And the answer is: D. All of the of the above. (Isle Royale Part II)

Lake Michigan in the early morning. 

Isle Royale is over 45 miles long and 9 miles wide. Coming from Michigan on the concessionaire ferry you come into Rock Harbor where there are more services. Coming from Minnesota on the national park ferry you land on the other end at Windigo. Apparently for $350/person a lot of people come by seaplane. 

Isle Royale was established as a national park in 1940.  Moose and wolves inhabit the island but we saw neither. We did see and hear the distinctive call of the loons. More than 25 shipwrecks have occurred near Isle Royale.

On Monday we walked an additional half mile after we broke camp and headed up to the Toban Trail. Longer and gazillions of mosquitos, but an easier trail back to Rock Harbor. Lots of people on the island wearing mosquito head nets. It was a lot cooler walk today at 8 a.m. Pat's knee was bothering him and he complained today that I was walking too fast. Just can't please some people.

1.8 miles from Rock Harbor was a trail heading up to Suzis Cave. The question: Why didn't we climb the steep path to Susy's Cave? 

A) We were too tired.

B) We hurt too bad. 

C) We didn't care about anything any more. 

D) All of the above.

Someone showed us a picture of the cave. Wouldn't have been worth the walk. 

Beaver attack.

Pat and I were both sore after our 2-day, 10 mile or so backpacking trip. We looked forward to a hot shower and real food. I actually slept much better in the tent than the lodge, but Pat appreciated the bed.  For the price I expected more. It was pretty basic with 1950's decor. The lodge and most services on the island are run by a concessionair, as was the particular ferry we took. Just like us, their supplies are brought in and trash carried out by boat. We won't even talk about the $20 breakfast buffet!

The guest hut with minimal wifi, sometimes. Lots of well used games in here. Nice to see kids and families utilizing them.

Temperatures were a relief, low 70's. Wild fire smoke was not as bad here as when we were further south.

A lodge building.

Ranger II above is owned by the park service. It has been replaced by Ranger III for ferry service to Windico.

On our final morning I decided I wanted to go to Scoville Point on the east side of the island to see the Rock Harbor Lighthouse. A doable 4 mile round-trip hike that Pat decided to skip. I am very directionally challenged but I only got off-trail a time or two.🙂 Saw lots of moose poo but no moose. I was a bit surprised that I only met one other person when I was going up. With just a day pack, versus the 21 pound backpacking one, I was really moving too. Even with my reflection time and snack out on the the point, I was back in a little over two hours. I did so well, a few trips on roots or rocks but not one fall, until... the end sign, "Rock Harbor," maybe 20 feet from my destination Sure enough I caught my foot on a rock and down I went. Luckily I am no worse for the wear!

Since I saw nothing else in guessing this was one of the copper pits.

At Scoville Point the log cabin on the right is used when they have an artist in residence. 

The Rock Harbor lighthouse is on the other side of Rock Harbor, lol! Nice hike and view anyway.

These ducklings were so cute! We enjoyed watching them swim around a dock, dive under it, and come up flapping, over and over again. 

We checked out the building with artwork from previous artists-in-residence.

They had coloring pages of the former artists'pictures for kids to color and display. 

You could help yourself to berries on the island. People said they were really good but we saw none. Either they were further down the path or we weren't very observant. Thimbleberries are plentiful. They look similar to raspberries but are drier with a stronger taste. 

The first Copper Harbor Lighthouse was completed in 1849 and this one replaced it in 1861.

When the Isle Royale Queen IV returns from Rock Harbor each evening the staff at the Harbor Haus Restaurant in Copper Harbor welcomes them back.

Thimbleberries.

Chocolate with thimbleberry icing.

Glazed with thimbleberry icing and a giant s'more cookie for good measure!

Have to leave!

Slides in and we're ready to roll!

