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.
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