Isle Royale - Day 29

Taking a nap with Rock harbor and Raspberry island in the background, Isle Royale

​Key statistics:
Total miles hiked: 144.5
​Total miles paddled: 22.5
Total moose seen: 23
​Total foxes seen: 7
Total days with no cell service: 28

​Goodbye, Isle Royale
I would love to say that our final day was a huge cathartic release, but perhaps as anyone out for as long may also confess, there is a readiness and itchiness to go home that probably makes us not the only ones that did not feel that way when the ferry pulled up.

​Instead, as we sat atop our gear, loaded and ready to go home, we were excited for the change of pace and the return to routine of our lives at home. There really wasn't anything left on the island that we felt we needed to accomplish. We had seen everything we set out to see and hiked or paddled all things on our lists of sights unseen. So as we loaded the queen for our 4 hour ride across Superior, we felt complete. 
We had succeeded in feeling more like a local and less like a tourists. We had branched out far off the normal path and knew the island much more intimately than 99% off all visitors will. We had time to encounter the wildlife without feeling intrusive. We hopefully had provided others with valuable information while still allowing them their own discovery and set of firsts. 
So the joke, of course, is when will we return. I'd be lying if I said we hadn't planned out an exact itinerary. That's one challenge with coming to know a place in great detail- we certainly know how to make the most of the next great adventure. That just adds to the great dilemma of returning to a place you can have a richer experience in vs. forging out to a brand new experience. Getting to know a place with expertise has its own rewards of working the kinks out, but falling in love with the unknown is also great. For now, we'll have to hold that thought and let time determine where that itch to scratch will lead. For now, we're thankful to have survived it happy and healthy, and blessed to have gotten to appreciate what Isle Royale's remote beauty provided. 

Our last moose, near the Rock Harbor ranger station. Isle Royale

Gear lined up and ready to load for the trip to the main land on the Queen IV, Isle Royale