By John Keefover of Keefography
Isle Royale National Park
Backpacking Trip Report May 24 - June 1st 2021
WHAT IS ISLE ROYALE?
Isle Royale National Park is a remote island archipelago that is part of Michigan and completely surrounded by Lake Superior. Only accessible by boat or float plane, it is one of the least visited National Parks, but with one of the most repeat visitors- as claimed by the National Park Rangers. After our first time on the island it’s easy to see why so many people would return to this special place! It’s truly a unique experience out there with 99% of the land mass and surrounding coast being a federally designated wilderness, mostly untouched and protected for all to enjoy.
There are 165 miles of scenic hiking trails along glaciated lava flow ridges as well as 36 campgrounds for backpackers, paddlers, and boaters alike. The island has historic lighthouses, shipwrecks, ancient copper mining sites, excellent fishing, and one of the most dense populations of moose. There are so many moose on the island that they actually introduced wolves to help curb the population, as there are no bears out there. Not only is Isle Royale an outdoors paradise, it’s also a place of great biological and geological scientific study.
National Park Sign at Windigo Harbor
OVERALL TRIP REPORT
May 24th to June 1st 2021 I took a backpacking trip to Isle Royale with Ben Ahrens, Nick Sawyer, Chad Mozol, and myself, John Keefover. Our final route via the seaplane was: Rock Harbor > Lane Cove > McCargoe Cove > Todd Harbor > South Lake Desor > Siskiwit Bay > Feldtmann Lake > Washington Creek > fly out of Windigo Harbor.
During our adventures I wrote over 30 pages of notes describing the trail conditions, campgrounds, wildlife encounters, and more in my locally made, waterproof Waxed Journals. I’ll be publishing those notes, paired up with my photography along the way, in a series of blog posts. The first one being this overall trip report, followed up with day by day blogs. Let’s get into it:
A favorite moment at one of my favorite campgrounds: Todd Harbor.
Things have a way of working themselves out. If we didn’t have the fog delay that set our Isle Royale Seaplanes departure back a day and a half, Ben wouldn’t have found out about his tent situation until we were out on the island and then it would have been too late to fix(we’ll get to that later on in the Day 1 blog). Having said that though you also need to be prepared for anything and do your own research going into it.
You have to be flexible with your planning. I mean we were forced to reverse our drop off and pick up points last minute before even getting there and then had to change our route with the shortened duration. There’s also trail closures and other things like algae blooms at lakes that prohibit drinking water sources that may affect your trip. Communicate with the Rangers on site about all current updates along your planned route.
Be kind. Talk to people. Everyone is out enjoying the island in their own way. You never know, a fishermen could offer you some fresh caught fish and cold beers, or even a ride on their boat!
Rock of Ages Lighthouse up close from a friendly fisherman’s boat.
The days were absolutely gorgeous. Bluebird and breezy, perfect for hiking. Nights were cold. As long as you layered up properly though we stayed toasty in our tents, but we were actually colder in the shelters. Freezing nights meant no bugs though! Brought bug spray and a head net for nothing! Rain gear was also something I didn’t really use at all with the only rain we got being a short drizzle while hiking one morning. Having said that, rain gear and bug protection are those things you always bring and just prefer not to have to use! Sun protection is also a must. Even if it’s cloudy. Hiking from Rock Harbor to Windigo especially burned the left side of my body as it was always facing towards the sun.
Sargent Lake from the Mount Ojibway Fire Tower on a beautiful day.
Trails were in good shape. Better than expected considering the remoteness of the isle and rugged terrain. They were muddy with lots of downed trees and I could see the vegetation getting pretty overgrown soon however. A few re-routes were flagged due to beaver activity completely flooding the trail, including a new crossing over a huge beaver dam! Speaking of water sources there aren’t many reliable or good ones outside of the campgrounds so often times you’ll have to conserve your water on the trail.
Trails were in good conditions late spring. Can definitely see them getting overgrown soon though.
There were way more people out then I was expecting, especially this early in the season. Maybe it’s because the tail end of our trip was Memorial Day weekend? Or maybe it’s just an indication of how this year will be now that the ferries are running again and people want to get out of their house after a rough 2020. I can’t imagine what it will be like in the summer if so. Most of the campgrounds were getting full by 5 PM every night and we only got a shelter 2 of 4 possible locations that had them, and 1 of those was just barely with perfect timing as the previous group was leaving. So don’t count on getting a shelter, think of it as a nice plus. Was a little disappointed in the tent sites too. None of them were very secluded so often times you’re right next to another group unless you happen to get one with a little more isolation. Didn’t really feel like you were sleeping in a wilderness area at times.
We came across a lot of people on trail and at campgrounds. Prepare for a busy summer on the Isle.
All in all it was an amazing time and experience! We saw 25 some moose, hiked around 80 miles and still only saw a sliver of the island! Would like to return again in the fall for the changing leaves and moose rut. I’d also like to check out the island from the water too on a boat after we went cruising around with a fisherman.
A young bull moose bedded down along the trail.
Always Leave No Trace, and take nothing but pictures.
Now on to the day by day adventures!
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Trip Report from backpacking the 42 mile long Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore Trail. It follows sandy beaches and dramatic cliffs along Lake Superior in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan.