Isle Royale Forums

From the NPS 6/09/21:
Lake Richie Water Warning
Date Posted: 6/9/2021
Do not drink, filter, or boil water from Lake Richie. Filter or boil water prior to traveling to the area. This lake is experiencing a cyanobacteria algal bloom. It is harmful to ingest. Filtering or boiling will not remove toxins and may add them.

Additional info from the NPS. They are doing water sampling. We have confirmed the species to be Dolichospermum. Not all Cyanobacteria are toxin producing, however Dolichospermum is a genera that can produce toxins.

Kind of early for a blue-green bloom isn't it?

hooky wrote: ↑Thu Jun 10, 2021 10:19 am Kind of early for a blue-green bloom isn't it?

A bit alarming I would say.

That could mess up some canoe trips, esp if it spreads to other lakes and lasts. We'll be sticking to Superior waters next week, so should be OK.

Also, I wonder to what extent it affects Chippewa Harbor? I'm guessing not much, but I wouldn't be getting water near the creek.

Ingo wrote: ↑Thu Jun 10, 2021 10:42 am That could mess up some canoe trips, esp if it spreads to other lakes and lasts. We'll be sticking to Superior waters next week, so should be OK.

Also, I wonder to what extent it affects Chippewa Harbor? I'm guessing not much, but I wouldn't be getting water near the creek.

It will be interesting to see if it pops up in any other lakes.

Any updates on the Algae Bloom?

3curlgreenhead wrote: ↑Wed Jul 14, 2021 6:27 am Any updates on the Algae Bloom?

The alert/warning is still up on the NPS website.

Thanks Indgo. But that's no good, we were planning on spending some time at Ritchie pike fishing. Guess we'll just head up to Chickenbone.

3curlgreenhead wrote: ↑Wed Jul 14, 2021 7:43 am Thanks Indgo. But that's no good, we were planning on spending some time at Ritchie pike fishing. Guess we'll just head up to Chickenbone.

The rangers will tell you at registration/orientation which lakes are affected. I've never heard of a lake clearing up mid-season--and hopefully it doesn't spread to other lakes, but that's always possible.

It is still posted all over the trails and campsite. I did look all around the edge and did not see any blooms, discoloration, or unusual, but definitely not worth chancing it. If you did want to camp at Richie there is a waterfall the comes down just south of the campsite that was drinkable.

Which campsite on Richie? Regular or canoe?

All the sites.

TopCarrot wrote: ↑Sat Jul 17, 2021 4:11 pm If you did want to camp at Richie there is a waterfall the comes down just south of the campsite that was drinkable.

Is it the Lake Richie campground or the Lake Richie Canoe campground that has the waterfall?

And I'm confused about the location of the waterfall -- it looks like the lake itself is south of both campgrounds.

Does it flow down into the lake such that we could see it as we paddle along the shore?

I'm very interested, since we'll be paddling through Lake Richie next week, and having a source of water would allow us to spend a couple of days there (our original plan before the algae bloom).

Thanks

backwoods doc wrote: ↑Sat Jul 17, 2021 10:46 pm

TopCarrot wrote: ↑Sat Jul 17, 2021 4:11 pm If you did want to camp at Richie there is a waterfall the comes down just south of the campsite that was drinkable.

Is it the Lake Richie campground or the Lake Richie Canoe campground that has the waterfall?

And I'm confused about the location of the waterfall -- it looks like the lake itself is south of both campgrounds.

Does it flow down into the lake such that we could see it as we paddle along the shore?

I'm very interested, since we'll be paddling through Lake Richie next week, and having a source of water would allow us to spend a couple of days there (our original plan before the algae bloom).

Thanks

It is just south/southwest of the Lake Richie Hiking Campground and flows into Lake Richie. It may be possible to see it from the canoe but it would be easier to land and walk to it. It is the lake, then some rocky marsh, then trail, then waterfall.

The trail along Lake Richie is mostly east-west, so "south" confuses me too, but I think I see what TopCarrot is getting at. My recollection is that the stream is more or less west of the backpacking campsites. You would cross it if you were hiking from Richie to West Chickenbone.