Isle Royale National Park

Mulligan.  In a word, that best describes our visit to Isle Royale.  We made it to the island, but a persistent fog encased much of the UP that day and we never saw more than 50-100 feet in front of us at any given point in the day. A do-over is in order!

Bad weather has dogged our journey since we left Nebraska on September 7.  We fell asleep the night of the 6^th in beautiful early fall weather on the headwaters of the mighty Missouri river and woke up on the 7^th to a foggy morning misted over with rain.   It has been foggy, overcast and rainy since – with brief periods of clear skies and gusty winds. 

Our journey from Nebraska took us through Iowa, up through Minnesota (to Voyaugers National Park) across the upper peninsula (UP) of Michigan for a visit to Mackinac Island and then up to the top of the UP and Copper Harbor; launch point for Isle Royale.

Planning the Isle Royale visit was a chore.  It turns out the “season” ends on September 14 and if you want to visit after that you have very limited transportation options.  For us it boiled down to three options.  One, take the ferry for a day trip.  This is a silly option because the ferry is 3.5 hours each way and only stops at the island for 3 hours.  Two, take the ferry and camp for 5 days until the next scheduled ferry arrives to take you back to the UP.  Three, take a float plane to the island, weather permitting.  Actually, “weather permitting” describes all of the options.  Apparently the only safe-ish weather bets on the UP are July and August.  Outside of those months, fog, high winds and choppy water make all travel tentative at best.   We ended up taking option one, because we had no desire to camp on an uninhabited island for 5 days (I saw Gilligan’s Island…) and two, paying $1400 for a day trip via float plane seemed a bit extravagant.

So, the trip was handicapped from the start – 7 hours of ferry travel for a three-hour hike.  I could have been talked into skipping this one and hitting it on a family vacation in the years ahead, but Dan seems to have higher standards and basically applied the “we’re doing it dammit” principle to Isle Royale.  So, we booked passage on the Isle Royale Queen IV for 8:00 Monday morning.  When we got to the dock, visibility was no more than 30-40 feet but the water was calm, not a given on Lake Superior.  The trip itself was uneventful if a little eerie.  Speeding across a lake completely shrouded in fog is an odd sensation.

Our landing at Isle Royale was not the spectacular arrival I’d imagined.  The trees in route to IRNP were spectacular, all dressed in the early stages of fall.  But when we arrived, we literally couldn’t see the island until the dock emerged from the mist.  After a safety briefing by the Ranger (basically don’t approach the moose – if a moose comes after you get behind a tree, they have terrible eyesight) we took the Stoll trail to Scoville Point.  It was a 4+ mile hike that we could complete before the ferry headed back.  Since visibility was limited, we ended up looking down more than we normally would on a hike – and were amply rewarded for a different perspective.  Isle Royale is a fungus paradise!  True, fungus and paradise don’t often make good sentence companions – but in this case they do.  The island had more types of mushroom, lichen and other fungi than I have ever seen in a hike of similar length. Some of the specimens had a sci-fi quality – the colors and shapes otherworldly.  The spectacular variety made me miss my grandma – an ardent naturalist who would be a little miffed that I couldn’t identify a single mushroom on the walk.  She spent many hours teaching me about the various flora and fauna in the forest surrounding her Michigan home.  Many of those lessons stuck – just not the mushroom lessons.  All I really remember is – don’t eat them unless you are sure, really, really sure you know which is which.  Well, I also remember that if in doubt stay away from the red ones.  And there were lots of red ones! 

When we got back to the dock we found a massive line of people waiting to get back to the mainland.  Most of the people had a ticket, they had selected option 2 and had been camping for a week.  But about 20% of those waiting had selected option 3 and been stranded the prior day when the fog settled in making it impossible for the float plane service to pick them up.  One family with 7 children (I didn’t know that still happened…), the youngest about 2, had spent an unexpected evening on the island.  Mercifully the Rangers had pity and opened the now closed hotel to make sure they had shelter overnight.  They weren’t too much worse for wear and they found passage on the return ferry, but many others did not and were stranded for a second straight night. 

That evening, about 20 minutes before we docked on the mainland, the fog finally lifted and we saw Copper Harbor properly for the first time.  It was a lovely little harbor surrounded by trees aglow with fall.  I can only imagine how glorious Isle Royale looked in the evening light without a blanket of fog.

Isle Royale IS worth the effort but when we have our do-over we will attack the challenge a little bit differently.  First, we will probably take the slow boat from Houghton (6 hours).  It shaves an hour + of driving time and is a restored ferry from the 50’s that is supposed to be very cool and much roomier than the Copper Harbor boat.  Second, we will go “in season.”  Better weather and transportation options.  Third, we will stay for 2-3 days and stay at the Rock Harbor Lodge – a possibility during the season.  For now though we are off – Chicago awaits as does the Chicago Westin replete with fluffy white towels, endless hot water and reliable WiFi – civilization here we come!