NP#56 - Isle Royale National Park

www.trektheparks.com

Our 56th park visit along our quest to trek about all 59 

of our country's major national parks. 

August 17th - Sunset at Copper Harbor, MI the evening before departing for Isle Royale National Park - our 56th park visit!

 Sunrise from atop Brockway Drive.

 August 18th - Rock Harbor location map!

Isle Royale Queen IV - the transport vessel from Copper Harbor to Isle Royale.

 Shoreline along Rock Harbor on our hike out to Scoville Point. 

 Driftwood along the coastal waterway.

 Terry's one happy trekker! 

 Intriguing coastline as we hike to the tip of Scoville Point.

 Almost out of real estate as Terry makes her way to the Point. 

 Enjoying the sunshine at Scoville Point. A 4.2 mile round trip loop from Rock Harbor most to the end of the trail. 

 Typical Isle Royale coastline.

 Lovely sunset - August 18, 2016

 August 19 - Trekking to the top of Mt. Franklin - a 10-mile hike. 

 Kayakers paddling Rock Harbor.

 Avoiding the swampy grounds. 

 Terry checks out Suzy's Cave.

 A smooch atop Mt. Franklin!

 Time for lunch!

Lily pond but no moose! 

We heard them in the woods but they did not present themselves to us!

 More lilies on the pond! (Lake Ojibway)

 August 20th - Edisen Fishery and Rock Harbor Lighthouse Tour. 

A view of the fishery as we are about to dock. 

 Rock Harbor Lighthouse. 

 Fishery NET house.

 Terry inside the Nut hou....er Net House!

 Makeshift buoys. 

About a half mile west of the Fishery you'll find the basecamp for the longest continuous study of a predator/prey relationship - the moose and wolves of Isle Royale. Pictured above is the wolf bone yard. Below, the moose bone yard. 

NP#56 – Isle Royale National Park

Aug 2016- Getting there! Isle Royale is located in Michigan. Actually, it’s located in Lake Superior much closer to Canada and Minnesota than it is to Michigan; however, somewhere along the way, the powers-to-be decided this island was a part of The Wolverine State!

For our visit to our 56^th park, Terry has scheduled us to fly into Minneapolis-St. Paul via American Airlines. We’ll be going “standby.” Not my favorite mode of transportation; however, we had no problem getting a seat. 

We land at MSP (code for the airport) around 8:30pm.  MSP is a very large airport with a pretty decent hike to the rental car depot. We pick up our Jeep and attempt to navigate out of the airport. That takes us two tries as the little lady inside my phone who is giving me directions steers me back around into short-term parking!

Once we escape the confines of MSP, we're on our way to the Hampster  (Hampton Inn) in Chippawa Falls. By the time we reach Chippawa, all local restaurants have closed up shop. Dinner this evening consists of microwave Veggie Lasagna and nasty cheap bottle of Merlot we bought from the night shift guy at the Hampster.

8/17- The next leg of our trek takes us from Chippawa Falls to Copper Harbor where we'll be staying the night at the Keweenaw Mountain Lodge. Today’s drive to Michigan’s UP (Upper Peninsula) will take us about 6 hours. Like Isle Royale, I’m not sure how the UP became part of MI since this landmass is connected to WI!

Along the route, we stop at the Isle Royale Visitor Center in Houghton, MI to get our park pin...just in case the Visitor Center on the island doesn't have them. On our drive to Copper Harbor, the northernmost point of the UP, we pass through the tiny town of Phoenix! A tad smaller and a whole lot greener than home!

The Keweenaw Mountain Lodge sits up on a hill about a mile south of the dock we will be departing from. We are assigned Rm #29- a motel unit that will do the job of housing us for the night. Dinner at the Lodge is surprisingly good! We/I had a decent Pinot to go along with my Veggie Lasagna. Yep Veggie Lasagna two nights in a row!

At dinner, I discover that I had misunderstood our departure time returning from Isle Royale on Sunday. I thought Terry had told me we would be leaving the Island at 8 am, which would get us back to the mainland at around 11:30am. Upon returning to Copper Harbor, we would then make a 6-hour drive to Superior, WI before heading up to Voyageurs. When I found out we would not be departing Isle Royale until 2:30 pm (arriving Copper Harbor at approx. 6pm), I suggested we change or hotel reservation from Superior, WI to the much closer Holiday Inn in Houghton, MI.

That proved to be easier said than done! We soon discover that there is little to no cell service in Copper Harbor and AT&T took out the pay phones years ago. The desk clerk at the Lodge suggested we drive to the top of the nearby mountain where cell service can "sometimes be available!"

After dinner, we hop into the Jeepster and make our way up Brockway Mountain Drive in search of cell service.  “I’ve got one bar,” Terry exclaims as we approach the summit of the mountain. She dials the Holiday Inn and remarkably gets connected to a reservationist….for about 30 seconds. The connection is lost before she’s able to finish changing our reservation!

“We need to get higher,” she pleads….so off we go to the far reaches of Brockway Mtn Drive. “I’ve got another bar!” Terry cries out. I stop the car and she dials the Holiday Inn once again. Success! She gets through and is able to change our reservation. This will prove to be a huge blessing four days from now.

