Isle Royale

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Patricks Dad
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Isle Royale

Post by Patricks Dad »

I just got back from a week on Isle Royale. It's a fantastic place. The plant and wildlife there is incredible (the bugs are incredible too). Unfortunately, I didn't do a lick of paddling there (just hiked it from stern to stem). But it looks like an awesome place to paddle. I'll definitely have to put it on my list of places to go back to with a paddle in my hand.
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Arctic
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Post by Arctic »

Sounds like agreat trip Randy. I used to live in Thunder Bay and often looked at Isle Royale on my maps- I was always curious about it.
A few questions for you:

How did you get to the island? Is it a park of some sort?
Are there any "facilities" available or is it all in the bush?
Got any pictures?

Thanks,

Mark
"The journey is the reward"- Tao saying
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Patricks Dad
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Post by Patricks Dad »

How did you get to the island? Is it a park of some sort?
Are there any "facilities" available or is it all in the bush?
Got any pictures?
You get to the island via float plane or ferry boat. The closest ferry goes to the island every other day from Grand Portage MN. It goes to Windigo on the west end of the island and then goes around the North side of the island and spends the night at Rock Harbor and returns to Windigo and to Grand Portage the next day. There is also a ferry from Copper Harbor MI but I don't know much about it (we drove to Grand Portage).

Info on the Grand Portage Ferry:
http://www.isleroyaleboats.com/

There is a visitor center at both Windigo and Rock Harbor. Rock Harbor has a lodge that you can stay at with reservation.

Isle Royale is a National Park. All but a couple places are designated wilderness areas (Windigo, Rock Harbor and Daisy Farm). It has lots of interesting history. It is the home of the world's longest running predator/prey study with a significant population of moose and wolves. We saw moose almost every day but only tell-tale signs of wolves.

Access to the wilderness area requres a permit and you are required to stick to your itinerary and camp at specific campsites. Each campsite has several designated pads for tents and a pit toilet. I didn't need to dig a cat hole all week!

Pictures..... Here's 250 that I took (my wife took 1300)...

http://share.shutterfly.com/action/slid ... 5091242446
Randy Pfeifer
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viking
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Post by viking »

the study you are talking about has a pretty interesting web site. Dont know how to post a link but try searching wolves of isle royale. I like to follow the study as they report through the winter.
Ain't none of us as smart as all of us.
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Bryan Hansel
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Post by Bryan Hansel »

Nice trip, huh? You can actually paddle to the island also. It's about 14 miles from Pigeon Point over to the island and add a mile to Windigo. There's a bit of boat traffic but not a whole lot, and be prepared for, at least, six foot waves.
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Post by canoeblderinmt »

Maybe YOU can paddle over there! Six foot waves? Think I'll pass. :shocked
" Choose to chance the rapids, Dare to dance the tide..."
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Glen Smith
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Post by Glen Smith »

Randy, I tried to view your pics toady but I got an error message from Shutterfly.
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Patricks Dad
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Post by Patricks Dad »

Glen, I got an error as well just a minute ago but then when I tried it again, just now, it worked fine... give it another go...
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Glen Smith
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Post by Glen Smith »

Still not working but I will try again later. This is the message I get:
Sorry, an error has occurred, and the page you were trying to go to is temporarily unavailable.
Please click the 'Back' button to return to the page you were on before.
I guess your pics are just too popular!
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Patricks Dad
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Post by Patricks Dad »

That's the error message I got too... But only once... It's worked every time since....
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Glen Smith
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Post by Glen Smith »

Still not working for me. Admit it, you don't want me to see your pics! :crying
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Patricks Dad
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Post by Patricks Dad »

Gosh Glen, they're not that good...Sorry. I don't know what to do. I sent you a separate link from shutterfly (assuming I have the correct email address for you....)
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Glen Smith
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Post by Glen Smith »

Hi Randy, thanks for emailing the link to me. It worked fine and I enjoyed watching the slideshow. Now the link posted above also works for me, go figure. :thinking
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Bryan Hansel
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Post by Bryan Hansel »

Six foot waves aren't bad in a kayak. They're pretty fun actually. I still can't get the link to work.
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