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TRIP REPORT (PART # 3 of 3). This was an Isle Royale canoe trip with my former college roommate (Joel). It was his 2nd trip to Isle Royale. My 18th trip. It was the first Isle Royale canoe trip for both of us. Part # 2 of the trip report ended with us preparing to depart from Daisy Farm on the morning of August 19th. THE PLAN was for us to paddle to Tookers Island and spend the night there and paddle the short distance to Rock Harbor the morning of August 20th and depart August 21st on the Voyager. Overall, the weather and skies were fine when we departed Daisy Farm on the morning of August 19th--but later, banks of fog rolled in (and rolled out)-- some of the fog was very thick. When we got in the general area of Three Mile Campground and "Suzy's Cave--the fog was particularly thick. One moment, we could see across the waters of Rock Harbor and look at Tookers Island. The next minute, the fog was too thick to see the Tookers Island. We pulled over onto shore to assess our situation and double check our maps and GPS. (We were on the Rock Harbor Trail side of the harbor--and Tookers Island was across the harbor. In the moments when the view was clear, we could see that NPS boats and private vessels were going up and down the harbor ... some at a good rate of speed and creating fairly good sized wakes. (Other times, we could only hear the boats--but not see them -- due to the fog). We ultimately decided that the fog, boats, and wakes created somewhat unsafe conditions to cross the harbor. If we couldn't see "big" boats and an entire island in the fog--how could boats see a small, low-riding, canoe (and avoid a collision)? Thus, we decided to press on to Rock Harbor (sticking near the Rock Harbor Trail side of the harbor--out of the lane of water traffic). Visibility continued to ebb back and forth between "O.K." and poor as we paddled toward Rock Harbor. One moment, you could identify Rock Harbor and even some of the boats docked there (like the Queen IV) off in the distance. The next moment, all of Rock Harbor could not be seen. (We even pulled out the GPS a couple of times to tell us our location in the thick fog). We finally landed safe and secure in Rock Harbor. We asked the ranger at the Welcome Center--if--in light of the fog keeping us from getting to Tookers Island, wild fires blocking part of the Tobin Harbor Trail, and the algae blooms impacting our earlier inland routes--could we perhaps stay TWO nights at Rock Harbor (instead of the posted one-night stay limit at Rock Harbor)--now that we were finally there and safely out of the fog. (The answer was a firm "No". Thus, our choices were to paddle, or hike, to Three Mile (via the Rock Harbor Trail) or portage and paddle to some of the watercraft campgrounds in Tobin Harbor or in Duncan Bay. We decided to ponder our decision over some burgers at the Greenstone Grill. We had met a nice family during our journey. We ran into them again at Rock Harbor. They heard of our "plight. They said they were leaving Rock Harbor late the next day. They said when we returned to Rock Harbor the next day, we could meet up with them and take over "their" shelter after they left. In the meantime, they also agreed to let us keep some of our gear in their shelter to lighten our load as we portaged over the hill to Duncan Bay. (THANK YOU!) We portaged from Rock Harbor over to the seaplane dock on Tobin Harbor. We paddled across Tobin Harbor and portaged over the hill to Duncan Bay. We paddled to the Duncan Bay campground and secured one of the two shelters. The other shelter had fishermen who returned later in the evening and offered us some of the fresh trout that they had just caught and were cooking up. (Thanks!). We spent a wonderful and peaceful afternoon, night, and part of the next morning, in the solitude of Duncan Bay. Other than the "often absent" fishermen, we were all alone at Duncan Bay Campground. In mid-morning, we reversed the previous day's canoe and portage route back to Rock Harbor. We met up with our new found friends. When they left their shelter, we placed our tag on it. We spent the rest of the day exploring Rock Harbor. We hiked out to Scoville Point and back. We had a pizza at the Greenstone Grill. We sorted and packed our gear for the trip home. The morning of August 21st, we boarded the Voyager II (with our gear and canoe). We spent the day sailing down the southern shore of Isle Royale to Windigo and then back across Lake Superior to Grand Portage. (An electronic device had been left plugged in inside of our vehicle and the vehicle battery was drained during our week on the Island--so we had to jump start the car before departing Grand Portage). For what it is worth, this was the only trip where I never saw any moose. I heard them--but never saw them. I spent the night of August 21st at the home of my former college roommate and Isle Royale canoe partner...and drove home to West Central Illinois on August 22nd.