With nothing better to do, we head down the mountain to the coastline and find a spot to photograph the sunset. The skies here in Copper Harbor are beautiful! After a productive photo shoot, we discover a small shop that sells very tasty ice cream. We check out where we will be departing tomorrow...then off to bed!

8/18- We’re up at the crack of dawn (6am) to catch the sunrise.  Another very productive photo op atop Brockway Mountain! At 6:40a, we find a diner open and enjoy a decent breakfast. At 7:10, we drive about 200 yards to the parking lot where we'll pay 30 scoots to park our rental car before boarding the Isle Royale Queen IV, which is the vessel that will transport us to Isle Royale.

Today, Lake Superior is "flat." Barely a hint of breeze as the crew loads a dozen kayaks, all the luggage and finally the 80 or so passengers they will be shuttling from Copper Harbor to Isle Royale. As we will discover upon our return trip, the lake can get a bit surly!

There are several transportation options when visiting Isle Royale and driving there isn't one of them. You can depart from Houghton, MI on the National Park Service vessel, which will take about 6 hours to get to the island. You could opt to depart from Grand Portage, MN on a boat that takes about 8 hours to get you to port. You could opt to take a floatplane that will cost you about 300 scoots...and  get you to the island in a half hour. Or you could do as we did and take the 3 1/2 hour cruise on the Isle Royale Queen IV,  which departs from Copper Harbor.

Once on the island, you will find no roads, cars or trucks. Just footpaths and waterways that will allow you to experience this wilderness park in solitude.

After our island orientation, we got checked into our housekeeping unit #220. We had a mediocre lunch before taking the 4.2-mile Loop hike out to Scoville Point. We highly recommend this hike if you visit Isle Royale. The first half of the trail takes you along the rugged and rocky coastline and then out to the tip of the peninsula. This section of the trail is called the Stoll Trail, named after William Stoll, who was very instrumental in getting this hunk of rock set aside as a national park. 

The return portion of the loop takes you back to the lodge adjacent to Tobin Harbor. Rather than suffer through another mediocre meal at the lodge restaurants, we opt to buy brats, rice and a bottle of Ravenwood Zinfindel. Good vino! Terry even had a glass!

After dinner we listened to the Ranger's presentation about how she has connected to the island. Terry fell asleep as the ranger muddled through her slide show featuring none other than…herself! Terry mentioned that they should require all rangers to attend a presentation skills class before attempting public speaking engagements! 

After the show, we wandered out to the dock to take some sunset pix.

8/19 - Slept in this morning. Today, we are off on a 10-mile hike to the highest point on the island - Mt. Franklin. At an elevation of only 1080', I'm not sure Ben Franklin's namesake actually qualifies as a mountain. Nevertheless, we begin our trek a little after 10 o'clock. The first 2 miles of the trail take you along the coastal Rock Harbor Trail. From there, we hiked up to Suzy's Cave (see picture) before joining the western section of the Tobin Trail.

Just before heading up the trail to the mountaintop, we heard a moose bugling. Shortly thereafter, we ran into an older couple that had just encountered a Momma moose and her calf. The two beasts apparently stood directly in their path, so the geezers chose to head back to camp. I asked where the moose were in proximity to us and the gentlewoman said “about 200 yards ahead off to the left!”

We chose to continue on in hopes of catching a glimpse of these majestic mammals. The geezers must have frightened the moose as momma and child had moved on by the time we had hiked to their said location.

About a half-mile from the summit, we wandered by what I called the Lily Pond. Along this trail I learned about Thimbleberries...a reddish-pink berry that were in full bloom. Tasty little morsels, I must have picked a hundred of them as we climbed and descended the mountain.

The night before, we ordered a couple of wraps from the restaurant that we intended on eating for lunch at the top of the mountain. Like most of the food prepared by the Forever Resorts staff, the wraps were barely eatable. Good thing we’d packed other goodies to munch on. In particular, the Chocolate Brownie Cliff Bars were the best!

The hike to the top of Mt Franklin proved to be the highlight of the day. For dinner we chose to experience the Greenstone Grill. Much to our surprise, the Greek Pizza we ordered was actually very good...as were the two beers I enjoyed! Plenty of pizza...enough for leftovers for tomorrow's tour of The Rock Harbor Lighthouse and the Fish Camp.

8/20 - Slept in again! Got outta our Jammie's around 7:10. Skies are cloudy this morning. Forecast predicting showers later in the day. We pack our rain gear "just in case." First order of business...breakfast! Yesterday, when I went to get a cup of coffee and pick up our soggy wraps, the Greenstone Grill was empty. Today it's packed! We get the last table!

Today we're scheduled to take the Edison Fishery/Rock Harbor Lighthouse Tour. This is a four-hour trip from Rock Harbor to the island's first lighthouse and one of its first fish camps. When we checked into the Lodge on Wednesday, we asked the desk clerk to sign us up for the Lighthouse tour. She told us "no need to sign up today. These tours never sell out. Just sign up on Saturday morning. There will be plenty of seats."

