Isle Royale - Hike to Daisy Farm

On Saturday, September 15, we all got up fairly early, talked about the loons calling and the big thunderstorm, and the wolves that two of us heard, and walked over the restaurant for breakfast.  They were closing right after breakfast, and most of their crew had already left on the Ranger III.  The skeleton crew that was left had put out a buffet, and while it wasn't great, it was a pretty good meal considering what eating on the trail would be like.  After that, Rick dried his soaked sleeping bag in the Laundromat, we packed up, and we hit the trail.  With some wet gear, the group talked to me about heading to Daisy Farm for the night, where we could probably snag a shelter, instead of Lane Cove, which had tent sites only.  Given that the first three miles of the hike was identical, I put it under advisement, but was leaning their way.

Here was our track - 7 or so miles to Daisy Farm, starting at the red arrow and ending at the purple arrow.  Our planned destination, Lane Cove, was at the top center of the map.

The first part of the trail was heavily wooded, but soon enough,

we reached areas with nice water views.

A section of the trail was actually very rough and rocky, and kind of challenging.  We had to come back more or less the same way eventually, but were told that there was a much easier way back, which we kept in mind.  At one point, we reached a nice open area, where we loitered, and tried to dry our gear out.

Somewhere around this point, we encountered a hiker going the other way that told us that Candy and Rolfe Peterson, who had been involved in wolf and moose research on Isle Royale for over 40 years, would be speaking at Daisy Farm camp that night.  That sealed the deal for heading that way, and we continued back through the woods,

encountering some cool mushrooms, and

a Canada jay (until very recently, called a grey jay.)

We ate lunch at a campsite by the water at Three Mile camp, then pushed on.  We passed by the old Sikowit Mine site.  Wouldn't want to fall in there.  Copper mining was once a big endeavor here, first by native peoples, then by white settlers.

Then, we walked by a very large tree felled by a beaver into Lake Superior.  It had to be more than two feet in diameter!  We later learned that the beaver had built his home out next to an island.  This one tree would give him a very large food supply!

Next, we got views of the Rock Harbor Lighthouse.  It no longer operates, but if you have a canoe to get over there, I hear that there are great displays.

When we arrived at Daisy Farm, we felt we had made a good choice.  There were lots of free shelters - we snagged three for our group, and there were still empty ones.  We had easy access to the lake for drinking water.  Rick and I hung some of our stuff to air out and dry.

Here is what a shelter looks like, they sleep four comfortably and six easily.  Plus they have a screened in front.  Given the biting insects in the summer, this would be really valuable that time of year.

We enjoyed Candy Peterson's talk, which lasted about an hour.  She and her husband of 48 years, Rolfe, have had a remarkable life together here.  He now volunteers (she has almost always been an unpaid volunteer) on various wildlife projects, including moose, wolf, and beaver projects.  They live in a cabin across the cove for the summer, and canoe over twice a week to give this talk.  It was interesting to hear about how moose and wolves have interacted out here and been studied for decades.  Suffice to say, they don't have easy lives.  As she put it, the wolves continually give the moose an annual physical.  If they don't pass it, there is no second opinion.  There were only two wolves on the island when we were there, but since then, a couple more have been released as part of a reintroduction project. The goal is to have a more natural balance between moose, wolves, and the plants on the island.

If you want to be a part of this, check out Project Moose Watch.  It's not for the faint of heart, or the weak, or those who don't like discomfort, but maybe it is exactly your cup of tea!

We all hit the sack well before 9:00 ("Hiker Midnight") and slept through the night, except for another big thunderstorm that rolled through.

Prior story - Rock Harbor
Next story - McCargoe Cove