Isle Royale, Day Eight - 2026

 We awoke before sunrise, thanks to Dad's bladder.  And if Dad wakes up, he's waking up everyone trying to get out of his sleeping bag.  (If you know, you know.  Haha!)  It had been a quiet night, with just the sound of waves crashing on the Superior shoreline.  I had nothing to cook for breakfast, so I stayed in my bag a little longer while my dad cooked outside.

We packed up our gear slowly, in no particular rush.  The check-in for our departure was not until 2pm, so we had plenty of time.  Finally, we were ready to go.  As we stepped outside, it simultaneously started to rain!  So, we decided to hunker down in the shelter a bit longer.  It wasn't a heavy rain, but there was no point getting wet if we didn't have to.  

An hour later, the rain had passed and it was time to say goodbye to our little shelter.  We headed down to the docks, where they had metal cages designed to hang your packs safely away from critters and creatures while you waited for your boat.  We hung our packs and decided to explore a bit.

In an effort to prevent my seasickness from returning, I decided not to eat anything after having breakfast.  It was going to be a long day.  Aside from food, I couldn't wait to take a shower and exfoliate.  I'm here to tell you, after Day Six, everything just gets pretty unbearable, hygiene-wise.

We took a short hike north along the lakeshore, reading little signs here and there about the island's history. 

 Then, we hung out on the dock, waiting for the morning boat to arrive from Copper Harbor.  This would be one of the final groups of visitors to come to the island, as everything was shutting down in just a few days.  When the group disembarked, I was surprised to see 40 people had come over just for the day.  I just couldn't comprehend taking a 3.75 hour boat ride to spend less than three hours on the island and then taking the 3.75 hour boat ride back!  There was also a good group of backpackers excited and ready to start their adventures.

Eventually, it was our time to board the boat.  Packs were loaded, the captain huddled us once again to go over some rules, and then we were onboard.  Dad had some anti-nausea medication stashed in his pack and we each took a pill. I am not sure why he didn't have that available at the beginning of the trip!  Hopefully the lake would be calmer today and the pill would help us have an uneventful trip home.

The boat was nearly full, and we found ourselves sitting with Jim, our campsite companion from the first day!  We chatted with him the entire boat ride home.  He held a plethora of knowledge about the island, having been there 23 times since 2007!  He had some great stories to tell.

I am happy to report that Lake Superior was so kind to us.  There was barely a ripple on the lake the entire ride home and we made excellent time.  My stomach was calm and I arrived back in Copper Harbor safe and sound.  

We made quick work of picking up our gear and getting out of there.  We planned to drive all the way to our cabin, and that was more than six hours away!  It would be a late night.  As the sun went down, the full, harvest moon rose and lit up the sky.  What a perfect ending to an amazing trip!

I am so thankful that my dad wanted to take this adventure together!  At the age of 75, he truly did something epic!  We had so many laughs and not one tear!  Isle Royale is truly an amazing place and the memories we made will last a lifetime.  

Isle Royale, Day Seven - 2026

 Once again, we were awake before the sunrise.  There was a chill in the air, and the sound of distant waves crashing onto the shore could be heard.  Today we'd be hiking the seven miles from Daisy Farm to Rock Harbor.  We planned to stay in a shelter there and just do a little day hiking the next day before leaving the island.  

The best part about it being Day Seven was that our food was nearly gone, making our packs much lighter than when we started!  I joked that my pack was "light and fluffy" as I threw it on my back for the day.

We'd be following the Lake Superior shoreline trail all day today.  I had heard this trail was a bit more difficult than some of the other interior trails, and that was correct information.  It was slow-going.  Tripper was living up to his name this morning, and his poles saved him many times. The sun was shining, though, and being so close to the lake meant that we'd get to see the famous Rock Harbor lighthouse, as well as the small boats heading out to their various destinations for work.

We hadn't had any wolf activity overnight, but we would be hiking right through a very prevalent area for them.  They had left their marks in several places.

Isle Royale has been the site of many mining operations through the years, and we passed through an area where there were warning signs of old mines.  We made sure to stay directly on the trail in this area!

After four challenging miles of ascents, descents, and so, so many rocks, we came to Three Mile campground.  We stopped on the dock there for a pack and snack break.  Clouds had rolled in and it was chilly there without the sun.  I hurried Dad along, much to his dismay, and we were off again.

Although the hike was difficult and technical, it was beautiful both along the shoreline and when the trail climbed high above it.  We stopped several times to take in the views.

After three more miles, we arrived in Rock Harbor and had our pick of shelters for the evening.  I didn't know how busy this area would be, as many people plan to stay here the night before leaving.  We chose a shelter facing the lake, and were happy to find clean, potable water just 50 yards from our shelter, provided by the park via a faucet.

This shelter was filled with messages from past hikers, and we loved walking around, reading about their journeys as well as little funny tidbits here and there.  These little baby feet had been carved into the wood as we entered the shelter!

Again, it was chilly in the shelter, and well, it was chilly in the sun, too.  But I bundled up and opted to sit in the sun for a tiny bit of warmth.  There were raspberry bushes outside, and my dad found a few berries left that were edible.  Then I chatted with a little squirrel about his day while he searched for tiny crumbs of food.

Within an hour of us arriving at the shelter, all of the other shelters had filled up!  The campground was now bustling with activity.  I was glad we had gotten an early start to the day!

