Isle Royale Trip Report: Part II – Island Mine and Windigo

June 10 – Island Mine Site #2 1 p.m.

The eclipse was a bust. Thunderstorms rolled in around 4 a.m. we so didn’t get to see it at all. We waited in the tent for the worst of the storm to pass and got on the trail by 7 a.m. The rain didn’t really stop the whole way.

The beaver redecorating on the trail from Siskiwit Bay to Island Mine was extensive. They put a creek right through the trail. NPS advised us to walk on the beach itself to the point where the ascent begins, so we did that. I understand a cloud of mosquitoes were following me the whole way.

We rolled into camp around 9 or 9:30, chit chatted with some (damp) hikers who were trying to wait out the rain. Then we set up the tent and crawled into our sleeping bags and snoozed the rest of the morning. Island Mine camp is just a small ridge in the woods. If maple trees make you swoon, this is the place for you. We could make a fire, but everything is so wet we won’t bother.

I hung a line for our wettest things to drip dry. If the sun comes out and heats them up, great. I am not counting on it beating the humidity or canopy drips. Better than nothing, for sure. I am glad I wore the slightly damp socks on the trail today. I have one dry hiking pair left. (Pro tip: Keep a dry pair of socks in your sleeping bag and put them both in a dry bag.)

We’re in the tent all day, probably. So. Many. Bugs. No worries about finding water in the creek though. Windigo tomorrow, resupply box, clean hands, and one cold beer.

The storms on F. Lake came in from the west and moved east. Today the storm came from the east and moved west. There’s not much exploring at Island Mine. We’ll be back in two days, but we may feel less rushed to get here. If your main task is dodging bugs, Island Mine is the place for you, my friend.

5:10 update – This is Bugs’ Town. The water is easy to get to and – now, at least – abundant. The flow is strong. The water is full of tannins. Like drinking the very forest itself. The water filters through decaying vegetation and just kind of tastes like weak tea. Dave loves it.

7:45 – Two guys next door posted up around 3 p.m. clearly soaked. They hung up their tents and sleeping bags and then went about building a large fire. The temp is dropping. I hope they don’t get hypothermia.

Friday, June 11 12:30 p.m. Site 13 Washington Creek

We got a shelter! We got up at dawn and were on the road to Windigo by 7 a.m.

We got here in time to see a ranger carrying our supply box up from the dock. It worked! We’re munching on the last of our cheese and Nilla wafers now.

The hike down was nice and easy and very wooded. The rain started around midnight and had let up by the time we got up. Trees spit on us most of the hike. We took the first available shelter we could find and hung our tent up to drip dry. It’s all covered in wet leaf litter.

The weather is cooler today and foggy. The new tourists in Windigo looked soggy and sick. I guess we’re expecting this to continue for a few days. Ew. Dave has hung up absolutely every sock, bandana, shirt, and boxers he can.

We did a bit of commerce while we were in town. At the Windigo store we got a dry bag specifically for my sleeping bag. I had been storing it in the food’s dry bag during travel, and swapping back at camp, but that is done now. We also got banana chips to fuel Dave on the go, candy and Moon Pies, which we ate on the Visitor Center patio. In the Visitor Center we threw down on new wool socks, stickers, bandanas and a junior ranger book. We’re go back into town later and pick up a couple of beers.

We’re spending the afternoon drying out in the shelter. I’m not sure how far we’ll go with all this humidity. I’m not expecting this to be a thing, but we are in the designated isolation shelter so if someone comes up with the ‘rona, we may get booted. Not really expecting that. We’re in no rush to get out of here tomorrow and back to Island Mine. The sun may come back after that, they say in Windigo. (This would be an absolutely terrible place to be in quarantine, by the way. Medical help is on the other side of a pretty big lake. It’s probably not a good idea to go to Isle Royale at all unless you’ve received your covid vaccine.)

Island Mine was so humid they only reason our clothes dried at all was because we hiked through the rain and maxed out our drying time. Another rain squall around 2:30 today, with some thunder. A few hikers walked by looking for a site but moved on. There is a nest of baby merganser ducklings right below our campsite. Little black and white poofers. Our tent is finally dry. Hoping to get the laundry try too.

