Tuesday August 29, 2017.

Foggy Houghton Morning

We get up fairly early and have our breakfast at the hotel. Nothing fancy, just the normal continental breakfast items. Our ship to Isle Royale leaves at 0900 but we have to be there by 0800 for check in. It is a short ride over the bridge to Houghton and the Visitor Center dock. We get our tickets, check in our backpacks as baggage and wait to board. The process is pretty informal and painless. We find a seat inside the cabin and relax. There is nothing left to do but enjoy the 6-hour ride.

Going Up

It is a foggy morning which unfortunately may obscure our view. The first hour of sailing will be along the Portage Lake River until we enter Lake Superior. The size of the Great Lakes has amazed us and this point is driven home by the 75-mile journey we have to Isle Royale. I guess if they weren’t so big they would just be called the Average Lakes. We leave on time and get to watch the Portage Lake Lift Bridge raise so we can go under it.

Tranquility

The fog gives the shore an air of mystery as we sail towards Lake Superior. There are many shore front homes and they all seem to have boat docks. We also notice that some of the leaves are changing so the upper peninsula of Michigan fall is almost upon us. This is a National Park Service vessel and the ranger on board gives us a briefing of the rules on the island as well as what to expect. We then fill out our itineraries from which she will type up our permits. There are no reserved campsites on the island and we are free to change our itinerary while we are hiking.

Carol Chilling

We enter Lake Superior and with the fog, quickly lose sight of land. About four hours of fog later, the sun breaks through just in time for us to catch sight of the Rock Harbor Lighthouse. The lighthouse marks the channel between Isle Royale and the small Caribou Island. The skies are clear blue and bright for the next twenty minutes or so and we make our first stop at Mott Island which is where the park headquarters is located. Supplies for the employees are unloaded and the we are back on our way for the remaining 20 minutes or so ride to the Rock Harbor port and visitor center. In this short part of the trip, we reentered the fog, although it is not as bad as it was on the mainland.

America the Beautiful

We disembark and gather up our packs and hiking poles as the ship heads back to Mott Island for the night. It is around 3:30 when we get started on our hike for the afternoon. The plan is to try and make it to the Daisy Farm camping area a little over 7 miles away before nightfall. The backup is the appropriately named 3 mile camp. We start our hike along the shore and watch our connection to the mainland sail away into the fog. We are not walking in the fog but it lingers about 500 feet off shore. We have not hiked too far when Carol slips and takes a fall. Luckily, she is unscathed other than a bruised ego. We are discovering that the Island mud is really slick, thin layer sticking to our shoes which causes the many rocks we have to navigate over to become treacherous. This is slowing our progress and forces us to pay close attention to the ground 1-5 feet in front of us. Definitely a tougher than expected set of circumstances.

Dock at Three Mile Camp

We reach the 3 miles camp around 5:45 and have to decide to stop here or continue on to Daisy Farm with the possibility of losing daylight. What is an adventure without a little rolling of the dice? We decide to push on and make our main goal. If need be, we could always find a stealth camp site on the root and rock filled ground (Well, maybe not). 45 minutes later, we see our boat across the channel docked at Mott Island for the night. Swimming for a bed is an option, just not a good one, so we continue on. Carol manages to take another spill, although not as bad as the first one. We are both becoming fatigued from the constant awareness and careful stepping we need to maintain. Daylight is waning as we push on, each step bringing us hopefully closer to a sighting of the campground. We do make it in the diminishing light and find a free campsite 100 yards or so inland. We grab it but I decide to poke around and see what else is available. I find a larger more open site and also a shelter that is available. I return to Carol and we discuss things. With the possibility of rain tonight, I like the shelter idea. She is not too keen on the rodent possibility in the shelter but I tell her it looked pretty tight and one side is totally screened.

Our Shelter

We both go to check it out and make the decision to do the shelter. By the time we lug our gear to the shelter, darkness is almost upon us. Unfortunately, we have to make dinner. Fortunately, there is a nice picnic table outside for us to cook and eat on. Unfortunately, we need to filter some cooking water. Fortunately, the lake is pretty close to our new shelter. I filter while Carol stays and sets up our sleeping quarters. Our freeze-dried chicken and rice Mountain House dinner is very tasty. It is dark when we go in for the night. As we lay down on our mats laid out on the wood floor, we watch a mouse climb up and then down on the outside of the screen separating us from the critter world. We hope he doesn’t have a secret little mouse door. Hopefully we do not awaken to mice scurrying across our bodies. Good Night.