T'was a good thing I insisted signing up the night before as the staff overbooked the trip! With a boatload full of people, the Sandy chugs across Rock Harbor to our destination. We are greeted by one of the park’s VIP's (Volunteers-In-Parks) who gives us a brief history of the Edison Fish Camp. She then sends us on our way to the lighthouse, which is about a quarter mile down the path and recommends we also visit the base camp for the 50 year+ study of the relationship between the wolves and moose on Isle Royale.   

Inside the lighthouse, we learn about the 15 ships that have sunk off the waters around Isle Royale.  As I mentioned earlier, Lake Superior isn’t always calm like it was on our passage from Copper Harbor to Isle Royale. Gordon Lightfoot’s classic song, The Wreck of the Edmond Fitzgerald exemplifies just how nasty Lake Superior can become!

After enjoying the lighthouse, we explored the various buildings of the fishery before wandering down to the site of the world's longest study of Moose-Wolf predator/prey relationships. These people have spent the past several decades studying the dynamics of moose and wolf on Isle Royale. Sadly, we learn that only 2 wolves remain on the island. At one point, there were 50. 

With the wolf population down to next to nothing, the moose population has grown to over 1300. It’s come down to a tough decision: Does the Park Service repopulate the island with new wolves or allow them to go extinct on this isolated landscape? During an evening lecture by the local Park Ranger, we learn that the NPS has been conducting surveys and studies as to what should be done about the situation.  At this time, there are four possible solutions to the problem.

One option is to do nothing and let nature take its course. Another option is to reintroduce a new set of wolves like they did in Yellowstone a few years ago and then let nature take its course. A third option is to reintroduce a small number of wolves periodically over a series of years. The fourth option discussed is to reduce the moose population so they don’t destroy the park’s ecosystem without reintroducing wolves. There are arguments in favor of each of these options. Meanwhile, the two remaining wolves may struggle to survive the upcoming winter.

Rain begins to fall as we depart the wolf/moose study camp. Back to the Sandy (the name of the boat used for this tour) to secure a seat under shelter. A handful of folks will ride back in the rain!

Upon our return to terra firma, we stop by the General Store and pick up a bottle of Ravenswood Zinfandel and a $7.25 box of Triscuits. We play our favorite card game and watch the rain gently soak the landscape. Rain! Soft, gentle rain. Unlike the brief and violent downpours we get in Phoenix.

We didn't see any moose or wolves on this trip. However, as we dined at the Lodge’s main restaurant, we did spot a red fox running about the grounds with his dinner hanging from his mouth.

8/21 - Slept in again! We awoke to scattered clouds. No rain today. After breakfast, we mosey down to the Ranger Station only to find out that the Isle Royale Queen IV will be several hours late due to  high seas and strong winds stirred up by last nights storm. 

To kill time, we take a leisurely 2-mile stroll along the Scoville/Stoll trail. Upon our return, we noodle around the Visitor Lounge. Terry discovers this area has Wi-Fi and finds a message from Barb, our Dogsitter who is caring for CharlieDog while we are away. Terry lets out a cry of anguish as she learns that C-Dawg has died!

Sadness cast a dark shadow over us as we mourn the loss of our good friend and companion C-Dawg! He had a good, long life and will be missed by many. 

Our 2:30 departure time actually ended up being 6:15. We won't be back to Copper Harbor until 10 pm. Good thing we switched our hotel ressie from the Holiday Inn in Superior, WI to the Holiday Inn in Houghton! It saved us a 5-hour drive on dark and windy roads. 

The winds had died down and the seas have calmed a bit. Nonetheless, the boat ride back to the mainland proved to be somber as we both reflected on the good times we had with our shaggy canine, CharlieDog.

Random thoughts regarding: Isle Royale:

Isle Royale is pronounced with a silent "e" as in Isle Royal. I refuse to call it anything but Royale!

There are two ways to get to Isle Royale: (1) via boat, (2) via floatplane. If Lake Superior is feeling ornery, you might want to consider the floatplane option. It will cost you $170 more; however, you will save yourself a minimum of 6 hours travel time plus the hassle of waiting for the crew to load and unload dozens of kayaks and canoes!

 We were expecting bugs and humidity during our visit to the Isle. Not so much! It did rain; however, the bugs never really bugged us. Apparently, the bugs take time off in mid to late August.

If staying in a housekeeping unit at Rock Harbor, plan on bringing your own food. Ignore the ship's 70 lb. max luggage restriction. We saw people load hundreds of pounds of gear including large coolers filled with food.  The two restaurants are decent, yet the housekeeping units are equipped with most everything you’d need to cook up your own meals!

Best Housekeeping unit appears to be #201. Looks like they have a view of Tobin Harbor.

Trivia!

While reading the Keweenaw Traveler Newspaper at the Lodge,  I came across an article about the origin of the saying "What the Sam Hill!" According to the legend, Sam Hill was a mining company agent during the Keweenaw copper mining boom in the 1850's. He was also a very proficient user of profanity! In fact, so colorful was his use foul language, he became famous for it! Sam Hill  became a synonym for profanity! 

When respectable people were about to blurt out an expletive, they substituted Sam's name instead. Those involved in the conversation instantly understood what that meant!