dharma Bum Trek 2017:
Quick view stats: 12 days on Isle hiking from Rock Harbor to Windigo via the Minong and back via Greenstone and other trails. 99.1 trail miles including day hike to Mt. Franklin from Rock Harbor.
5 or 6 moose sightings (I stopped counting after a while)
6 otter sightings (all at Moskey)
0 wolf..(did see fresh print on trail between Todd and Little Todd)
0 fox…(was bummed about that).
0 strawberries (a bit early for them)
12 or so morel mushrooms found along trail on the fly
5/28 Sunday: The old truck is loaded and waiting for the 350 mile drive to Copper Harbor. I force myself to wait until a respectable 8 am before waking my wife to say goodbye; I’ve been up since 5, giddy with anticipation to start the trip which I’ve been obsessing over for at least, 6 months. This will be my 3rd visit to the Isle. The brakes went bad (pads shot on one axle) the day before...no time to fix and no other transport options so we go with it remembering to avoid situations that require hard braking; normally do that anyhow.
The drive provides good one-on-one time with my son (18). We stop across the bridge (Mackinac) in Brevort for a taste of beef sticks and a wee bit of smoked trout. It’s good, though the trout is a little dry. Watch some idiot pass us and multiple others, narrowly missing head on with oncoming traffic. US 2 is dangerous to drive, even with all the passing lanes built over the years. I,m pleased when I can jog off it to fetch her northern sister (M 28) which sees less traffic.
The weather on this travel day is mixed bag; early on we run through light rain and heavy cloud cover...eventually, the sun comes out and it warms up. We stop at a roadside park to stretch our legs. Showing off, I manage to slip on slimy boulders and get my feet and pants wet. Luckily, I haven’t put on my brand new pair of Vasque backpacking boots yet (did wear them on a ten mile conditioning hike before the trip).
Another hour of driving and we fetch Houghton. There’s road construction across the bridge in Hancock and I flow to the right heading to Lake Linden and avoid the traffic back up. We eat and early dinner at the Loading Zone...plan had been to grill steaks at the CG, but weather looks iffy and I’m starving. The food is good and the beer is cold. Heavy rain reaches us as we eat; radar doesn’t look good for setting up camp.
We jog back up the ridge and re-join US 41 in Calumet for the remaining 40 mile drive north where the highway ends in Copper Harbor. Pulling into Fort Wilkinson SP, I drive dead slow...the munchkins have claimed the asphalt as their own: glassy eyes and drooling, slack jaws as they wander mindlessly around on sugar highs. It’s really just a $24 place to park my truck for the night, but we make the pretense of camping by setting up a popup canopy and setting our chairs out before wandering over to check out the fort and then across the highway to look upon Lake Superior. The heavy rains in Lake Linden peter out before Copper Harbor.
5/29 Monday: I’m up by 5 and have Thomas ready to go before 6. We drive to the Pines restaurant for breakfast. Have to wait until 6:30 for them to open. We eat omelets; not bad. It begins to rain again. I pay the lot attendant $30 and park at the dock. We take our gear down to the Queen and wait to board. There’s a lot of people waiting to board...I thought the busy season was in August. Even with a nearly full boat, the crew has thoughtfully stowed the packs below deck in the forward cabin. Turns out a good number of the passengers are bound for Mott Island as part of a research team. On board we share a table with the parents and grandparents of an 8 year old boy; overhearing their itinerary, I warn the boy about boot-stealing foxes at Daisy Farm and generally chat up his parents on the 3 hour ride to the Isle.
On IR, I wait in line to file our itinerary while Thomas fetches our packs. The Ranger gives ominous warning about the Minong; trail has been lost to beavers, still snow, have a map and compass and know how to use...yada, yada, yada (methinks he was being a drama queen as it turned out fine; we never lost the trail).
We hit the trail at 1, electing to start on the tobin trail to ease back into the island hiking conditions. My loaded pack with 48 ounces of water hovers at 35 lbs...not terrible considering I have 6 days of food in it. The trail is muddy and wet in sections and we’re still foolishly trying to avoid the worst of the water and mud. We overtake large groups of our fellow passengers...not that we’re in a big hurry, it’s just our typical hiking speed (slower than usual given the rough terrain).
