water back to my campsite, let the sediments settle, and filter water when needed. While unpacking the pack for the day, I found my old Water Tank in an obscure inside pocket. Daylight is less than 13 hours per day; I find that the sun goes down way too soon at this time of the season. Another nice sunset over the western edge of Hatchet Lake.

Day 5 - Sept. 15 - Hatchet Lake to Malone Bay

A very heavy dew this morning with light winds. Today's hike of 11+ miles was the longest of the trip. Even though the pack was much lighter due to the consumption of most of the food, fatigue was still evident on this 5th day of hiking. I should work in a layover/rest day on future trips. I do that on longer trips that I take but haven't done so on the shorter trips. While on the Greenstone Ridge Trail I encountered a pesky fox. I thought I scared it away but turned around to see it a few feet behind me, trying to snatch my wallet! The wind direction shifted and rain returned about 2 hours before I reached Malone Bay. My 2 MPH walking pace with extended rest/lunch stops meant that I did not reach the campsite until 4:30 PM CDST. I was able to snag the last remaining shelter which meant that I did not need to set up the tent in the rain. What a pleasure! Too bad the sun sets at approximately 7:06 PM CDST. The late arrival made for a short afternoon/evening.

Day 6 - Sept. 16 - Malone Bay to Windigo (via the Voyageur II)

A sunny morning was enjoyed while I packed up for the 10 AM CDST boat arrival. While organizing my gear in the shelter, I looked up to see a large bull moose walk through the campsite. It came within 10 ft. of my shelter. It was in good shape and looked very healthy. The boat ride back to Windigo was pleasurable as the skies were sunny and the water was calm; I stood on the rear open air deck the whole way. Upon arrival to the Windigo dock, a cow moose and two calves were spotted feeding at the mouth of Washington Creek. Made it back to Grand Portage by 2:30 PM CDST. Another great trip to Isle Royale. High temps were in the 50's and lows were in the 40's.

Very interesting trip. I’ve always considered the shorter days and cooler temps to be a wonderful trade off in order to get rid of the bugs.

I am interested in your cross country stretch. It sounds as if you had preplanned waypoints recorded. In the valley just south of Minong there appears to be two large streams to avoid. One that flows northeast into Hatchet and another flowing southwest into Desor. Were you intending to thread between them? Did you avoid them? Are they are large as they appear from aerial photography?

I once made the Hatchet Lake to Malone Bay day trek, but in the opposite direction. I arrived at Hatchet Lake with empty water bottles. This was before the days of filters so I pressed on to Todd Harbor and arrived in the dark rather than boil water with a parched throat. That was a 15 mile long day that I wouldn’t want to repeat.

~Ed

I forgot to mention that I did not see any bugs on this trip except for a few mosquitoes near Lake Desor. I also heard but did not see the wolves at the NE point of Hatchet Lake.

I spent a fair amount of time going over topo maps and aerial photographs in preparation for this off-trail hike, and entered the waypoints for the route into my GPS. My intent was to stay on higher ground and avoid any streams/swamps if at all possible. Once off the Greenstone Ridge, I pretty much followed a course defined by the line between the Ishpeming Point tower and a point on the Minong Ridge Trail just east of where it turns NW to meet up with the Little Todd Harbor spur. I did intend to thread between the two water sources you mentioned and tried to miss any large swamps. I did cross a few small dry swamps, or edges of larger swamps, but I did not run into any running water; the swamps were muddy but I could walk on them without sinking in too far. The large skunk cabbages (found in swamps or shaded wetlands) were done for the season and most of the leaves were flat on the ground. I had hoped to navigate some of the route by sight but the thick woods prevented any long distance sight lines and I had to rely exclusively on the GPS.

During my Isle Royale trips in the 70's I tried to camp as much as possible by Lake Superior because boiling water at the inland campsites was less than pleasant. Warm water does not do a good job to quench a summer thirst. I now carry some extra stove fuel in case my water filter fails, but luckily I have not had to use it.

Mark

Two years ago I spent two evenings at Hatchet. Both evenings the wolves woke me up in the middle of the night. They must like that NE section of the lake, because that's where I heard them too.