Isle Royale - Feldman Loop Day 1: Left Windigo Ranger Station ~ 8:30. Sunny day, 66 F, light breeze. Saw three Moose in Washington Harbor, a cow and two calves. Mid-morning saw a Fox on the trail, popped his head up, ran on down the trail with his tail bobbing, red with white tip, then cut to left and he (or she) was gone. Arrived at Feldman Lake after 8 mi. at about 13:00. Four hours on the trail with a half-hour break in the middle. A mile to the West lay Rainbow Cove, on the islands Western shore with Lake Superior. Beautiful and worth the extra walk - lots of red cobble stone (basalt) sunny with a cool breeze off the lake, refreshing!. Next, I setup camp, filtered water, and enjoyed the shoreline on Feldman Lake. Total mileage today, 10 miles. Day2: Woo hoo!! No dew this morning, everything is dry. Rolled up the tent and hit the trail 8:30 again. 10 mi. hike today. Up Feldman Ridge the to the abandoned Rangers tower, the midway point of the hike and took a half-hour break there. Nice view. Partly cloudy, cooler this day, around 60 F and breezy. Arrive at Siskiwit Bay Campground at 13:30, made great time. I see a camp Fox upon my arrival, but he runs off not to be seen again. Rain expected tonight. As I was first in camp, I had my choice of two Adorandack shelters and claimed one. An hour and a half later three kayakers show up and ask if they could share the shelter with me, as they were aware of an oncoming storm, and they only had a tarp for shelter. So of course I agreed. Shortly after that, a Ranger pulls up in a patrol boat to tell us a Noreaster is headed our way and tonight and most of tomorrow would see Gale force winds and heavy rain. By 16:00 the wind started picked up, and by 20:00 it had arrived. The temperature dropped from 60 F to about 50 F. We secured their tarp off of the shelter to cover a picnic table in front of the shelter so that we could (barely) cook and eat there. By 22:00, the rain was threatening to blow in our North facing shelter (the open side). I was glad to have my rescue bivvy with me as that might be the only way to stay dry and warm with me and my sleeping bag inside it. But the rain just barely wet the first couple of inches of the exposed inside of the shelter - well designed and built. The wind and rain blew all night at 40+ mph. Day 3: Funny thing about a noreaster, you dont get gusts of wind, its just a constant roar at 40+ mph. The only rhythm was from the waves crashing against the beach of Siskiwit Bay. My shelter-mates were an interesting crew. Experienced campers (cross-country skiing, all year round camping and igloo building), kayakers, and one of them a trail runner. And the best part, one was a hydrologist, one a geologist, one a soil scientist, and me, a soil microbiologist - I had found my people!!! :). Needless to say, we had much to talk about as we waited out the storm this day. The wind finely began to abate around 16:00. The rain had stopped an hour or two before. About a half-hour before dark, a red sun broke though the clouds - Red sun at night, sailors delight! Great company. Glad I hadnt spent this time in a tent, or my guests under a tarp. Day 4: Left camp at 8:30 again. Sun is out, but its about 45 F. Walk across the West side of Siskiwit Bay and on up the Island Mine Trail, headed for the Green Stone Ridge Trail. Up and down across several ridges, each successively higher. I pass the Island Mine Well, the mine tailings pile, quite some distance from the mine, and finally past the mine. I make the Greenstone Ridge Trail intersection by 11:00 - 5 mi. done, Im rocking this trail!! A twenty minute break, then Im crusing down the Greenstone, headed for Windigo Ranger Station, 7 mi. to go. Arrive at Windigo at ~ 14:00. Manage to nab another shelter. Day 5: R&R. Checkout the Ranger Station, exhibits, talk with the rangers. Temperatures stay in the upper 40s. Fly back to Houghton the next morning. Overall, a great hike, met some interesting people, and weathered may be the worst storm Ive been in while in the outback. Also, now I have hiked the Greenstone (~41 mi.), the Minong (~46 mi including 1st half of Greenstone) trails, and now the Feldman Loop (~32 mi including Green Stone piece), the three major trails on the Island. Ill be back, but this part of the bucket list is now complete. :)
Posted on: Sat, 13 Sep 2014 21:58:31 +0000
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