First Crew to head to IR Monday

[johnhens]

The opening crew will be headed to IR Monday on the LCM with a USCG escort.

[Lucky Chicken]

ok I will ask the dumb question.... LST?

[johnhens]

ok I will ask the dumb question.... LST?

The Park Service has a Landing Craft from WWII (I believe) that is used to move large freight or large tractors, ect to IR. You can drive a bulldozer, front lift, ect on it.
It is actually an LCM.

[Midwest Ed]

The NPS owns an LCM-8 (Landing Craft Mechanized version 8; 70 feet long ). It is a much larger descendant of the WWII Higgins boat (LCVP; 35 ft long) that participated in so many beach landings. I don't know the age of the one owned by the NPS but LCM-8 boats first began service in 1959 and are still in use today throughout many military and non-military services. LST (Landing Ship Tank) is a very much bigger ship (380 feet long).

Note: This picture is NOT from Isle Royale or NPS

[k2one]

Ditto to what John said about the Park Service trying to get to and open up the Island on Monday May 5th.I heard about it today also.

[MikeT]

Nice picture. They had that there last spring except they did not have to put dirt down on the landing, they just plowed it into the snow
They are not even arriving at Mott until May 5th, if they make it. Last year Nancy and I got there on May 4th (Thanks to Don!). I will never forget having Rock Harbor all to ourselves. The way things are going, there may not be "public" on the island that early again.

I am looking forward to some pictures. Sounds like it is worse than last year!!

For anyone new here who did not see our report from last year, you can check out last years conditions at: http://www.isleroyale.info/ir13/index.html
One of my most interesting trips!

[Kevinl]

I have a May 14 trip on the Voyageur scheduled so I'm watching these conditions closely. Mike, I thought the snow cover on the island was a bit less than last year, or am I wrong? Maybe I don't put the snowshoes away just yet.

If I get to the island I'm happy. If I don't get to the island, I'm happy--I'll just explore the SHT some instead, perhaps the southern parts of the trail.

[jerry]

Kevinl, Have you been to the overlook of the Bean and Bear Lakes on the SHT? Its worth the trip.

[Kevinl]

jerry, it's such a lovely spot. I threw up around that area last year running the Superior footrace. Sounds like there's still plenty of snow there too.

[Lucky Chicken]

good luck to the crew today! I look forward to hearing a travel report.

Godspeed!

[johnhens]

LCM delayed till Wednesday.

[Gimp]

The LCM-8 is flat bottomed to give it a shallow draft. It's a horrible ride in rough sea states and the flat bow doesn't do well with a head wind. The crew would definitely want optimal weather conditions before making a run across Lake Superior. I went through a lot of training on LCM's in Panama when I was younger and had quite a memorable tour of Gatun Lake, the nearby Caribbean, and the canal lock in between.

[statsman4]

Gimp......my experience on an LCM was in Panama too. I was in a light infantry unit (9th Regiment in the late 80s) and we hit the beach with that thing a couple of times. The only time I experienced sea sickness was in that boat. Brutal ride. I would rather do Green Hell all day long.

[johnhens]

The LCM is on its way accompanied by the USCG Katmai Bay.

[Ingo]

According to http://www.marinetraffic.com/ the LCM made it to Mott Island. And the Ranger III is out of Whitefish Bay heading across Superior.