For those of you who are unaware of what Isle Royale National Park is or where it is located here is a brief description. The island is a wild life preserve whose remoteness and rugged wilderness make it a wondrous place for avid outdoors person. I was attracted by the isolation the possibility of seeing moose, and the hope that I would hear a wolf howl. The island is approximately 45 miles long, and 8.5 miles wide at its widest point. Because the island is some distance away from the main land, there are only 10 mammal species that reside on the island such as moose, wolf, and fox. There are NO bears or racoons.
For those of you in the know, and what some quick info on the conditions of the island here is my experience in a nut shell.
Moose: I didn't see any. Apparently this time of year is when the expecting mothers go off to secluded areas to give birth. Since the weather is still chilly, and the plants along Lake Superior haven't really bloomed, the male moose were foraging up on the rdige. So the 2 people who I met that did see moose, they saw them up on the ridge (2 of them), and at Feldtman Lake (6 moose).
Foxes: I didn't see any, and I didn't have any issues with them raiding my gear, though I was careful to keep my boots in my tent or shelter anyways.
Bugs: 2 mosquitoes and lots of flys my last 2 days when it warmed up a bunch.
Wolves: I didn't see any. Apparently one guy did see a wolf walk past his shelter. I didn't hear any, but I did see fresh tracks and fresh scat and tons of old dried scat.
Weather: Chilly and overcast the first 2.5 days, but bearable. The last 2.5 days the sun came out and it warmed up quite a bit. A little sprinkle of rain my second night, but that was it.
Crowds: The boat on the way out and back was pretty full, but then again, it is only running Monday and Friday, so about 40-60 people coming out for the week.
Day 1:I have a quick plug for the North Port Motel. As I was preparing to leave for the ferry, when I locked my keys in my car, and even though I had all my backpacking gear out, I still had stuff that I needed to put in the car. Well, the people at the motel let me leave my car at the motel all week, and even had the sheriff unlock the car while I was away. It was so nice getting back and not having to worry about getting the car unlocked.
I left from Copper Harbor on the Isle Royale Queen IV. The ferry ride out was smooth, there were almost no swell or waves to speak of. Three hours after leaving, we were pulling into Rock Harbor. After disembarking, the rangers gathered everyone around and gave a little presentation on "Leave No Trace" camping, answered and few questions and then let groups register. When you register, you give them your estimated itinerary but if you deviate from the itinerary you gave them, you simply correct it when you turn it back into the ranger station when you check back in.
I was one of the last people to leave Rock Harbor to head to my first camp. Originally I was hoping to make it to Daisy Farm, but I met up with Eric and Taylor, two guys who I sat with on the ferry ride, and when we reached Three Mile Camp, and no one else was there, we decided to make camp. It was only 2 pm, but I was over burdened with camera gear, and the three miles of trail from Rock Harbor to Three Mile Camp is very rocky and tiresome. But since there was still a lot of daylight, I decided to hike up to Mount Franklin, which was approximately 2.5 miles each way. On the way up I saw a moose antler laying on the side of the trail and many small trees that had been racked by a bull moose's antlers. The view from the top was nice, but I didn't take any pictures since the day was overcast, but I could see Canada from the top.
Here is the moose antler that was laying on the side of the trail. It looks like its been there for some time, and it will probably be there for a few more years if no one trys to take it.
At Three Mile Camp, I had taken a shelter for the night, but in hindsight I would have preferred sleeping in my tent since the shelters are a bit colder, and the wind just blew right into the shelter. Probably, when its warmer and there are more bugs, the shelters may be preferable, but at this time, the tempertures during the day were probably in the mid 60's with a chilly wind off the water, and at night I am sure it dipped into the low 40's. So, in the shelter, that cold wind blew right in since the front of the shelters is just like a big screen door.
Again, not many pictures since the days were over cast and the lighting was crummy. It wasn't until the Wednesday and Thursday that I really started to take pictures since the sun came out.
Continued on next post...
Matthew Eddy
Photographer
www.oil-rigs.net
