Make New Friends. Stay in Touch.

Isle Royale can be a great place to meet new friends. Consider staying in touch with some of the people that you meet.

I have meet some pretty wonderful people on Isle Royale. Some have become good friends (of a decade or longer). Some are just folks that I bump into again and again whenever we are both on Isle Royale at the same time each year for our annual trips (and that is really the only time that we communicate). There are some people with whom I stay in touch via things like Facebook. Other people were just "friends" for the few hours (or few days) when our lives intersected at Isle Royale. Whether our connection has been for just a few hours--or for several years -- many of my Isle Royale human interactions have been among some of the best relationships of my life.

When you visit Isle Royale, I would invite you to perhaps take the time to meet some great people and (if you deem it safe to do so) maybe exchange contact information and try to stay in touch.

SITUATIONS TEND TO NUDGE YOU TOWARD INTERACTION

I am, by nature, an introvert and a loner. I spend most of my professional life having to interact with people all of the time. Thus, during my time off from work, I really appreciate having time alone  -- and not being bothered. Yet, there is just something about the Isle Royale experience that tends to gently nudge complete strangers into interacting with one another and having conversations.

On the ferries, you will spend between two to six hours never being any farther than 30 to 160 feet away from all of your fellow passengers (and the crew members). And, as people who are traveling to and from the same place--(with little else to do for the next 2-6 hours) people on the ferries will oftentimes start to chat with each other.

On the Island itself, you will encounter people on the trail and/or in campgrounds, and you will start to ask each other about things like trail conditions and water sources. You may see that they have a unique article of clothing (or a special piece of gear) that strikes your curiosity and you may begin to talk about such  things.  You may have some shared experiences while on the Island (like surviving a torrential rainstorm or waiting for the arrival of long-delayed transportation). Such shared experiences can get complete strangers talking to each other.  Sometimes, you might be engaged in a common activity (like sitting around a communal campfire or sitting at the same dock or same shoreline filtering water at the same time).  All of these things have a way of gently (and usually--comfortably) nudging people into discussions.

These initial discussions are usually centered around Isle Royale sorts of things (itineraries, trip plans, gear, weather, trail or campground conditions, people's past experiences at Isle Royale, etc).  However, the discussions eventually begin to drift toward other (non-Isle Royale) subjects. And, before long, you discover that your Grandma Sally used to play cards with the other person's great-aunt Maggie at a senior center in Miami, Florida back in the 1990s.  (I am exaggerating things a bit---but not too much).

There Is Something Different About Isle Royale People

When they are at Isle Royale (or when they are en route to/from the Island) most Isle Royale visitors behave "differently" than visitors at many other National Parks. In part, I think this is because of all of the effort (and planning) that it takes simply to get to/from Isle Royale.  Even if you are "just" staying at the Lodge or cabins, you will have already had to put forth some special effort in coordinating ferry (or seaplane) schedules (and lodging schedules) in order to simply get to and from the Island. This creates a common experience for Isle Royale visitors and creates the beginnings of a sense of community among people who visit Isle Royale. 

Isle Royale is also one of the few National Parks that is typically reached only by commercial boats or planes. Thus, people tend to travel to/from the Island---together---with strangers (and not in their private vehicles). From the very moment that you arrive at the ferry or seaplane, and prepare to depart the mainland, there is a communal (or group) aspect to the Isle Royale experience.

Isle Royale is "the most re-visisted National Park". Because of this, you also tend to have Isle Royale visitors who run into the same staff people, the same transportation crew members, (and, sometimes, the same fellow visitors) again --- and again. This repetitive contact with the same people also adds to the sense of "community" among Isle Royale visitors.

The remoteness of this National Park (and the fact that it is a series of islands) can add a special twist to the Isle Royale experience.  A person might set their entire backpack down at a trail junction and wander off to go exploring or go somewhere to get a refill on water.  When they get back, their pack is still there (as are all of the pack contents).  How many other places on this planet can you feel safe leaving hundreds (or even thousands) of dollars worth of equipment completely unattended? This makes Isle Royale somewhat unique.

Last year, a friend and I went canoeing on Isle Royale.  We would occasionally set the canoe down and leave it unattended overnight--even along a trail or at a portage--and no one would disturb it.  As some people like to  point out, most individuals are already "struggling" enough just to carry their own  pack and belongings.  Thus, they aren't going to pick up your pack -- or pick up your canoe -- and try to carry it also!. Plus, it is an Island--with limited access points. Where are you going to go (and stay undetected) with a bunch of stolen stuff?

