2008 Slow-Boating Highlights: Isle Royal NP

Day 1 – August 4^th – After traveling 350+ miles to the NE corner of Minnesota and overnighting at the casino hotel, we had a successful launch from the Grand Portage Casino marina, setting a course for North Gap.

We traveled the 25 miles to the southern end of Isle, keeping the abandoned Rock of Ages lighthouse to our starboard.

We traveled through North Gap, traveling right past the 1928 Shipwreck of the passenger vessel, America. Marker buoys and a dive boat marked its exact location.

We continued to travel south past the historic radio tower on Washington Island, then across Grace Harbor, and around the south end of the island, past Cumberland Point, Rainbow Point, the Head, and Long Point.

The goal for the day was the Siskiwit Bay Campground at the SW corner of Siskiwit Bay. By continuing to cruise along at 2/3 throttle on the 9.9 HP outboard, we were able to average about 6.5 mph and arrived at the Campground about 4:00 PM. The Campground has a long pier and parallel breakwater, and is favored by many boaters on Lake Superior.

Day 2 - Aug 5^th – Lynn and I paddled the kayak and canoe across the bay to search for the location of a town that existed there over prior to 1900. We may have discovered some pilings along the shoreline, but it was difficult to be certain. After lunch we hiked a couple of miles down the Feldman Lake trail, looking for the turn-off to Lake Halloran. We found the Feldman Lake trail to be pretty overgrown in places, which begs the question of how much the trails are actually being used; i.e., are there fewer backpackers than 10-20 years ago?

The Siskiwit Bay Campground has two shelters and space for group camping. Along the way someone found a portion of Moose horn and carved their initials on it in a form of horn graffiti.

Day 3 – Aug 6^th – We departed Siskiwit Lake GC and had a very easy 20+ mile cruise to the Chippewa Harbor CG; along the way passing by Malone Bay, Menagerie Island Lighthouse, the 1924 Glenlyon Shipwreck and Blueberry Cove. The entrance to Chippewa Harbor is marked with a large triangular-shaped sign at the top of the ridge at the mouth of the harbor.

While at Chippewa Harbor CG we encountered a group of fisherman who were all members of the Isle Royale Boaters Association (IRBA). It was our good fortune that they had extra fish and invited everyone in the CG to join them on the dock for a fish dinner. Not only was the food great, but the conversation provided a great evening’s entertainment. IRBA works to support all boaters visiting Isle Royale, their mission states: “Our mission is to educate, represent, and promote the interest of power and sail boaters, sport fishermen, canoeists, kayakers, backpackers, and all visitors of Isle Royale National Park”. See their web site at: www.isleroyale.org

Day 4 – Aug 7^th – Chippewa Harbor CG has 4 shelters, a group campground and room for several boats to tie up for overnight lodging. The shelters are wooden buildings with one side screened in. Each has its own picnic table and fire box.

We paddled the length of Chippewa Harbor and walked a short 0.6m portage to Lake Whittlesey. At the far end of the portage, we encountered a woman, part of an Earth Watch project, who had a badly sprained ankle and could not continue the group project. With the help of other boaters, we transported her back to the Chippewa Harbor CG, where she was able to rest comfortably. She was able to rejoin her group the following day.

Day 5 – Aug 8^th – We boated back to the south end of the island to be able to dock at Windigo to enable a relatively short cruise back to Grand Portage the next day (about 25 miles). On the way to Windigo, we encountered a large Coast Guard craft anchored at the mouth of Washington Harbor. Shortly after we passed the large craft, we were approached by a smaller landing craft and were requested to participate in a ‘safety check’, which we gladly did; Lynn’s ULDRA passed with flying colors.

Day 6 – Aug 9^th – We got up at 5:00 AM to get an early start to try to beat the wind that was being forecast by NOAA. After coming out of the shelter of Washington Harbor, we slammed right into a stiff North wind with waves of 3 to 3.5’. We got tossed around pretty good for an hour or so, but the ULDRA held her course and we made it back to Grand Portage OK. The rest was just packing it up; loading her on the boat trailer and hauling it 350 miles back to W. Central Minnesota. It was quite a trip!