We reach Daisy Farm by 4:30. I had been told site 3 was suitable for hanging...not true anymore; a tree fell over the winter. Thomas convinces me to take a shelter (he doesn’t want to set up in the rain) I survey the camp: tent sites 16 and 17 might manage a hammock and there’s one possible spot at group site 1...none of them are ideal. A couple of young, college graduates cruise past our shelter after I had chatted with them earlier...they had inquired on my son’s age and now they innocently ask him for directions to the outhouse. Good fun to see it unfold as I stifle a laugh.
I’m asleep in the shelter by 8:30 and sleep ok until 3:30 nature call. Toss and turn for another hour before giving up and heat water for coffee.
5/30 Tuesday: I wake to a humid 50 degrees and a breezy 10 mph NNW wind. Dawn isn’t very photogenic as there’s heavy cloud cover. We’re on the trail at 7:45 taking the DF Trail towards the Greenstone. It drizzles on and off. Just before we reach the Greenstone ridge, we have our first moose sighting; a bull. We spot another one a couple of miles down the Greenstone before the steep descent down to the East Chickenbone Lake trail junction. Past Chickenbone lake, we see large fresh prints of yet another moose; I make it a point to talk during the trek as I don’t want to surprise one on the trail.
Just before McCargo Cove we have a tricky water crossing...I’m pretty sure there use to be a bridge over it, but not now. There’s also a couple of huge poplar trees across the trail...fallen by those dam beavers!
We arrive at McCargo at 1:20. The sun is out and it’s reached 65 degrees. There’s a dead moose in the cove (later learned it had fallen through thin ice back in December). Trust your water filter! I set up my hammock at site 2, getting pine pitch on my straps in the process. The black flies have started coming out. I nap for a few hours before the screened in allure of a shelter overcomes me...I’m really too nice to my son. The CG will fill up and I don’t feel right about occupying two sites...not to mention it’s against the rules. One of our 64 ounce sawyer bags fail...luckily we have two but it means more trips collecting water at camp. I stress gentleness to Thomas. If the second bag fails, it becomes a major problem. I manage to stay awake until 10 and sleep until 5. There’s a gentle rain most of the night but clear by morning. Thomas neglected to clean his bowl and during the night a mouse helped clean out the remnants of dinner. He wakes to find the mouse left a couple of calling cards in his bowl...he doesn’t repeat that mistake again during the rest of the trip.
5/31 Wednesday: 45 degrees. We leave McCargo at a tick before 8:00 to start the “toughest trail in Michigan”. And the Minong is probably the toughest trail in Michigan...but that’s not saying much; I’m sure there’s tougher sections of the SHT and it doesn’t even start to compare to sections of the PCT, CDT or AT. But, it definitely has it’s share of hazards; the scramble up the rock faces can be deadly slippery when wet and a sturdy pair of trekking poles is required in my opinion (sturdy being the key word as you will put a lot of weight on them at times). I’ve own a headnet for six years and this was the first trip I ever used it. While my 25% deet bug spray kept the mosquitoes at bay, the black flies treated that stuff like crack cocaine...and the little *******s like to fly in under your glasses to go for the eyes! A good north breeze on the exposed ridge gave us some relief. On our way to Todd Harbor, I spot a Morel on the trail, about the size of my pinkie finger tip, but find a half dozen larger ones further down the line. I pick them on the fly.
We reach Todd Harbor at 11:30. There’s several suitable sites for hammocks, 4 being the best except it’s right next to the community fire ring. I take site 1, but shouldn’t have. One tree turned out to have too shallow of a root ball and I felt it begin to pull out of the ground when I tested the hammock, I then swung my hammock out over the entrance trail to hang off a sturdier tree...woke the next morning to realize that tree, covered in old man”s beard, was quite dead. YIKES! Todd harbor is amazing. We spend the afternoon lollygagging on warm rock outcroppings next to the Haywood (?) mine. I expect a spectacular sunset and I’m not disappointed. Before sundown, I wander over to the fire ring to chat with the second group of college kids and their guide, a professor about the same age a me (there’s two groups of 5 from a college in Indiana). They have a sorry fire burning, so I find some suitable wood for them to burn, about an hours worth. The sun doesn’t set until 10, so I go to bed relatively late. I sleep really good and wake at 6...could have slept more, but the trail was calling.