There is such a spirit of cooperation and kindness among many Isle Royale visitors. I have seen people (who have been fishing) cook fish and share it with other people.  One couple invited me to share the big (multi-"course") breakfast that they were cooking.  Relative strangers have been known to share things like stoves and water filters if someone's breaks. People have shared first aid supplies with each other. I  have had people say to me, "Hey, we already have our water filter out. Hand me your water bottles and let me filter you a couple of quarts of water". The acts of kindness (that I have witnessed and experienced on Isle Royale) are too many to list or count.

For many people, Isle Royale Isn't just a bunch of complete strangers visiting a National Park. It really is an actual community of people (new and experienced) who are enjoying the same place ... together.

The Photo At The Top of This Blog

I could have placed many possible photos with this blog ... showing many of the people that I have met on Isle Royale.  However, I chose this particular one in order to help me tell a couple of stories. The young man (on the right) is Jake.  In 2010, I met Jake (and his friend Chad) on Isle Royale. (I met other people on that trip too--but I will focus  primarily on Jake and Chad for this blog).

Chad, Jake, and I met on the ferry to Isle Royale and chatted briefly. We met again at Feldtmann Lake and there was overcrowding at the campground. Thus, I asked them if I could share their tent site--and they agreed to share with me.  Another person (a young woman) also arrived later and shared the tent site with us. After supper, we all took a hike together (as complete strangers)--to check out Rainbow Cove. We chatted as we watched the sun go down at Rainbow Cove and as the moon came up. We chose to hike back to camp--not using our flashlights.  Thus, this group of strangers had a moonlit walk (together) back to camp.

Over the years, on other isle Royale trips, I ran into Jake and Chad (and I even encountered the young woman who had shared the tent site with us at Feldtmann Lake). My daughter and I did a day trip to the Island in 2013. Even though we were on the Island for only a few hours, we happened to bump into Chad and Jake (and some of their friends) at the Windigo dock. We also went back to the mainland on the same ferry with their party.  At the Windigo dock (on  that day), Chad had just proposed marriage to a woman that he had met on Isle Royale in 2011. (They met at the Windigo dock in 2011). I am a pastor. In 2018, they asked me to officiate at their wedding (on the Windigo dock).  We (and their families) even shared a rental house in Grand Marais immediately after the wedding.  (As a side note, the young woman, who had shared the campsite with us at Feldtmann Lake in 2010 and who had hiked to Rainbow Cove with us--was boarding the ferry to LEAVE Isle Royale--as Chad and his fiance were getting OFF of the same ferry to begin their wedding weekend on the Island. She and I stay in touch via Facebook).  Chad and his wife now have a baby.  Chad, and his wife, have invited me to a couple of big cookouts that they have hosted at their home in Minnesota ... but distance and schedule conflicts have kept me from attending.

Jake also got married (but not at Isle Royale). He and his wife contacted me (in 2016) and asked me if I wanted to hike the Minong Ridge Trail with them. (Note:  I am more than 25 years older than they are. Yet, they reached out to this old geezer and asked me to hike with them). We did that trip in July 2016. In 2019, Jake (and his wife) contacted me and asked me if I wanted to join them (and the wife's father) as they hiked the Feldtmann Loop (and we also spent a night at South Lake Desor).  I agreed to go on the trip.  After the trip, we all shared a huge hotel suite in Grand Marais. The photo (at the top of this blog) is all of us posing at the Windigo sign just prior to boarding the ferry back to the mainland on that 2019 trip

In 2020, Jake met me in Grand Marais (after my Isle Royale trip) and we shared a hotel room for a couple of nights and we spent a couple of days exploring the Superior Hiking Trail and doing "creek walking" in some of the creeks in the greater Grand Marais and Grand Portage areas.  Jake and his wife now have two children. I have a standing invitation to come to Minnesota and use their cabin at any time.

All of this, just from sharing a tent site at an overcrowded Feltmann Lake Campground in 2010.

FINAL THOUGHTS

While the (ongoing) "Jake and Chad" story (of the past 13 years) is probably my most significant Isle Royale relationship, there are various other Isle Royale people with whom I stay in regular contact. I am "friends" on Facebook with some Isle Royale folks.   I stay in contact with other Isle Royale people through Isle Royale Facebook groups and/or when we run into each other on the island. Some of us have each other's email addresses or phone numbers and we communicate in that way.  When we get in contact with each other, we sometimes chat about Isle Royale things. At other times,  we just chat about life in general and what is going on in our own lives.  There have been some joys and sorrows to share -- weddings, babies, retirements, job changes, illnesses and deaths in our families--and even illnesses and deaths among us.

Take some time getting to know some of the people that you meet while on Isle Royale (and maybe even exchange contact information--if you feel that it is safe to do so).  You never know where a brief (initial) encounter on Isle Royale might lead.