Isle Royale Info

Isle Royale Journal - Spring, 2013

This journal details a trip to Isle Royale National Park, in the Spring of 2013, through words, pictures and videos.

This is a preliminary outline of what I hope to be a full movie one day featuring videos, pictures and narration of the trip. This was truly a unique trip and, most likely, a once in a lifetime experience on the island due to the conditions.

Day Eight: Saturday, May 11th

9:10 am, 34° in shelter, 29.35” steady, steady:
I am just steeping my second pot of coffee. I slept in until 9:30. We were up late last night by a wonderfully warm fire. I came in around 1 am. We ate dinner and had some wine while sitting in front of the fire last night. It was great! Sure could use the heat this morning.

A lot has changed over the last 24 hours and I think it is all documented. So, I will just say that we are going back tomorrow. It was either that or stay until next Sunday as the Voyageur will not be coming out during the week for our scheduled pickup on Thursday. I think that is bullshit! We scheduled and paid for Thursday pickup and that should be it. I am not mad at Don as he is doing what needs to be done because the park service is telling people not to go to the island and they are cancelling. However, just because of cancellations, our "scheduled" pickup should not be cancelled. If it is weather related, a day early, or late, that is fine, not cancel a "scheduled" pick up and say leave 4 days early or stay 3 extra days. I am pissed about that! It sucks! Leaving Thursday would have been perfect for the end of the trip. The other thing is, those people are missing out on a once in a lifetime trip. I think the park service should be promoting that instead of scaring people away. They do not seem to care if people go to the island. Just my opinions at this moment. As I have said, it would have been too stressful staying until Sunday. It would have somewhat strained our supplies and, most importantly, probably caused problems at work. Oh well, there is nothing we can do. Nancy has suggested going up to Copper Harbor for a night and I think we may do that. Make some lemonade. Ok, done with that!

It is mostly cloudy. Well, all cloudy, except we just saw some blue sky and sun for about 30 seconds. The wind is gusting a bit and seems to be coming from a couple of directions. Well, I need to get going and do some work. I need to get the solar panels out to charge and change SD cards in the cameras. I think I will also walk down to the dock for a bit.

4:15 pm:
We are going for a walk out to the point at the west end of the island. It is still mostly cloudy, but at least there is no rain.

7:37 pm, 47° outside, 29.90" rising, rising:
We are still hunkered down in the shelter. The snow stopped at about 7 pm, but it is still cold and windy. In fact the wind seems to be coming from every direction at different times. This has been a great trip. Very different though, we did not do a single thing that was planned and only went to three places in seven days. Well, we did some side trips, but were limited by weather conditions and snow. We did not see a single soul until yesterday when Ranger Seth came over.
     
We have to look at the bright side of this trip. We might have had the whole thing cancelled. If not for the Wolf/Moose team being booked to come over I bet he would have cancelled our trip. In fact, when he called when we were going across the Upper Peninsula, my first thought was he was going to cancel on us.

8:30 pm:
The sky cleared up a bit and there were actually some blue patches of sky so, we got to see a small sunset. It was nice considering we were not expecting anything. However, it is still windy. We are going to fix dinner now. We will be hanging out and eating in the shelter tonight unless things change a great deal.

10:45 pm, 36°in shelter, 29.25” rising, rising:
I am finally warm! The wind is blowing intensely. Outside, it is very cold. Yet, we are all warm and snuggly. I believe Nancy is drifting off to sleep. The wind is blowing like crazy. It has been sometimes hard to hear each other even though we are side by side. This is the last night on the island. So sad, but it has been a very interesting trip.

11:02 pm, 37°in shelter, 29.35” rising, rising:
It is time to go to sleep. We have to paddle across to Daisy Farm tomorrow to catch the boat to go home. The barometer continues to rise so, that is at least a good sign for the morning. Goodbye my island!