6/1 Thursday: my knee and hip aches, the trek over rock is starting to take it’s toll...at least my feet are still blister free and they remain so for the whole trip. I purposely selected non waterproof boots for their breathability and although mud and water did seep into my boots at times, they dried fairly quick and my feet remained mostly dry. I pop an Anvil with breakfast. We don’t get on the trail until 9:20. We are the last to break camp. Right after we start, we have to break out our rain gear as a light rain begins. The rain would nag us for a couple of hours and then it got hot and humid out. The section between Todd and Little Todd is mostly wooded with perhaps the most technical two water crossings on the whole trail. We catch up to the college kids before the hardest of the crossings. We watch the kids cross, taking notes and then cross ourselves. Midstream, I remember the $600 of camera gear strapped to my chest and start to panic, but force the worry out of my mind and continue crossing without incident. We reach the junction to Little Todd before noon. Our itinerary calls for us to camp there, but the day is young and we want to hike on. We take a long break, making lunch and filtering water. We mistakenly keep our rain gear on which helps with the bugs, but would soon become untenable for the second leg of the hike. We get back on the trail at 1.
The section of the Minong between Little Todd and Washington Creek offers the most views...glorious views of Canada and maybe the arrowhead of Minnesota as you get closer to Washington Creek. But you have to earn those views.
We quickly climb up onto exposed ridge. The temperature climbs into what feels like the 80s and the breeze is light. After meeting two women coming from N. Desor, I decide it’s time to lose some clothing; I no sooner begin to strip down to my skivvies when a third woman comes by...oops.
The hike to Desor is long and hot, I begin to doubt we’ll ever reach camp and in fact, run out of water a mile before the junction. We finally reach camp at 5:30, our slowest section yet. There are 3 sites at Desor. Site 1 and 3 offer good hang options. 3 is the preferred as 1 had wet section. After we filter water and set camp, I notice the couple in site 2 have strung up a hammock using birch trees. I can’t sit by idle without warning them of the danger. As politely as I can, I enter their camp and explain my concerns making new friends in the process: young couple originally from Traverse City, now residing in Marquette.
Thomas wants a second dinner, so I direct him to make some ramen noodles. I know he’s tired when he tips the pot off the stove, spilling noodles in the process. Cursing up a storm, he salvages what he can and promptly goes to bed after eating his second meal. I have fired up a borrowed twig stove in attempt to smoke out the bugs...it’s marginally successful. It rains again during the night.
6/2 Friday: I wake to watch the sun rise kind of over the lake. Love my early mornings nowadays. Thomas...not so much. My new friends wake much later than I do, but still break camp and depart 30 minutes before us. I admire their efficiency. We aren’t on the trail until 9:20. The first ½ mile up to the Minong races by as Thomas seems to be on a mission; I gamely attempt to keep up. The first step climb finds me lagging way behind as I have to rest midway up the climb...this would be the theme of the day. Guess I didn’t lay off the cigarettes soon enough before the trip to give my hemoglobin time to regenerate fully. I have carefully studied the map and know me must resupply our water at the second stream crossing, approximately 5 miles into the 12.6 mile hike...there’s other water opportunities close to Windigo, but a long dry stretch in between. More exposed ridge for much of the trek and you don’t want to come up short.
It”s a long day with ups and downs and a couple of fun beaver dam crossings thrown in for good measure. We catch up to my friends 8 miles into the day and pass them by.
We’re a day ahead of schedule and we consider hitting Huginnin Cove as we really want to camp there, but by the time we reach the junction the prospect of hiking that extra mile is too much to entertain...besides, I’ve been thinking and hoping the store in Windigo might be open ahead of schedule and I’m looking forward to a cold beer and a cigarette (my vape system isn’t satisfying my strong desire for nicotine). We reach Washington Creek at 4:30, stash our packs in a shelter and make our way into Windigo to find the store open! One cold windowmaker, a box of cookies and a few cigarettes later, I’m recovered enough to survey the campground. Site 12 and group sites 1 and 2 will support a hang. We stay in the shelter for convenience of leaving our food unattended and safe from red squirrel thievery. Our food drop won’t arrive until 10:30 the next morning and we’re quite undecided whether to take a zero or not. There’s a problem with the water heater and the store won’t sell shower tokens. Thomas is greatly distressed over this. My friends arrive about 45 minutes after our arrival and I’m happy to clue them in about the availability of cold beer.
