By John Keefover of Keefography
Isle Royale National Park
Backpacking Trip Report May 24 - June 1st 2021
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DAY 9 - JUNE 1 2021
Washington Creek to flying out of Windigo Harbor
The last day on the isle. It was a very calm and peaceful morning, albeit it a cold one. We we’re definitely blessed with some great weather this trip besides the fog delay that set our seaplane arrival back a day at the very beginning. It’s looking like we’ll be just fine today though! Ben and I got up early to check for moose along Washington Creek but didn’t see anything anywhere. It was quiet besides the birds chirping, ducks quacking and chipmunks chattering. Morning mist gently rolled past us above the creek and was bathed in beautiful golden light of the early morning.
We packed up our gear after making coffee and headed over to the seaplane dock. First we had to talk to the ranger on duty to turn in our permit which they keep after trips. We also had to turn in our fuel canisters since they’re not allowed on the seaplane. We burned through two and a half of our 4 fuel canisters. Then we saw another photographer who we ran into a few times throughout the trip. He said a couple of moose were just at the campground swimming in the creek for awhile! We must’ve just missed them! That’s alright though we had plenty of sightings this trip of around 25 something, we lost count around Feldtmann Lake two days ago when they were seemingly everywhere! While we were waiting on the dock for the plane we did have some ducks and other birds all around us and we saw some otters far off in the distance.
Soon we heard the sound of the seaplane overhead. We watched it zoom right over a kayaker and glide across the water before turning to taxi on over to us.
We loaded up our gear and took off above that crystal clear, blue-green water that was illuminated by the sun. Seeing Windigo Harbor from above was awesome after exploring it now by foot, boat, and plane!
It was especially cool flying right over the Rock of Ages Lighthouse! Our pilot gestured over to me that we would be coming up to it soon. It was crazy seeing it from up here after we were just in the waters below last night in a friendly fisherman’s boat. From up here you could really see just how shallow the water is in parts and why they needed to construct the lighthouse. Two ships had sunk there before it was completed in 1908, and even then another one wrecked shortly after that.
From there it was smooth sailing back to the mainland. Bits of fog lingered along the North Shore of Minnesota, but nothing like last time around trying to fly out to the island. Once we landed and got back to our cars the first thing we did was head into town at Grand Marais for breakfast! We went to Blue Water Cafe for some much needed real food. At the restaurant we agreed on no phones at the table, just like we were out in the wilderness. Hope we didn’t smell too much like the wilderness either but we didn’t care at that point. We drank bottomless coffees and ate a whole entire tables worth of food. Afterwards we parted ways back to our own busy schedules. It was an amazing experience with these guys and that special place. Looking forward to the next big adventure!
Thanks for reading and following along. Hope you enjoyed the journey as much as we did!
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.