Isle Royale Trip Report: Part I – Voyageur II, Feldtmann Lake, and Siskiwit Bay

Dear reader,

Isle Royale National Park is the least visited of all National Parks, but it’s the most returned to. When I first visited in 2019, I had done minimal reading about the place. I knew that I had gotten into backpacking, that this was a Midwestern National Park I had not visited, and that it was called a “backpacker’s paradise.” If you do any amount of research about Isle Royale you’ll find that people speak about it with great reverence, almost like the island is a magical place. I was ready to round those folks up to “romantics” and let them hike their own hike. By the time I left Isle Royale the first time, I knew without a doubt that it is a magical place for which I, personally, feel great reverence. The island got me. I haven’t spent a single day not thinking about Isle Royale since I left. I wasn’t able to make it in 2020, so I took the very first chance I could in 2021 and spent eight nights in early June, hiking the island. I should note that the Grand Portage Band of the Lake Superior Chippewa have been the caretakers of Isle Royale since time immemorial. They call it “Minong” which means “The Good Place.” That description, thankfully, is as accurate today as it always was.

I haven’t exactly figured out how to write about Isle Royale. Generally, I like to take the tone that everywhere I find in the Midwest is a place that you should visit. Especially those trails that are less traveled than others. I can’t do that with Isle Royale. Everyone who can and wants to go to Isle Royale absolutely should go to Isle Royale. It’s without a doubt the best place I have ever been to. It is difficult to get there. It is difficult to get around once you are there. The amenities are very sparse. There is no cell phone reception. Wi-fi doesn’t exist. I learned that there is a satellite phone, but it costs $1 a minute. The weather can change on a dime, which could delay arrival or departure by days. A visit to Isle Royale requires a great deal of planning, preparing, and doing your homework before you get there. The island rewards those who slow down, this is not a place for a quick visit. The average visitor stays about 4 days, and from my perspective that wasn’t close to long enough.

I won’t claim to be an expert on Isle Royale because I am not. I also won’t encourage you to go there on a whim, this is a very different place than your neighborhood park. Instead, I’m going to share with you my own travel journal. I literally carried this little notebook with me on the trail, and in this and the next two posts, I have transcribed and clarified them for you. The photos are all mine, and all from this trip. This will be a 3-part series, to keep things manageable. All notes in italics are added by me, on the mainland, to help clarify or add context to places where I was talking to myself when I wrote it.

Weather predicted for IR and what happened:

If you try to predict the weather for Isle Royale you will find most weather reports change hour-to-hour or vary depending on what end of the island you’re looking for. In effect, it’s impossible to predict Isle Royale’s weather. The night before we left for the island, I wrote down the predicted weather and all week that became the official weather report. It turned out to be about as accurate as I could ask for.

               H            L What happened

6/7         77           61           ☼                     Sounds right

Tues 8  70        59        ⛅                   Rain (t-storms) 6:30 a.m.; nice, sunny p.m.

Wed 9  65        57        ⛅                   No rain, wind change, cooler by the lake

Thurs 10           69        55   🌧83% noon    Rain 4 a.m., t-storms all a.m., overcast, temp right

Fri 11   56        50        🌧 92% all day             rain midnight, fog all day

Sat 12  56        50        🌧 76% a.m.                Fog a.m., rain at night, nice afternoon

Sun 13 69        51        ⛅ 3%             nice, sunny a.m. rain noonish, clear p.m.

Mon 14             73        57        ⛅                   GLORIOUS

Tues 15             66        60        ⛅                   Cooler on the lake

6:30 a.m. Hat Point departure ✓

10 a.m. Fri – Box delivered to the dock, Windigo ✓ It worked!

10 a.m. Tues 15 catch Voyageur II at Malone Bay ✓

More aquabats if you can (I meant Aquatabs. All the water available Royale must be treated.)

Trash bag too                                   Pen?

On-the-go Dave Food ✓                                  Bug spray

Camp towel? ✓                         Dry bag? ✓

June 6 Feldtmann Lake Site 1

Sharing a site with my new buddy Austin from Minneapolis, and Dave (Dave is my husband). Covid rules (and previous ones) have caused us to share a campsite. No big deal. The Voyageur II isn’t quite as charming to my seasickness as the Ranger III.

The second we hit the Feldtmann Lake Trail we saw at least a dozen pink lady slippers. The hike to the overlook is deceptively easy and the hike from there to camp is deceptively long.

Saw a bull moose almost immediately upon getting into the camp. Notable day for flora and fauna. Hot, sunny, glad I got a brimmed hat. Black flies in abundance.

6:30 p.m. – As we were making dinner, we heard something big splashing on the shore. I spied a bull moose diving for supper – too close for comfort but so amazing. Eventually, he came on land! Right on the trail! My campmates and I kept a grove of trees between us, and it as it walked right through our campsite! We worried about the dinners we abandoned when we abandoned camp, and now his big hoofs were hoofing right past them! He wandered off (without upsetting dinner any more) into the woods behind our camp and shook the water off like a dog. Another camper told Dave it was a “swamp donkey.”