6/3 Saturday: I witness another sunrise and quietly wander around Windigo as my batteries for my vape system recharge at the bathroom. There’s a couple of sailboats tied to the dock with one of the occupants sleeping on the concrete dock, wrapped in their sleeping bag...and I thought the wood floors of the shelters were hard to sleep on.
I let Thomas sleep as long as he wants since we’re waiting for our food supply. I have greatly misjudged our snack supply; while we have plenty of dinners, we could use more calorie dense snacks. Unfortunately, the store doesn’t have much for options as I don’t get much value from pop tarts. I purchase a can of Pringles and some pepperoni flavored sausage pieces to augment our food stores. After sorting out our food drop and making a large dinner/lunch, we decide it’s time to hit the trail and head out towards Island Mine at 12:30. The climb out of Windigo isn’t particularly steep, especially after hiking the Minong, but it’s a relentless climb and I quickly worked up a sweat. There were quite a few other hikers ahead of us, fresh off the Voyageur II. I sent Thomas ahead to secure a campsite as being so late in the day, I couldn’t imagine this crowd going further than Island Mine. I eventually caught and passed all of them and reached camp at 3:20, maybe 15 minutes behind my son. There was only one small group in camp and Thomas had selected site 3 which had lots of hanging options and lots of good tent pads. I was prepared to offer up the open spots to overflow but only had a father and son duo arrive shortly after we did and a single hiker late in the evening. I no sooner had camp set when the rain came...I climbed into the hammock and had a good 4 hour nap. Waking at 8 in the evening for a late dinner and a small fire. We had a nice window of dry weather before the rain came back after dark. The rain did wonders in lulling me into a deep sleep.
6/4 Sunday: departed Island Mine at 9:15, cruising through the sugar maple forest along the Greenstone for easy hiking, arriving at S. Desor at 11:30. My hang options were lousy: no groups were there, so we set up at group site 1, well away from the individual sites. I made it work stringing my hammock up on some young poplar trees which bowed in a little when I got in the hammock...that was ok and still quite safe, but it loosened up my tarp lines when I did. One gem to the group sites: the lake access at site one has sand bottom versus rock, making it ideal to swim at which I was almost ready to do until the weather changed and I heard thunder in the distance. The rain never reached us. I realized we’re not well suited for zero days or even nero days as I had too much time to be restless around camp. Attempted to wash my hiking shirt and pants with marginal success. The shirt still stank to high heaven and the pants were still caked in mud on the bottom of the pant legs. Lake Desor...de sore legs and de sore feet!
6/5 Monday: the sagging tarp didn’t help my system, woke to find my hammock slightly wet. Thomas claims it rained during the night, but if it did, I didn’t hear it. We break camp and are on the trail by 8:10. More cruise control as we stroll along the Greenstone with a few vistas to break up the monotony of woods.
We hit the Hatchet Lake junction at 11:50...our itinerary calls for going back to Todd Harbor. We decide to tighten down the straps and do a 15 mile day making for W. Chickenbone and off script. The map doesn’t show a nearby stream, so Thomas walks the ½ mile down to Hatchet for water while I set my tarp and his fly out to dry. I had discovered my tarp will fit into side pocket and helps keep the weight closer to my body making for easier hiking. Still, it’s nice to take some water weight off. We get going again at 1:10 for another 7.5 miles to W. Chickenbone CG. This is the first time we’ve hiked this section of the Greenstone. It’s a mix of woods and ridges affording more vistas.
Sadly, the map doesn’t show a good running stream less than a mile from the Hatchet lake junction. Had we known, Thomas could have saved a mile walk. With probably 3 miles left, I tell Thomas not to bother waiting for me to catch up. I worry about finding a site capable of hanging my hammock, knowing my arrival will be late. I meet back up with Thomas as I roll into camp at 5...tired and sore and now have spasms in my upper back. I’ve lost weight during this trek and have to constantly tighten up my straps as the loosen up...I might have neglected doing this some and the pack was bouncing around a bit, explaining the back spasms. Food and Advil soon have me feeling better. Surprisingly, the camp is deserted. There are two good sites for hammocks at W. Chickenbone; 1 and 6, with 1 being the better choice.
We have the place to ourselves...which is probably a good thing when Thomas curses up a bluestream at 6 am because a red squirrel is chattering away and wakes him. We have now hiked most of the Greenstone with the exception of the far eastern end. I spend time wandering around the camp, shooting photos and such. Just as the sun set behind the ridge a cow wades in the lake 250 yards from camp. I have my big lens on shooting like crazy, hoping I manage some usable shots in the low light. All the while mosquitoes are feasting on my exposed hands.
