Isle Royale Forums

During our trip last August we noticed something weird with the trees along the Mt Franklin and Greenstone ridge trails. Most of the trees about 1 to 2 inches in diameter and approximately 4 to 6 feet from the ground were broken. My girlfriend and I tried to figure out why. We asked other hikers who were also confused. We came up with possible Moose feeding from the them, or wind. We even asked some rangers at the headquarters in Houghton, only got guesses. Maybe someone here would have an idea.

I'd guess wind, heavy snow load, ice or some combination of the 3.

The trees probably snapped off at a canker. Trees can develop cankers for any number of reasons. Some moose walks by and damages the bark, rot enters, and a canker develops. Wind, snow, etc, can cause the tree to snap at the canker.

And it could be moose too. I’ve seen elk bend over aspen tree three to five feet from the ground to get at their tops. The trees will often snap at this point. Moose may do the same.

I concur with treeplanter.The black blotches are consistent with fungus/ canker. I also have to wonder about a moose trying to remove velvet from its antlers....any shredded bark in the area?

Sent from my DROIDX using Tapatalk 2