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TRIP REPORT. PART # 2. This was a canoe trip with my former college roommate (Joel) from August 14-21, 2022. As noted in Part # 1 of the trip report, we had spent the night of August 16th at the Lake Richie Canoe Campground. Our PLAN for August 17th was to paddle across part of Lake Richie--portage to Intermediate Lake ---paddle across Intermediate Lake to the portage to Siskiwit Lake --then paddle a long distance on Siskiwit Lake to the portage for Malone Bay and spend the night at Malone Bay. However, (as I shared in a separate post) we found the portage from Lake Richie to Intermediate Lake "blocked". Thus, our plans changed. After failing to use the "blocked" portage to Intermediate Lake, we eventually paddled the other direction on Lake Richie and got out at the portage near the "regular" Lake Richie Campground--and portaged approximately 2.1 miles to Moskey Basin. On August 17th, we only portaged the canoe roughly 0.5 miles of he 2.1 mile portage. We then continued on to Moskey Basin with just our packs and spent the night there. We would go back the next morning for the canoe. (Why be in such a rush to carry everything all at once?). The shelters and individual tent sites at Moskey Basin were all full. Thus, we went to the overflow area in the group site. There were 12 of us who camped there by the end of the night. (Five different parties, in six tents and one hammock --with a tarp). We enjoyed people's company and took the time to relax a bit. It rained overnight. The next morning (August 18th), we went back to pick up the canoe. We brought it to Moskey Basin. We broke camp and easily canoed to Daisy Farm in approximately 50 minutes. We stopped to take a break at Daisy Farm. As we took our break, dark clouds approached and there was some rain. There was a forecast for possible thunderstorms. So, we decided to stay in a shelter at Daisy Farm the night of August 18th. Later in the day, the weather cleared. So we paddled across from Daisy Farm to the Edison Fishery and Rock Harbor Lighthouse. John Buckley (one of the summer caretakers there), invited us ashore. We took photos of the fishery and visited the lighthouse. Candy Peterson also showed up at the fishery and invited us to paddle next door and visit the "Moos-eum". Joel and I met both Rolf and Candy Peterson. They took turns showing us the "Moos-eum". (Rolf was busy in their cabin working on research project tasks and left most of the hospitality work to Candy). They talked to us about the Wolf-Moose project and other things. We then paddled back to Daisy Farm. We spend the night of August 18th at Daisy Farm. I got up early to watch (and photograph) the sunrise. Later in the morning of August 19th, we continued our paddling and portaging journey. (To be continued in a day or so with Part # 3). TRIP REPORT (PART # 1). This was my 18th trip to Isle Royale. It was a canoe trip with my college roommate from 40 years ago. It was his second trip to Isle Royale. It was our first canoe trip on the Island. On August 15th, we traveled from Grand Portage, MN to Windigo to McCargoe Cove (all via the Voyager II). Our canoe was transported on the Voyager. We spent the night at McCargoe Cove at Tent Site #1. The next day (August 16th), we portaged the canoe from McCargoe Cove to Lake Chickenbone. Canoed across Chickenbone. Portaged to Lake Livermore. Paddled across Lake Livermore to Lake LaSage. Paddled across Lake LaSage. Portaged to Lake Richie. Spent the night of August 16th at the Lake Richie Canoe Campground. We had it all to ourselves. THINGS TO NOTE: When we stepped off the Voyager at McCargoe Cove, Park staff reminded us of the confirmed blue-green algae bloom at Lake Richie and informed us of a SUSPECTED blue-green algae bloom at Lake Chickenbone. (Thank you Triggs!). Thus, both lakes were off limits as a source of drinking water. We spent the first night at McCargoe Cove because it was already early afternoon when we arrived at McCargoe Cove and we wanted to stay at McCargoe and enjoy it. After dinner, my trip partner (Joel) portaged the canoe to the junction where the trails to East/West Chickenbone and McCargoe Cove all meet. Thus, the canoe would already be portaged almost halfway to Lake Chickenbone. The next morning, we broke camp at McCargoe Cove, carried our packs to the above mentioned junction--then portaged the packs and canoe the rest of the way to Lake Chickenbone. The water at Chickenbone was gross. Algae and "gunk" were everywhere--even in the middle of the lake. On the the map--the portage between Chickenbone Lake and Lake Livermore is shown as a very short and straight 0.2 mile portage. In reality, the last part of the short, straight, portage (as it appears on the map) is covered with logs and fallen trees and is no longer the portage. The actual portage is probably closer to 0.5 miles (or longer) in length and has a couple of hills and turns. The water in Lake Livermore looked fine--as did the water in Lake LaSage. However, both ends of the portage at Lake LaSage (entering near Lake Livermore and exiting near Lake Richie) had lots of weeds and silt. This was especially true on the side of Lake LaSage closest to Lake Richie. I picked up some leeches on my feet and legs while wading in that "mucky" shoreline while landing and unloading the canoe at Lake LaSage. Thus, we opted to go back out into Lake LaSage with the canoe and draw our drinking water where there were less weeds, silt, and leeches. The water out there was clear and fine (and I didn't have to wade in "muck", silt, and various plant life). Once we entered Lake Richie, we paddled a short distance to the canoe campground at Lake Richie. We had it all to ourselves that night. (August 16th). (This trip report will be continued in a day or two--with "Part # 2") |
AuthorJon Prain ("The Isle Royale Guy"). I have been to Isle Royale 18 times. Archives
August 2022
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