By John Keefover of Keefography
Isle Royale National Park
Backpacking Trip Report May 24 - June 1st 2021
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DAY 7 - MAY 30 2021
Siskiwit Bay to Feldtmann Lake: 10.3 miles
Turned out none of us slept that well in the shelter, especially after going to bed so late last night. It was colder in the shelter then it would be in the tent. Stayed fairly warm though with all my layers, a 19 degree sleeping bag and an added liner on an insulated inflatable sleeping pad. It was looking very overcast out and according to the weather radio on the boats we’re looking at our first bit of rain today. We cooked breakfast and slowly packed up our things enjoying the ease of that with the shelter.
Once we got to hiking not only was the weather much different, but so was this section of trail compared to the rest of the trip. We’re in the lowlands now going from Siskiwit Bay to Feldtmann Lake. Much different than the rugged and popular ridges of the Greenstone Trail and the Minong Trail. It was very still in this boggy area and there seemed to be no other footprints but our own. The bugs were out here too a bit actually but if you kept moving they didn’t bother you. The vegetation was already starting to get overgrown and can only imagine the jungle it would be in the summertime. Rain started to fall and the sound of the drops was loud on the leaves around us. Interrupting the repetitive sound of rain was the thunderous sound of a moose crashing through the woods near us. Chad was the only one who saw it though. Finally some moose action after a few days of not seeing any!
After awhile we also started coming across a bunch of groups heading towards Siskiwit from Feldtmann. Siskiwit is going to be packed tonight! Hopefully they all get along with the kind fishermen who were telling us that hikers seem to give them a bad time. Maybe that means there will be no one at Feldtmann tonight too if we’re lucky.
After some time we got to our lunch destination which was the Feldtmann Fire Tower. A top the tower was expansive views of Siskiwit Bay behind us, Feldtmann Lake where we’re heading and the Rock of Ages Lighthouse far off in the distance on Lake Superior.
The last stretch to Feldtmann Lake was one of our favorites on the island! There was a cool little mossy waterfall over some red shale rock, much like what was on the shores of Siskiwit Bay. You cross the stream at the base of the falls and continue on to an impressive overlook of Feltdmann Lake on top of an absolutely massive cliff. Below us was a little swampy area and the lake was off to the left. In the lake we could see 2 moose swimming around. Even from far up on the cliffs we could tell they were two big bulls! We watched them for a bit before heading down to the lake itself.
Not long after we got back on the trail Ben spotted a cow moose exiting the trail ahead of us, and then a little bit after that we quietly followed along with a big bull moose until it disappeared into the thick forest. This is apparently moose central!
After carefully crossing a very broken boardwalk we made it to the campground. There were two other groups already set up there, one of them belonging to Bone Collectors we had come across earlier in the day that were working with the park collecting moose skulls and bones. They found a bunch of them in this area and were studying them. We got site #3 right next to the lake. We later found out that site #1 is best for viewing moose in the shallow waters in the corner of the lake.
Chilling next to the lake we lazily set up camp and ate dinner. We decided to hike the 0.8 mile spur trail to Rainbow Cove for sunset in a bit. As we were eating at camp we noticed a cow moose swimming off in the distance way down along the shore, and then a big bull moose entered the water even closer! It was cool to see but still too far to get good pictures. Though it seemed to be walking in our direction now. Sure enough it kept walking along the shoreline and pausing every so often. We got some awesome pictures of it and then the neighbors in the site next to us laughed loudly and scared it off into the woods.
A moose wanders along the shore at Feldtmann Lake.
It was getting late now and we still wanted to get to Rainbow Cove for sunset. Nick had been talking about Rainbow Cove for weeks leading up to the trip as his must see destination so we had to do it! With our original route pre seaplane reversal this would’ve been our first night on the island, but apparently we were saving the best for last... On the trail just after setting off was a huge cow moose! It moved into the brushes pretty quickly, but wow! We figured since we’ve seen so many moose already we should move quietly to see if we could spot anymore on the way to the cove. Not even a couple hundred yards after that stood a huge bull moose right on the trail in front of us! We hunkered down and watched it graze for around 20 minutes. He occasionally glanced over at us but paid us no mind. Then all of a sudden it bedded down not far off the trail. We waited a bit and took some photos with our telephoto lenses before deciding to try to walk around him. He knew we were there and watched us as we walked past. That was absolutely incredible! We all looked at each other and mouthed “Wow!” while giving silent fist bumps.
A bedded bull encounter on the way to Rainbow Cove.
Soon the trail opened up to the great Lake Superior. We looked down the shore and there was another moose right on the tree line down the beach! I think we interrupted it’s beach day. It looked at us for a bit and then headed into the woods.
Even with all of our moose encounters delaying us a bit we made it to the cove just in time for sunset. There was a big storm off in the distance but the sun was trying it’s best to break through it with gorgeous purple and red colors. It was beautiful albeit a bit daunting knowing that storm is coming our way. Nick and Chad played some cribbage on the beach while me & Ben took some photos and were still reeling in the excitement of that moose encounter.
Playing a little bit of cribbage on the beach at Rainbow Cove.
Today was definitely our favorite day on the island so far! Sad that we only have one full day left of the trip. Tomorrow morning we’re heading to Windigo Harbor where we’ll be camping at Washington Creek to catch our seaplane early the next morning at 8 AM. We’re hoping to get one of the shelters at Washington Creek too for easy tear down of camp before the flight.
After the sun set and clouds darkened the skies we retreated back to camp. Sure enough in the same spot was our bull moose friend bedded down. We were making quite a bit of noise as we were walking as to not surprise it or any others that may be on the trail in the dark. Once again he paid us no mind after seeing us he put his head back down. Such a cool experience out here. It was dark by the time we got back to the campground with our headlamps on. We were hoping that storm wouldn’t hit us too bad but if it does we’ll just be hunkered down for it in our tents.
Sunset tries to break through the storm clouds at Rainbow Cove.
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.