Isle Royale Trip, August 14-22, 2001
Jeff Schmieg led this week long trip to Isle Royale. Also aboard the trip were Dana Dickson, Pat Nolen, Clint Courtney, Ralph Fernandez and me, Jody Russell. We had one trip planning meeting and numerous emails to get ready for the trip. The route took us about 50 miles, along the north east tip of Isle Royale.
Isle Royale Menu
Map of Isle Royale with our destinations
See the photo gallery
Tuesday Travel North
I left my house at 5:00 a.m. It was difficult to sleep anyway. It seemed we'd been planning this trip for a long time. The trip was initially discussed in December, and August seemed so far away. When we finalized the dates of the trips and posted the signup on the web site, it filled up within a day. Six is the size limit of a non-group on Isle Royale. Since there aren't too many group sites and trip planning gets exponentially more difficult with numbers over four (over two?), we kept it to six. We immediately made ferry reservations. And then the planning really began.
Food
We wanted to do a week's worth of great eating on this trip. While some people enjoy a more minimalist culinary camping experience, some of us prefer to make wonderful meals that pack up small. With a bit of creativity, we planned dinners which were primarily made from home-dehydrated foods. Lunches and breakfasts varied a bit from the dehydrated, but frequently included dehydrated fruit and/or eggs along with pre-cooked, nonrefrigerated bacon, pancakes, tuna, sausage and cheese. We even ate chocolate fondue for dessert one night. Okay, so we didn't lose weight. Some of us even gained weight. But we stayed active and healthy, and ate wonderfully.
Grand Portage Dry Run
We drove north to Grand Portage, Minnesota. At three o'clock, the six of us met at the hotel/casino for what we called a "dry run" for the packing. Since we would be taking a ferry out to Isle Royale the next morning, we knew that there'd be no last minute ditching of gear into the car. It had to fit. We packed up our boats on the grass in front of the hotel, and then, shortly before a storm front moved in, unpacked our boats and reloaded the cars.
Fame and Amusement
The hotel was pretty busy, not particularly because of our presence, but because of marathon swimmer Jim Dryer who was busy hyping his Wednesday "launch" into Lake Superior where he was intending to swim from Grand Portage to Calumet, Michigan. The media was there and he gave lots of interviews. We spoke to him as well and he seemed a decent guy. Why he was leaving in the morning with the storm coming in is something I can't quite understand. But perhaps the wheels of his fund-raising momentum, complete with support team and media bandwagon was too much to slow down. In the morning, he ate a breakfast of Wheaties and spaghetti, or something like that, in front of the cameras. The rest of his meals in the water would be liquid packed with protein. I didn't eny him his journey, estimated to be as long as 55 hours.
The Ferry
When the captain of the ferry warned us that the lake would be rough and to please feed the fish off the back rather than use the "head," I guess it was fair enough warning. Dramamine, however, is a wonderful substance. And whether it worked or whether it was my gazing stoney-eyed off the back into the waves and the horizon in the rain and mist, I don't know. But I managed to keep myself together, as we all did. When the ferry completed the crossing to Isle Royale, and we were moving in calmer waters, we celebrated Jeff's 31st birthday with black bottom cupcakes and a bagful of goodies. The other passengers joined in in singing him happy birthday. It was pretty funny.
Belle Isle
The ferry dropped us off at Belle Isle on the north side of Isle Royale. We gathered our gear and hiked to a shelter. Six adults in a shelter is the max allowed. Perhaps it should be less! When sleeping pads and bags were set down, we were lined up like cocoons in a row, with our gear at our feet. It was tight. Our close proximity to each other made the snoring seem loud...and the floor boards of the shelter seemed way too hard...and one person's need to get up in the night turned into multiple people's needs...it was difficult to get a good night's sleep. And when morning arrived, the weather wasn't looking too good. The foul and rainy weather we'd endured on the boat persisted.
Our weather radios were helpful to some degree, but we needed to piece together a forecast from various bits of information. We would gather information from the Passage Island buoy, Houghton, Michigan, Grand Marais, the Apostles, and get a general picture of the weather. It was not accurate, but nor is it accurate when the forecast is for one's exact location! So we managed to make our best judgements given what we heard and what we experienced.
And boy, did we experience it.
Our plan was to go from Belle Isle to Merritt Lane that day, Thursday. About 9 miles. Not too much to do. Or so it would seem -- if the weather had been good. Instead, we had winds that seemed to go from about 15 mph to 25 mph. Headwinds. Waves built from 1 foot to nearly 3 feet. And we pushed onwards through it.
Near Disaster
One small note. Slightly embarrassing on my part. But a month or so prior to the trip, four of us on the trip installed battery bilge pumps. Somehow, the plug on mine became unplugged, though I didn't notice it. As we paddled off from Belle Isle, I realized that there was some water in my boat. I ignored it. Soon, I was sitting in water. I began to get very upset, thinking I was in my own private Titanic of a kayak. I didn't realize at first what was going on, worried that my boat had a major crack. When I saw that the plug was out, I was shocked, turned on the pump, and watched the water rush out. It didn't help my mood to start this day in rain and wind and be so wet.
