Isle Royale - Day 18

Our family reunited, looking over Rock Harbor from Moskey Basin, Isle Royale

Key statistics:
Total miles hiked: 102
Total Miles paddled: 4.6
Total moose seen: 13
Total foxes seen: 4
Total days with no cell service: 17

Maybe the hardest part of this journey and decision to be gone a month was the separation from our son and family. As always in life, there is never a “good time” to walk out of your routine for a month.

An unusually warm day at Moskey Basin, Isle Royale

​Many people have chastised us for the choice, which seems to always boil down to the fact that they couldn’t see themselves being out of the loop or giving up control of a situation in their own families or lives. That perhaps is exactly the lesson they need to learn or the control they need to relent, but we realize it is a difficult choice to make and even harder to coordinate with a teenage son and aging parents. However, with our son’s Scout trip taking 10 days of our time thus far, and grandparents who live a mile away and are craving time with their grandson who runs a busy schedule it has worked out that there have only been a few days that he has probably even had time to notice we are gone. We hardly ever ask others for favors, we are very independent and hate asking for help.

With that said, today, he joins us on the island, and as a momma bear, I have been getting more and more antsy for our reunion the closer it gets. I can’t wait to hear all about his trip, his time at home, his time with grandparents, and his solo care of our dog. The ferry is slated to arrive mid day and then we will take off with him and our 2 best hiking friends for the next segment of our trip. We will be showing them the classic backpacking sections of the island and then our son will return to Copper Harbor with his grandpa who has been vacationing there on a mini trip. We will then complete our final section of kayaking goals in Washington Harbor and return home by July 4th for a celebration with family. As I type, my heart is fluttering in anticipation.

After safe arrival, hugs, and gear sorting, we awaited an opening in the fog to be taxied to Chippewa Harbor to begin our hike back to Rock Harbor with our son and 2 hiking friends. We wanted to show them the “classic” section of Isle Royale. However, the weather would not cooperate. We had fog roll in in addition to high waves around Saginaw Point, so we would have to settle on being dropped off at Moskey Basin instead. We  were given a green light to go from the Mott Island tower cam that showed fog clearing, but we eerily took off into the fog with fog horns blaring and a nervous captain. However, it did indeed clear up and most of our water taxi was done in full sunlight.

The weather had turned into a balmy hot high 80 degrees, and with little wind made our evening a scorcher. We enjoyed watching ducks and loons tool around the basin in front of our shelter. Our son enjoyed fishing off the dock and almost hooked a nice big fish, but it squirmed off the hook. At about 8 p.m., a cold breeze came in off the big lake and finally cooled us down a bit.

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