Trip Reports 2002-Melissa Mettner

Isle Royale National Park

2002 Trip Reports

Isle Royale Trip Report
June 28 - July 5, 2002
Written by Rufus

Well, my party and I had a great trip to the Island! Here's a brief overview:

June 28th - Flew successfully to Thunder Bay by way of Toronto. Cabby in T-Bay was nice enough to take us to a place called "Canadian Tire," which is really a department store so that we could see about canister fuel for our stoves. No luck finding MSR IsoPro. The Happy Times Tour bus departed on time to Grand Portage with plenty of space for our gear. No problem with border crossing. Quick 1 hour ride. Best part is that it was free! Dinner at GP Lodge & Casino was good, and my buddy hit enough on slots to cover the cost of dinner!

June 29th - Quick 15 minute hike to GPIR dock. Rolled my ankle a bit on the gravel driveway! Lucky it wasn't worse or it could have ruined my trip early on! Wenonah departs in heavy fog for ISRO after a brief talk by a rep from the GP Monument about John Beargrease (all sponsored by Ford). The Island appeared out of the mist much like Napier Shelton's description at the beginning of his book. Thanks to Capt. Milton Johnson and deckhands Monica and Tom for a great trip both ways. At Windigo, got the Leave No Trace talk from Ranger Valerie, who was also kind enough the week before to call me back in NJ and let me know what kind of canister fuel was sold at the Windigo store (CampinGaz pierceable and self-sealing poppet style canisters).
After a brief test, my MSR SuperFly works with the CG fuel! My buddy's MSR PocketRocket didn't, but one stove was fine. Warm food for the rest of the trip (even if fuel was expensive with 34% surcharge). Camped out at a shelter at Washington Creek. No luck fishing, went up to Huginnin Cove instead. Saw first moose, a young bull browsing in a swamp. Long walk, but beautiful sunset. Oh boy, the bugs are starting...

June 30th - Left early for Feldtmann, used last chance water and facilities at Windigo. Beautiful hike, nice views. Saw second Moose (big bull browsing). Got to Feldtman and went swimming with the leeches. Cold water (I won't know what cold really is until I get to Siskiwit). Watch out for the fox, he stole some other camper's sock! Mother and calf moose come browsing in the morning and evenings on the beach. Really neat, but got a little scary when they were within 30 feet of us during dinner one night, with the calf being the closest... Bugs getting worse. Still no fish.

July 1st - Stayed at Feldtman for the day, went up to Rainbow Cove. Quick walk. My buddy went swimming in the 38 degree water, dumbass (wait till I get to Siskiwit). Lot of rocks to skip. Still no luck fishing back at Feldtman. Watch out for the fox and red squirrels. Moose are back. I'm starting to feed the mosquitos.

July 2nd - Left early for Siskiwit. More beautiful views, especially from atop the ranger tower. Got to Siskiwit in 5 hr 30 min. Went swimming in the bay. Cold. Very cold. So cold it burned. Better than being sticky and stinky. Still feeding the mosquitos, even worse now. I hate them. No luck fishing in the creeks. Finally, a fire ring! Stayed up late around the fire. Watch the best view of the stars yet, saw many satellites, shooting stars, and a weird blue-green flashing to the south. Distant lighting storm maybe? Damn bugs. My fear of the biological harm of DEET is slowly being suspended in lieu of a hatred of the bugs...time to spray.

July 3rd - Left late for Island Mine, after lunch. Went swimming again in the morning. Frigid. Only lasted 5 minutes. A short hike to Island Mine, only 4.4 miles...oh wait...it's mostly uphill. Anyway, cool views along the way, especially the abandoned well and mining equipment (some sort of steam powered device, probably a rock crusher). I give up, I'm using 95% DEET, otherwise the the bugs will eat me alive anyway.

July 4th - Got up and broke camp early (7AM). Could have slept in, though, because we made Windigo by 9:30. Oh well, plenty of time to attend to details: Long hot shower and shave at the coin-op shower. Also washed and dried clothes. Man, that felt great! Returned unused canister to the Windogo store and gave a half used canister for donation to another camper when the time comes. Bought gifts and had lunch, took pictures at the Visitor's center, etc... Waited for the Wenonah to depart at 3PM, altough we probably could have jumped on the Voyageur earlier if we had planned for it, and could have thus wound up back in GP at 2:30. Regardless, back in GP at 5:45, caught a cab back to T-Bay ($140 US with tip) and went out for a fat dinner!

July 5th - Flight home a success.

Notes:
1) The weather was beautiful. If anything, a bit warm, but I'm not complaining. Sunny and clear every day. Five minute drizzle one evening was the extent of it.

2) Bugs were bad, but not as bad as they could have been. I'm particularly attractive to them and reactive to bites too.

3) Things I brought that I didn't need: TalkAbout radios, emergency blanket, trowel (there were pit toilets everywhere), fishing gear (I tried), rain gear (although I wouldn't dream of not having it as insurance), extra flashlight batteries, fleece vest (still, insurance against a cold spell).

4) People we met at camp/trail: Couple from Michigan, young couple from Indiana, group of young dudes at Feldtman. All nice and very friendly. Also, Doug and Cody (father/son) who we met on the boat ride and again on our way out.

5) I should have asked someone on this site who was going at the same time to pick up fuel for me in advance. Would have saved me headache and money. My advice to anyone else...check the trip log on this site and don't be afraid to ask for help. People are very friendly.

Final Thoughts:
Isle Royale is great, and all the people involved in the process are friendly and helpful. Not as backcountry as I had hoped, but then again, we didn't camp off trail either. Great wildlife and a good place to be with your thoughts. 5 nights was a bit short. If I go back to this particular place, I'll do something different than the Feldtman loop, just for a change of experience. I recommed preparing adequately and reading "Isle Royale: Superior Wilderness," and "Isle Royale National Park: Waterways and Foottrails." Read the later before you go to help plan your trip. Read the former before you go to get a better appreciation of what you are seeing. Lastly, the Windigo store is good for almost anything that you might have forgotten, but it is a bit pricey when the 34% surcharge is added, so plan ahead where possible.

ISRO was great, and the memories will always be with me. There are a lot of other places that I want to camp, but I have a feeling that I'll be back there someday!