Up the North Side
It was real slow going. We made headway, but sometimes it wasn't helpful to watch the shoreline in such slow motion. There was a certain amount of tension in the paddling, yet it was great fun. Going straight into the wind, out of the north east, made it feel more comfortable than if the wind had been coming into the sides of the boats. We were trying to make it around Blake Point, but it was looking increasingly like a reach. We rounded a small point instead and came down into the bay to find a place to stop out of the wind and eat a late lunch. We were wet, hungry and some of us growing a bit hypothermic. We huddled under the trees, added some layers, shared some hot Tang, and made lunch. Signs of moose in the woods too. But no spotting yet.
This wasn't an upbeat sort of lunch, despite the fact that all had paddled really well and we were fine. It was too windy and rainy to feel good in. But there were not too many options. We decided that the Point would be too rough. An alternative campground was in Duncan Bay Narrows and we made that our goal.
The paddling continued fierce, though now we had a reasonable goal in mind and we felt a bit more confident in our ability to paddle in those conditions. We watched each other and interestingly, some of us shared the thoughts we had during that day's paddle: how would we execute a rescue in those conditions? Would we see or hear someone go over? Would someone be able to turn and help? I was paddling in the rear of the group, and felt somewhat comfortable that I would see and perhaps to help to some degree. We weren't paddling far from shore, yet if we ended up in the water, it would be very difficult to have helped in such waves and wind. And the water was a bit cold -- although not as cold as Lake Superior can be. But we shared our worries. Even rounding Locke Point to get into Duncan Bay was a challenge, since we had to turn broach in the waves and then let the waves move us down into the bay.
Duncan Bay Narrows
Duncan Bay Narrows was a beautiful bay to paddle down into. The campsite had two shelters and a dock. We pulled up on the shore and were lucky to find one shelter -- the one not facing into the wind and rain -- vacant. Particularly lucky because two teenagers from the boat docked there had tossed in some sleeping bags, making it look occupied to the three kayakers in the other shelter, so we got it. We set up camp, made dinner, drank some wine, and crashed. The second night in the shelter went a bit smoother, partly because someone handed out ear plugs. Wet gear was dripping from the rafters, but we slept pretty well; we were all sorely in need of rest.
Blake Point
In the morning, the loons and mergansers were on the bay and the storms had passed. In fact, when we actually did pass Blake Point, we were amazed at how calm it was. Calm enough to paddle close to the rocky shore, called the Palisades. In some ways, it wasn't too much of a palisades -- my mind recalls steeper, more dramatic cliffs. But it was interesting shoreline and perhaps the first time we could enjoy looking at it.
Because we had stopped a few miles short of Merritt Lane, our originally intended campsite for the rainy night, we paddled past it and tried for the next "scheduled" stop. It wasn't particularly difficult paddling, although the wind kicked up in the afternoon and reached 14 mph. We paddled between and behind islands where possible to stay out of the wind if we could. However, it was a longer day's paddle, totalling about 12 miles. We stopped on a beach opposite Rock Harbor for lunch. By the time we reached West Caribou Island, we were a bit tired, needing to stretch, and ready for land.
West Caribou
At West Caribou, the shelters were full but the campsite large and pretty, overlooking the lake nearly on both sides. We set up the tarps because of some threatening skies and proceeded to clean up. The guys set up a shower (cold lake water shower though) and cleaned up. I preferred to set up a stove and heat up a pot full of hot water for my cleanup. It's tough to wash long hair under icy water...
We hiked a bit around this island, finding signs of moose and lots of pretty views. It was a relaxing place to be for the evening. Our group developed a pattern of getting up slowly, eating good breakfasts, enjoying the morning, packing up in due time, and didn't make it out of a campsite much before 10:30 a.m. on any day. We took the "down time" in the day in the morning, essentially, pulling into campsites in time to prepare dinner. We were relaxed about schedules, rarely setting a time that we needed to be anywhere or do anything. It was quite nice, though I don't think I've ever been on a trip like it.
We left in the morning for a quick sprint across the bay to Daisy Farms, where we changed into hiking clothes, left our boats on the beach, and went for our only inland Isle Royale excursion. We hiked 1.7 miles up Mount Ojibway to the Lookout Tower, which is at 1133 feet. It was a fairly easy path to hike, although about 1/3 of the way up, with me in the lead, I stopped in my tracks. No, I actually started to hike backwards. Not too far in front of me on the trail was a male moose. He wasn't particularly interested in us, but the ranger in Windigo had warned us how to deal with a moose in the woods. And although this one didn't lay back his ears and look mean and ornery, I thought that the nearest tree might just as well be the guy behind me. We got out cameras and tried to film him. He showed no interest and began, eventually, to eat his way off into the woods. We continued up the mountain. The view at the top of the tower was awesome -- one could see out to Lake Superior on both sides of Isle Royale. The tower was actually being used to record climate and air quality information. We hiked back down, ate lunch on the beach, and then continued on our way to Chippewa Harbor.