The last backpacking trip we took was over 10 years ago at Steven's State Forest in SE Iowa. It was epic! Krikkit came along and while we set up camp we secured her with a leash. I heard something behind me and she had chewed through her leash and was on my heels. Then when we were hiking she decided to lay down in a a cow pond. She smelled so horribly bad! We put her bed out in the vestibule but, no, she wasn't happy so she and her bed moved inside our 2-man tent. Next morning I'm on the tent floor and stinky Krikkit's stretched out on my sleeping bag and mat! 

FLASHBACK: 2012

Let's see, my knees don't support me like that anymore, but if I could squat like that with 20-30 pounds on my back I'd fall over on my face! I know because it happened to me on Isle Royale. Pat said he was tempted to just roll me over on my back and leave me! Instead he helped me up.

Same tent and backpacks.
Where are the Piepers now? Poplar Bluff, MO

Isle Royal (comprised of over 400 islands) is the least visited national park and the most revisited. (Isle Royale Part I)

I told you in 2021 that due to Covid we only made it to the visitor center at Isle Royale National Park (located in Houghton, MI, pronounced "Hoten").  Leaving Copper Harbor, on Saturday we took a 3 3/4 hour ferry (Isle Royale Queen IV) ride to the island. People-ferry that is, no cars on the island. Wow, are we glad we came back!! Met some nice people along the way. The island is just gorgeous.

Isle Royale is the largest island in the largest freshwater lake (Lake Superior)  in the world. 

Coming in to Rock Harbor.

They stressed how bumpy the ride on Lake Superior would be. I took dramamine to be safe, but compared to some ocean ferries we've been on this was smooth. After we landed at Rock Harbor they unloaded everyone's gear. If you were staying in the lodge your bags were delivered to your room for you. Those of us backpacking had our ranger briefing, then waited in line to get our permit to camp and, if needed, paid the National Park fee. To get a permit they helped you fill out an itinerary of the campgrounds (36 across the island) you planned to stay in. People stayed one night, like us, up to several nights. We met a Grandma who was hiking a week with her 6 year-old granddaughter. We retrieved our backpacks, and in our case, a duffle bag for our second night that would be at the lodge.

We took some time and rearranged. We had small packs we took with us on the ferry that we could also use as a day pack if needed. We put the day pack in our backpacking pack. We also filled up any partial bottles of water at Rock Harbor. Besides the National Park Ranger station, a store, gift shop, the lodge, a restaurant, and grill this was one of only 3 places on the island to get potable water. We were only camping one night, but staying much longer would require you to treat drinking water from Lake Superior or inland lakes or streams.

The next stop for us was the lodge office to drop off our duffle bag for our second night. For $4 per day we could leave it there. Well worth it over hiking with it! We were off. We hadn't hiked in so many years our 1st choice on our itinerary was the first campground, located a few feet from the dock. Heck, we might as well make it worth our while so why not go for the second one, 3 mile ( closer to 4 miles)?

Campground near Rock Harbor

It was mid afternoon by the time we started,  the sun was out, and it was hot (at least to me). Lots of roots, rocks, on the nearly 4 mile Rock Harbor Trail to "3 mile campground." It was pretty rugged, as everyone else seemed to think too. Pat said I whined. Based on its name, we kind of assumed it was a 3 mile hike. After 3.5 miles I was hot, sore, tired, moving slow, and done, but we did get there. First come first serve at the campgrounds. Some sites even had screened shelters and picnic tables. We didn't land a shelter or private tent site, but we ended up having a group site to ourselves. We set up the tent and we headed down to Lake Superior to chill our feet in the very cold water. Snack mix for dinner. We didn't want to carry cooking supplies for one night--every ounce makes a difference. I was asleep by 5 (think the dramamine from early contributed to that) just about the time the rain hit! I didn't get up until after 5 a.m. I woke up a few times because, despite what the ranger told us, it rained quite a bit. Don't think Pat slept as well as I did on our 1/2" thick backpacking mats. Could be it was a little snug in there too.

3 Mile Campground

Isle Royale Part II: I was feeling pretty good the next day (Monday) but Pat's knee was bothering him.

Where are the Piepers now? Chatham, IL