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| Another day of action and adventure dawns in Isle Royale National Park. |
A Yellowstone tour guide once told me:
“Get out on the trails and you’ll have the park all to yourself, because most of the tourists spend all of their time in the gift shops and bathrooms.”
In Isle Royale National Park it’s exactly the opposite. People go to Isle Royale to experience the outdoors and immerse themselves in it. Everywhere you look you see backpacks, kayaks, canoes, day packs, hiking poles.
Visitors to Isle Royale don't snap selfies from scenic overlooks or drive around gawking at the sights. They don't drive at all, because the park prohibits motor vehicles. If you want to experience Isle Royale you'll have to walk or paddle your way around. Because of this, Isle Royale has one of the longest visitation averages (the amount of time a visitor stays) in the country.
Although the 45 mile-long island boasts 165 miles of trails and is dotted with backcountry campgrounds Tim and I didn't bring our backpacking gear on this trip. We stayed in Rock Harbor Lodge on the eastern end of the island. From the lodge we accessed the park's trail system, rented a canoe, and booked an excursion on the Sandy, a 30 person sightseeing boat.
In my previous post I explained how to get to Isle Royale National Park. The following photos will help to answer the question posed in this post's title.
Sightseeing
The Sandy offers sightseeing tours to remote parts of the island and to various off-shore islands. We chose a half-day excursion on the Sandy to Moskey Basin, home to Rock Harbor Lighthouse and the Wolf-Moose Research Center.
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| The Sandy (green and white boat) is docked in front of Rock Harbor Lodge. |
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| The research project documenting the interaction between wolves and moose on the island is the longest continuous study (almost 60 years) of any predator-prey system in the world. |
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| Every antler tells a story. Researcher Candy Peterson shares her stories from 40 years of researching the moose-wolf dynamic on Isle Royale. |
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| The trail to the lighthouse passes through a green-glowing moss-lichen forest. |
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| Rock Harbor Lighthouse heralds the entrance to Rock Harbor passage. |
Hiking
We hiked trails to the east and west of Rock Harbor Lodge. Some trails hug the shoreline of Lake Superior or inland bays, others traverse the deep woods of the island's interior.
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| Elevated boardwalks on the Scoville Point trail resemble balance beams. Here I'm perfecting my Simone Biles (US Gold-medal winning gymnast) impersonation. |
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| Scoville Point is the easternmost point on Isle Royale. After reaching the point we take a break to read and relax. |
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| Along the Tobin Harbor Trail Tim stops to watch a loon and her chick. If you've never heard the call of a loon in the wild you are missing out on one of the great things about being alive. |
Paddling
Isle Royale is a paddler's paradise. You can chose to circumnavigate the island or paddle the many miles of inland lakes, streams and coves.
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| No, these fancy stream-lined kayaks aren't ours. The Ranger III transported these vessels to the island for two men from Michigan, who planned to spend a week exploring the island. |
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| Tim and I rented this canoe and paddled the relatively calm waters of Tobin Harbor. |
I have to add that a unique aspect to this park is the absence of cell service. That's right, no cell service anywhere on the island, even in the lodge and visitor center. I noticed something extraordinary while walking the footpaths and trails of Isle Royale—people looking up instead of down, truly noticing their surroundings, engaging with those around them instead of with people far, far away. It was so social. And so pleasant.
Isle Royale may not have the grand scenery of a Yellowstone, Yosemite or Grand Canyon. But the entire park is designated wilderness and it's a place that invites visitors to get out of the indoors, to explore and discover the world around them.
6 comments:
Rita, your eagerly-awaited follow-up blog posting was such an enjoyable read! It surely sounds like there are plenty of really fun things to do that I would enjoy, such as hiking, paddling, and sightseeing.
Also, Isle Royale sounds like my kind of place in that everywhere you look, there are backpacks, kayaks, canoes, day packs, hiking poles. IMHO, it’s so much better to have those sorts of things dominate the scene, versus neon signs, fast-food restaurants, automobile traffic, etc, etc
And yes, I totally agree that if you've never heard the call of a loon in the wild you are missing out on one of the great things about being alive. I’ve had the good fortune of hearing this haunting sound on the lakes of NH and ME.
Fabulous report about a fabulous place!
John
Thanks for your kind words, John. It was fun to write this follow-up post and re-live the experience of visiting this wilderness park.
I agree totally about the "visual chaos" that is prevalent in so many gateway towns. Sometimes you can't tell whether or not you're in a national park or in a shopping center!
I think you would really enjoy the setting and the activities in Isle Royale—put it on your bucket list!
It sounds like a marvelous place to vacation, Rita, and your photographs tell me you and Tim took full advantage of everything it offered. I've always wanted to hear a loon, and the idea of no cell service is appealing to me. I'll want to hear more about it when next we visit.
The Isle Royale experience was unique. And part of the appeal was the "disconnection" of the island. Yes, the park service had a satellite phone to use if you needed it, but otherwise the park was blissfully free of any distractions.
I sincerely hope you'll hear the haunting call of a loon in the wild sometime. There's nothing like it.
And, I'm looking forward to our next visit!
Hi Rita,
Enjoying catching up on your posts after an eventful move and adopting a puppy! About to have a nervous breakdown, so Isle Royale sounds just about perfect right now. :)
So glad you made it through the seasickness and got to enjoy such a spectacular park visit. The wolves and moose research sounds really fascinating - they must keep a fairly balanced population of both on the island for one group not to die out.
Loved the glowing moss path to the lighthouse.
So glad you and Tim had this chance to unplug and spend time hiking and paddling!
Hi Vickie!
It was a great experience to unplug in Isle Royale National Park.
The moose and wolf populations were well-balanced until recently. Now, the absence of a frozen lake surface during most winters has resulted in no new migration of wolves from mainland Canada to the island. Because of this the wolves are inbreeding and dying out. For some reason, the park service has been slow to address this problem. It would be awful to lose the dynamic predator-prey relationship on Isle Royale.
Well, speaking of the dog family, congratulations on your move and on your new puppy! Yes, puppies are a lot of work, but I assure you that it WILL get better.
Happy Thanksgiving Vickie!
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