Chippewa Harbor
This was our first day of following seas. The paddling went pretty smoothly. We were warm, for perhaps the first time. Chippewa Harbor had an open group campsite which we hiked out to. It was spacious, pretty, and although we weren't officially entitled to a group campsite, it was there and so were we. We had a great dinner and watched the stars a bit. The sky was clear again and the coolness felt good. Although we felt hot paddling that day, I don't think the temperature ever was higher than the mid to low 70s. The nights dipped into the low 50s, I think, but we weren't awake to feel it much colder, if indeed it was. Great camping temperatures.
Into Malone Bay
The next day was our paddle to Malone Bay, where we were scheduled to spend two nights. The following seas were surfable. It was fantastic -- surfing down the coast. Watching over my shoulder to time the big waves right and then paddling hard on top of the waves. It was glorious. The sun was out, the wind was behind us, and we flew! We stopped for lunch at Little Greenstone Beach. We had a relaxing meal and then spent some time wandering the beach looking for greenstones. The entire beach had a green hue to it. A few moments after leaving the beach, ready to move onto the Chippewa Harbor site, we all heard Dana swear loudly. His binoculars had slipped off his spray skirt while he was getting things put away and dropped into 15 feet of water. The wind kept moving us away and it took some time to locate the binoculars, but given the clear water, it was possible. Pat found them. We figured the only good way to retrieve them would be with Dana's fishing pole. He paddled to shore, got it rigged up with one monster northern lure, and came back out to go "fishing." It was more difficult than imaginable to keep the binoculars in sight. The wind kept pushing us away from them. BUT, amazingly enough, with Jeff stabilizing Dana's boat, Dana stuck his head underwater with his mask on, reached down with the fishing pole, and came up with them hooked. They were carefully raised to the surface and we all cheered. An amazing moment.
At Malone Bay, we took another group campsite It was on the water and also quite beautiful. We set up camp, cleaned up, and ate dinner. The next morning was our one "announced" sleep late day, though most of us rose shortly after sunrise. We decided to portage the kayaks into Siskiwit Lake and paddle out to Ryan Island: "The largest island on the largest lake on the largest island on the largest lake in the world." Who could resist that?
It was a .3 mile hike with the boats, and mostly uphill. But at the end of the trail was a small waterfall and a pristine beautiful view. Dana decided to troll for big fish. The rest of us paddled along to Ryan Island. We circumnavigated the island -- yes -- the trip's only true circumnavigation -- and then landed for lunch on a little beach. After eating, we dove off the rocks into the deep water, floated around a bit and then headed back to camp.
Portaging kayaks is not really a ton of fun. Nor is the carrying of bags of gear in packs not meant for hauling heavy things lots of fun either. I made one trip to the lake wearing 4 PFDs at the same time, just to avoid carrying them. What a vision. But I think it was worth the effort to be up on that lake, enjoying our last full day of the trip.
Food
This was a pretty good trip for food. Our menu is here to view. Our breakfasts were hearty. Our lunches included tuna, humus, and sausage and cheese. Our dinners....ah...well...we did pretty well on those! We started the week with homemade chili and outback oven cornbread. Then we had sausage and vegetable jambalaya, spaghetti, beef stroganoff, tacos and vegetable ramen stew. We had good desserts too: chocolate fondue with dried fruit, Abdallah chocolates (no trip is complete without them!), and cheesecake. We brought along 5 bottles of wine and Clint has his stash of concocted after paddle drinks. Breakfasts included pancakes, eggs, bacon, hashbrowns, polenta and oatmeal.
Final Morning
We waited on the dock at Malone Bay for some time for the ferry. It was relaxing. I think we were ready to move on, our bodies tired, but it had been a good trip. There were no particular problems in the group and things moved smoothly from day to day. Some aches and pains, sure, but we did well. The ferry ride back was quiet. I don't know if it was my dramamine or the fact that the trip I'd looked forward to for so long was coming to a close. Maybe both. We packed up our boats and gear in Grand Portage and headed to Grand Marais for dinner. We spent the final night up at Dana's family cabin, where we fell into heavy sound sleep. Morning came quickly. After a good breakfast, we all headed home.
And what of Mr. Dryer, our marathon swimmer friend? We read that he had a tough time of it. After being blown ten miles off course and with 45 miles to go, he ended his swim. I hope he tries it again. He's done the other four Great Lakes, and this would be a final accomplishment, pretty amazing for a guy who learned how to swim five years ago.
Thanks to all who went. It was great to share Isle Royale with you.