The afternoon and evening played out much like the day before.  Dad had his afternoon coffee, and at dinnertime, we cooked our meals and ate them in our sleeping bags to keep warm.  After dinner, we played gin rummy once again, and I was dubbed "Champion of All World Champions" after beating my dad three games to two.  Victory!  And then it was too dark to see, so we crawled way down in our bags and drifted off to sleep one more time on Isle Royale.

Isle Royale, Day Six - 2026

At some point, the wind disappeared completely and everything was so still. Aside from a loon who called off and on all night, there was absolutely no noise. We tried to sleep in, as we had an easy hiking day ahead and it was a chilly 38° outside of our sleeping bags, but 12 hours lying down is pretty much my limit! I took a walk down to the lake and it was sheer glass with the sun coming up through the trees. I’ve never seen Lake Superior so calm! 

We took our time getting packed up and made oatmeal for breakfast, which was a nice treat after having breakfast bars every day so far. The sun was warming things up quickly and we were ready to leave Moskey Basin and head for Daisy Farm.

The hike up and away from Moskey was stony and difficult; it was a slow go. We stopped after only a mile to strip off layers of clothing.  We kept at it, with seemingly more ups than downs. The day was sunny and bright, and we stopped after another mile to rest in the shade on a big rock. 

The last two miles continued on along the shoreline and then dropped down towards the lake. Once we arrived at Daisy Farm, we went in search of a shelter. This campground was also one of those closed to tent camping, but there were 16 shelters here to choose from!  The first three we came to were occupied, and out of one, a man came rushing out to warn us of a wolf that had been pestering him and did not seem to be afraid of his shouts and banging of things. We hustled onward and thankfully the last shelter on the shore was available. We ducked inside and dropped our packs, our heads on swivels searching for the mangy wolf. 

We sat inside, arranging our gear and made some coffee to warm us. It was chilly in the shelter, but we were leery of coming out into the sun with the wolf nearby. We continued to hear the man yelling and clapping at the wolf. I wondered if it would visit us, too. 

After a while, things died down and we decided to go out to the lake for water. The sunshine felt so nice and we let our guard down and sat and picked rocks for several hours in the warmth. 

Over on the dock, while a couple people fished, one brave soul jumped off into the icy water and then scrambled back up the ladder. 

We decided to cook our meals inside the shelter that evening due to the wolf situation.  I had no interest in fighting a wolf for my dinner and less interest in losing my dinner altogether to a wolf!  It was chilly in the shelter away from the sun, so after we cooked our food, we climbed into our sleeping bags to dine.  

It was still quite early, but we were too cold to do anything outside of our sleeping bags, so we played gin rummy until it was too dark to see our cards.

Isle Royale, Day Five - 2026

 It was the coldest morning yet and we did not want to get out of our sleeping bags.  I had not worn enough clothing to bed, and I was pretty sure my toes were frozen solid.  We layered on all of our clothing to pack up and make breakfast. It is really hard to function with frozen fingers, and we alternated warming them and doing our daily tasks.  

At various times of the previous night, I heard the distant call of a bull moose around the lake and now and then the hoo-hoo-hoo-hooooo of an owl. I don't think I'll ever tire of sleeping next to Lake Superior.

Before leaving the shelter, I had to take note of some of the words left behind by other hikers.  Writing and/or carving on shelter walls is prohibited, but many hikers still leave their marks.

It took two good miles of steady hiking for me to warm up even the slightest bit. The sky was a bright blue, but the fog lingered for a long time, and I am quite sure the plants were not happy to be covered in frost.

Today we were headed back across the island to Moskey Basin, which meant we would cross over both the Minong Ridge and the Greenstone Ridge. Early in the day, we were mostly at lower elevations, which meant lots of water and water crossings. We were not a fan of these skinny footbridges we had to cross, but I guess it was better than wading through water!

We stopped for a mid-morning break at the West Chickenbone campsites and hung out by the water in the sunshine. Everyone here had already packed up and left for the day, so we had the place to ourselves. 

There were signs of moose everywhere and I really hoped we'd see another one!

Hiking up and over the Greenstone Ridge was a little difficult and my dad took several breaks.  His pack was wearing on him today.

The day had finally warmed up a bit, and we were settling into it.  This sure was a beautiful place, and although I knew there were at least a couple hundred people on the island, we rarely saw another soul outside of the campgrounds.

As we were hiking past Lake Richie, we decided to take a pack break.  Pack breaks are the best, and this was a particularly lovely spot to stop.  We were ahead of schedule and had plenty of time to dawdle.

We arrived at Moskey Basin via a brand-new footbridge and even got to thank a team of workers who were out there constructing another new one.  I am sure with the wear and tear the island gets from visitors as well as the extreme winters, the upkeep of footbridges is a full-time job.

We were happy that there was an open shelter for us, since no tent camping is allowed at Moskey Basin due to high wolf activity.  People, if you leave your food, trash and smellables out where wolves can get to them, they will get to them, and then they get used to having that access and it becomes a real problem.  There are currently four campsites and many backcountry campsites closed on the island due to a high increase in wolf incidents.  Nobody wants a wolf incident.  

Arriving midday meant we had a lot of spare time, and we found a nice spot out of the wind to lay on the rocks and soak in the sun. Dad even soaked his feet in Lake Superior! 

Back at the shelter, the wind was blowing straight in off the lake, so we decided to hang both of our tents as wind blockers, and they did a great job! We tucked in right behind our makeshift wall and were warm and cozy in our little ramshackle shelter.