June 7 – The beach at Siskiwit Bay, 3:10 p.m.

The sun wakes us up at 5 a.m. here, which worked out because the thunderstorm started at 6:30. Leaving Lake F. (after rushing to pack) I watched a storm cloud rise 90 degrees straight up over the warm air of F. Lake. Thankfully, the trail is mostly away from the water between there and Siskiwit, which insulated us from some of the worst of it. Things had more or less moved on by the time we got to the little overlook at the top of the ridge.

My rain jacket came off just after F. tower. That’s when the mosquitoes found us. F. ridge trail is beautiful and an easy descent. The bugs can fuck off.

We took Site 1 (group site). IR is very crowded, but everyone is behaving themselves. I waded up to my knees in the brisk bay first chance I got. Dave is combing the beach for rocks.

Last night after our dinner date with a moose, we wandered to Rainbow Cove for some great rockhounding. We didn’t bring our headlamp, or we may have stayed for sunset. Another time. (We were so tired.)

Having camped on a moose highway, we were concerned about setting a guy line and causing a moose to trip and crush us in the night, so we left the flaps flat on Dave’s side of the tent. No one got crushed, so it must have worked. It’s so sunny and warm, I am glad I brought this dress. (I brought a t-shirt dress. It was a great idea. Bring a t-shirt dress! It’s just a long t-shirt.)

10.2 miles is probably the longest Dave and I have ever hiked on purpose. All our dogs are barking. No more big hikes for 6 nights, and nowhere to be tomorrow.

8:25 p.m. Sitting on the dock at sunset

Some campers are building a campfire in the community ring. We hung out all afternoon while dudes played frisbee. Everyone was enjoying the heat and sun. A nice Canadian family made dinner on the dock. Very wholesome party scene.

June 8 Group Camp 1 10 a.m.

I have had such a leisurely morning. It’s downright l u x u r i o u s. I got up with the sun, Dave slept in. I drank coffee on the dock. At around 6:30 a.m. I had the place all to myself. I got some writing done. Just clearing out the brain. I chatted with Austin again before he left for Island Mine. He’s green in some very cute ways. Rain tomorrow might block the eclipse and ruin our hike, but nothing to be done about that. (You may not have heard, but there was a solar eclipse on June 10, 2021. It was far more visible in Canada, Russia, and Asia, but if you were on one remote island at the top of America like I was, you may have been able to see it. Spoiler: It rained. No eclipse visible.)

2:40 p.m. Around 10:30 this morning Dave and I had climbed out onto the jetty to go get water when a small boat came into the bay. Owned by the NPS, it was two trail maintenance guys here to clean up the camp. They’re great. A large fallen pine was firmly blocking the main trail to our campground, so when they walked through to inspect, I pointed them to it. Like two young lads, they were clearly gleeful to get to use the chainsaw. Our site is now dramatically bigger, with a new walkway.

The wind picked up on the lake, it’s cooler than yesterday. Nothing but clear blue skies with wispy white clouds. White caps in the bay. Even the trail guys don’t know what the weather will do, but everyone talks about rain tomorrow morning. Might be no eclipse for us if clouds happen.

We walked down to the beach to the mouth of the Big Siskiwit River. Dave picked up many rocks. I’m packing out someone’s Mountain Dew can. 🙁

Sitting on the beach while the crew chainsawed our site, a wild fox appeared at the lake! First, he just came in for a drink and slunk back into the weeds. We were gleeful.

A moment later, he appeared again on the other side of us, and he came so close! I think he hoped we had food for him (sorry, buddy!) he made the same face my dog does when she wants something.

I feel really smart and rewarded for keeping my food about six feet up a pine tree. It’s safe from foxes up there, and the shade is keeping it cooler than the air is.

We’re running low on provisions but won’t starve before our resupply in Windigo in 2 days. No snacks today, just rest.

8:40 p.m. – tent away from bugs

Our foxy friend got close in camp during dinner. He came sniffing around as we were cooking chicken and vegetables. We had to get up and shoo him away four times before he got the hint. No food here, sorry buddy.

As I was getting ready to hit the trail this morning, I stepped out of the tent into the pouring rain to visit the latrine. I turned a corner and came within 10 feet of an adult cow moose. She stared at me, determined I was neither food nor wolf, and moved on. I remained frozen in place the whole time. (I have no photos of this, sorry, I was terrified and it was raining.)

We are running low on provisions. Nilla wafers have been promoted to breakfast food and granola rations have been halved. Cut into the parmesan – a delight! Looking forward to reprovisioning in Windigo. I’m gathering quite the shopping list. We learned a lot about fueling Dave on the go yesterday. Long hikes mean he needs constant refueling. He’s taken all the Popeye’s Chicken honey packets.

No notable new people except for the maintenance guys. One called Island Mine “so beautiful” and the other has huge gauged out earlobes and a former career as a merchant marine.

Click here to read Isle Royale Trip Report: Part II – Island Mine and Windigo

Click here to read Isle Royale Trip Report: Part III – South Lake Desor to Malone Bay