Houghton, Rock Harbor and Moskey Basin

A blue lake and cloudless sky with a rocky outcropping in the foreground.

Dear reader, in September 2023 my husband Dave and I took our third trip to Isle Royale National Park. These posts are a record of my trip, and almost directly transcribed from the little notebook I carried with me. Anything in italics is a note from Present Me, who finally got around to posting these in March 2024.

Weather Prediction

Date H L Sunrise Sunset

9/1 74 37 7:13 a.m. 8:36 p.m.

9/2 82 64 7:14 a.m. 8:34 p.m.

9/3 83 63 7:15 a.m. 8:32 p.m.

9/4 78 64 7:17 a.m. 8:30 p.m.

9/5 79 60 7:18 a.m. 8:28 p.m.

9/6 66 54 7:19 a.m. 8:26 p.m.

9/7 62 54* 7:21 a.m. 8:24 p.m.

9/8 64* 55* 7:22 a.m. 8:22 p.m.

9/9 63* 54* 7:27 a.m. 8:20 p.m.

*=Not NOAA

9/1 – 8 a.m. Ranger III – Houghton

9/9 – Ranger III – Rock Harbor

No rain in the forecast, but gusty winds. May be rainy or cloudy after the 7^th. (Tuesday & Wednesday.)

Note: It did, in fact, rain. It went from the last hot days of summer to proper fall overnight.

Rock Harbor 9/8 – Stay

9/9 Depart 9 a.m.

The Ranger III docked inside Rock Harbor.

Weather Report

9/1 Accurate

9/2 Accurate, HOT

9/3 Rain at night, day sunny, hot, accurate

9/4 Accurate, partly sunny

9/5 Accurate, sunny day, t-storm at dark

9/6 Windy RAINY, Cool, Accurate

9/7 Cool, breezy, humic, clear, wind p.m.

9/8 Sunny, cool, accurate, no breeze

9/9 No entry, probably accurate.

What Litter We Packed Out:

• Camp soap on a rope

• Broken glass bottle (old)

• Trekking pole basket (Replacement for mine!)

• Baby Hulk sticker

• Knot of embroidery floss

• Fishing lure, snap swivel

• Piece of plastic bag

• Pieces of glass (small) ~~||||~~ ~~||||~~ ||

• Someone else’s hair tie (ew.)

• Piece of clear, hard plastic

Oops don’t do that again

Things to do to improve your next visit

• Factor in how seasickness affects your hike.

• Take off quickly from boat, pack to go before boat

• Toothpaste tabs storage options

• Do not let lotion bar melt in the sun

• Hot pepper/hot sauce

• Get another Osprey bladder

• Camera, lighter, 18-300 mm lens, night photos, longer battery

• Magnet for dock fishing (1-5 pound pull)

• Separate corn and beans

• Ghee tub in Ziploc

• More tomato sauce leather, a lot

• Buff for Dave, neck and hair

• Alternative (???) options Mainland Me does not know what this means.

• Better rain jacket for Lindsay

• More fuel always

Animals seen 2023:

Two wolves
Family of loons, hunting ||
Squirrels ထ
Mergansers ထ
Water snake |
Smol toads ထ
Gartner snake ထ
Egg-laying grasshoppers ||
Herons ~~||||~~
Beavers |||
Large woodpeckers |||| (Pileated woodpeckers!)
Small woodpeckers |||
Snails in the lake (12)
Bald Eagle
Black fox
Red fox ~~||||~~ |

Friday, September 1, 20212

9 a.m. Ranger III Lounge

We’re just past the bridge. It’s a beautiful morning and I think warmer than when we’ve traveled in May. The tops of some trees are already showing their fall colors. My general nausea has been on high alert recently, so I’ve already put my little motion sickness bracelets on. The Ranger has replaced the puke bags with literal chicken take-out buckets.