8:30 – Great bird action on this site all evening. Lots of nesting ducklings. A duo of Canada geese parents came up by our campsite to feed their (11!) goslings just after our dinnertime. Dave and I sat motionless at our picnic table. The geese stared us down like two angry bouncers guarding a K-pop band at a frozen yogurt shop. Their goslings ran through and over the foliage, like a little gosling salad bar.

A merganser duck swam by with 8 lil’ ducklings riding on her back.

Laundry drying nicely. We got to the shop too late for beers, so we drank the half liter of chardonnay in our resupply box instead. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Saturday June 12 6:15 a.m. Still Windigo

A thunderstorm rolled in just after dark last night. The rain continued all night, but by now it’s calm. The skies are overcast, but there’s no wind. Most of our stuff is mostly dry and our rations are full again.

We’re going to have a long, foggy morning in Washington Harbor. We’re headed back to Island Mine next, so once we get there, we’ll (probably) be in the tent avoiding bugs again. The plan is to hike to Lake Desor at around 6 or 7 a.m. tomorrow, so we’ll have the whole day. Then we’ve got the long hike to Malone Bay the next morning, and all day.

I felt extremely human after washing my hands with soap and fresh water.

2:45 p.m. Site 2 Island Mine

No one else here so far.

As we were walking up the Greenstone today, maybe 3 miles or so west of Windigo, and about 100 feet ahead of us on the trail – we saw a young moose traveling at a full gallop through the thick forest. He ran perpendicular to the trail we were on, and I am grateful he wasn’t any closer. It was so quiet, even when all its hoofs hit the ground. How is it they do that? Silently? It was gone just as quickly as it came. This one was smaller than the cow I ran into at Siskiwit Bay. We’re having all the good animal encounters this trip.

What makes a moose gallop?

I. Mine is still very much Bug’s Town. Grateful for head nets. The weather has improved. The sky above the canopy is crystal blue and the temp is nice.

This morning before we left Windigo, we returned to the Visitor’s Center with our completed application to be Junior Rangers. We were sworn in by Ranger Jenna, which was actually rad as fuck. There is no age limit on the Junior Ranger program, and Jenna was genuinely glad to do it for us. We give stickers and a really cool laser cut wood pin. We swore an oath to protect and defend Isle Royale’s wilderness and wildlife. I think we made the park rangers’ day.

We ran into the Cold Dudes from Island Mine again before we left Windigo. I am glad to say they did not get hypothermia. One guy did melt his shoes a little trying to dry them out over the fire.

3:30 p.m. – Just shoo’d a squirrel out of the outhouse.

5:45 p.m. – A dinner of chicken and Knorr’s Spanish rice. Our dehydrated beef had gone bad so now we’re rationing chicken. Boo. Why does Knorr’s Spanish rice taste like a warm blanket on the trail, but back in real life it tastes like an insult to both Spain and rice? We’re saving mashed potatoes for after the long hike. We have enough noodles we won’t go hungry if the boat were delayed for bad weather.

Two more parties came to the campground, including one loud Floridian who was not prepared for the mosquitoes. He said they were like “small cats.” He’s with a chipper lady who looks very prepared. She loaned him her headnet. The other is a quiet couple. One more camp cocktail and then we’ll start powering down, inside the tent, away from Bug Town. (A camp cocktail is what Dave and I call an 8 oz cup of water with a Nuun tablet in it. It’s less about having fun and more about replacing your electrolytes. Camp cocktails are very important.)

7 p.m. – Bugs win, and I am now in my tent. The water bladder in my pack malfunctioned today, spilling about ½ l of water in my pack. Thankfully, everything critical was in a dry bag. The sun and wind refreshed all the laundry today. Hopefully, the weather stays like this. We hope to get on the road to S. Desor bright and early. Dave’s snoring did not wake me up once last night. I think the island improves our allergies.

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

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