Isle Royale, Day Four - 2026

 It seemed like as soon as we fell asleep after our star gazing, I was awoken by the sounds of grunting not too far away, followed by a great crashing of trees.  I was AWAKE.  Were we going to have a moose in our campsite?  I called to my dad to wake him, and we sat and listened to the noises.  As it turns out, the moose was across the lake, the sound was just traveling extremely well.  At one point, it sounded as if the bull moose was sparring horns with another bull.  The grunting went on nearly all night.  Without the fear that I'd be trampled by a moose in the night, I eventually fell asleep amidst the noise.

It was Monday morning, and it was chilly.  Clear skies meant colder weather, but it also meant breathtaking sunrises, and we had a good one.

Today's plan was to hike nearly eleven miles to McCargoe Cove.  To get there, we'd first have to hike up and away from Hatchet Lake. We were in good spirits, and the trail was not too difficult.  By 10:30am, we had arrived at Todd Harbor.  This was another camping option, but we planned to just make a pitstop there before continuing on.

And then we were back among the gigantic thimbleberry bushes.  We were amazed daily at the height of these plants and often wondered what the trails looked like in springtime before everything was so mature.

From Todd Harbor to McCargoe Cove, we hiked along the Minong Ridge.  This ridge is not as high in elevation as the Greenstone, and there was so much fungus among us, as I like to say!

The trail was a bit rocky, but more "cruise-y" than anything, and we enjoyed the easier hiking.  The sun was shining but there was still a chill to the air.

The trail was not completely without difficulty, though, and we climbed higher along the ridge.  The reward for all of that climbing was an amazing view of the world below!

By mid-afternoon, we arrived at the McCargoe Cove campground.  I had read that there was a shelter here, but I wasn't really interested in staying in a shelter.  Then I realized there were six shelters.  Six!  And they were clean and nice and fully screened in.  I had never seen such a thing, having only experienced shelters on the AT and NCT that were often small, three-sided, and riddled with mice.  There was a shelter available with a lovely view of the harbor, and we claimed it.  No tent camping for us tonight, we were sleeping in style!

There were a few other people staying there in the shelters, but overall, it was quiet and peaceful.  While Dad went down to the lake to gather water, I stayed in the shelter to get cleaned up.  I glanced up to see a fox not too far away.  I got up to take a closer look, and the little creature trotted right up to the shelter!  He was not bothered at all by me, and we chatted a while before he took off down towards the lake.

We ate dinner outside of our shelter, but it was not warm in the shade of the trees!  We ate quickly and then I decided to make some apple cider to warm my insides.  The sun was still shining down on the dock, so I bundled up and sat out in the warmth until it dropped down below the tree line.

By 7:30pm, we were both too cold to not be in our sleeping bags anymore.  Preparing for sleep each night had been quite the ordeal for my dad.  Inside of our bags we were using liners to add some extra warmth.  He had the hardest time getting inside his liner and then inside his bag and getting everything zipped up and comfortable.  It usually took him a good twenty minutes to finish the whole process.  Obviously, I had to make fun of him every single night, and also obviously, I was highly annoying to him.