Ranger III Chat on Boat

Filter and chemical treat H20
Blue-green algae, “spilled paint,” “pea soup,” “floating globs or mats” – AVOID TOTALLY
Channel 16 on boat radio for park help
4 qts per person, per day, of berries you can eat.
2 gallons of apples per person, per day
Poo 50 steps from water
Soap and dishwashing – 50 steps from water
1000 moose, 31 wolves
Foxes steal hiking boots

A tent set up in a wooded campsite, with laundry hanging on the line.

6 p.m. Three Mile Group Camp Site #2

We did not make it to Daisy Farm today. The water was not smooth and my motion sickness got gnarly. I didn’t get to eat any food on the boat. I spent about 5 hours hugging my chicken bucket and staring at the horizon. When we got to Rock Harbor, I went to the shop to eat whatever was around, which was chips and Skittles. So it made more sense to listen to my upset guts and not walk another four miles. All the folks at this campsite are also refugees and wayward hikers. They’re friendly.

7:45 p.m.

We’ve had dinner – rehydrated chicken and shells and cheese.

9:40 p.m.

The sun has set on Isle Royale for the first time for me. The stars are just coming out and I have already found Pegasus. I’m back in the tent (red headlamp.) We will hike to Moskey Basin tomorrow – 8.3 miles. Continuing today would have been a bad plan. I am glad we stopped. There’s a good breeze, and clear skies forecasted. I hope to stargaze properly at Moskey tomorrow.

Maybe you’ve noticed this, but all food kind of just tastes extra amazing on the trail. Dave and I took a few days to go backpacking in the Shawnee National Forest last August. You can read about that here.

Hands down the best meal we had on that trip was also the easiest to make. Chicken and Spanish Rice. This carby-salty-protein-packed recipe makes enough for two people who have been hiking through heat and humidity of Southern Illinois in August and want to feel human again.

Trail meals are kind of funny because they are not something I would make at home. At home, I don’t use canned chicken. At home, I don’t usually make pre-packaged rice sides. I have the advantage of living in a neighborhood with tons of excellent Latin American food options, so if I want Spanish rice, I’m better off finding a great restaurant. But there are no restaurants in the wilderness.

This tastes like every comforting thing you ever enjoyed about sloppy joes, but made out of chicken and carbs and salt. Honestly, it’s great. Actual Spanish rice does not taste like sloppy joes, but in Knorr’s world, they’re practically the same thing.

My recipe also relies on buying canned chicken from Aldi. Would it work with another brand of canned chicken? Almost certainly. The can of chicken you buy at Aldi has a couple of distinct advantages. 1. A can is 8 oz. Which is easily enough for two people. And 2. It’s really good stuff. Tender, flavorful and it falls apart very easily. You can try to bring fresh chicken on the trail, but that’s your risk to run. Plus, that sounds hard to do. I wouldn’t advise it unless you like being stuck in the wilderness with salmonella poisoning.

Dave and I didn’t think we would actually finish the whole thing but we basically mowed the whole thing down and then passed out by 8:30 p.m. Camping is fun, you guys.

Recipe (serves two heavy portions):

1 package Knorr Fiesta Side Dish, Spanish Rice

1 8oz can chicken from Aldi

1 glug olive oil

Prepare the Spanish rice according to package instructions. We use an Esbit stove and a Stanley pot for backpacking (review to come, I swear). We ended up needing about one and a half fuel cubes for the rice.
While your rice rests, use the remaining fuel cube (or whatever you use) to warm through the canned chicken. You don’t want it to burn, you just want to heat it through.
Portion out the Spanish rice.
Portion out the chicken onto the Spanish rice.
Stir to combine. The chicken should fall apart easily because Aldi is an amazing place with amazing products. (They aren’t paying me to say this, but I would also accept Aldi’s money to say this.)
Eat until you didn’t realize you were hungry enough to eat the whole thing.

Category: Recipe

Isle Royale, September ’23 – Pt 1 Houghton to Three Mile