Hiker midnight comes at 9:30 and I sleep soundly until 6 when the crazy red squirrel starts chattering away. Birdsong, I can sleep through...squirrel chatter, I can’t.
6/6 Tuesday: I’m done with the greenstone. We are two days ahead of schedule, so a short hike to Moskey basin is the new goal. Moskey is a favorite of mine even tho the hanging options suck. We fart around in no particular hurry and don’t hit the trail until 9:50.
It’s a short easy hike and soon we’re taking a break at Lake Ritchie, where I begin to survey the sites but meet a ranger LEO and become distracted with conversation. I think there’s one site capable of supporting a hammock there. After my chat with the ranger, we put our packs back on and hike the remaining couple of miles to Moskey, reaching it at 12:15. There’s a marginal hang spot at site 6 and group site 2, but I take a shelter as it’s location is prime with strong sunlight on rock warming things up. A breeze off the water keeps the mosquitoes and blackflies at bay until dusk...but they lay in wait in the woods and at site 6. We rest. We putter around. I drink coffee and shoot more photos hoping for some good shots of a fox and the otters that hang out in the basin. The fox is a no show and the otters mess with me, coming up to my shelter while I’m in the middle of filling water bottles. I manage one shot of a single late arrival as he cruises past. Hiker midnight comes shortly after second dinner.
6/7 Wednesday: I wake up at 4:30 and notice the approaching sunrise as I boil water for coffee. I suggest Thomas wake up to witness this. The full moon is slung low in the west and the Morning Star is bright in the the southeast. I shoot a hundred shots trying to capture the changing light and color of the sky. It’s a marvel to witness and highly recommended.
After the sun rises, we eat our breakfast and consider our options. It’s 12 miles to civilization and I want a burger, a beer and most of all, a shower. The trail can be nicely divided into 3 segments, all more or less 4 miles.We pack up and hit the trail at 6:50. I had the means and the motive to murder that trail! Short breaks at Daisy Farm and 3 mile and I reach Rock Harbor CG at 11:30.
The $6.00 shower seems like the best five minutes of my life. The burger is okay. The beer is kind of a let down. There are two sites at RH capable of hosting a hammock. I take site 10 and barely squeeze my 12’ tarp between the trees; had to put smaller carabiners on the ridgeline.
6/8 Thursday: I let Thomas sleep until 8 and then suggest we hit the cafe for breakfast. We order eggs, bacon and potatoes. The serving size on the potatoes is kind of a joke. We have to order another item each to satisfy our appetite. Technically, you’re only allowed to spend one night at RH, but the while the shelters seem to be in high demand, the tent sites don’t have any other occupants. I figure nobody will call us out for staying our last night there. Instead of breaking camp, I load our food (can’t give the thieves a chance) and water into my pack for a 9 mile day hike to MT. Franklin, another one of my favorite places to visit on the island. The view, as always is spectacular and we hang out for a while before heading back to camp. The return trip, my feet start to ache and the back spasm comes back. It’s time to go. The trek was great, but I’m done. I look forward to home.
6/9 Friday: it’s a long wait for the boat departure at 2:45. We eat lunch at the cafe and I spent too much money on gifts for the family, plus a t-shirt for myself. The Lake is kind to us on the return trip, fairly smooth even though the swells rocked the boat enough that I didn’t want to read. I paced, wandered out onto the fantail several time to smoke with a half dozen other smokers. Holding my breath, hoping like hell nobody flicked their butt overboard...I’d probably have gone postal on them. But the sweet thing I noticed about Isle Royale is the decency of all the visitors.
Now, if you’ve read this far, I’m going to state that this’ll be my last trip to Isle Royale where I take a hammock. In my opinion, it’s not a good place to hang:
--First, the isle is one large rock with scant soil. The tree root system is shallow, gripping rock to stay upright.
--Second, with few exceptions, the trees at the campgrounds are mainly Birch, Poplar and Balsam Fir. the fir with its tender bark is really the only option to hang from.
--Third, I’d be better off with a really good inflatable pad and a lightweight tent.
If you haven't seen enough photos, I also posted a slideshow.
https://youtu.be/9VRqlNAeNfk
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Originally Posted by alifeoutdoors
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