I’ve wanted to visit Isle Royale since I heard about it while I was a Boy Scout. (That was a few years ago.)

I’ve been planning this trip for months. I almost didn’t make it! I booked a crossing on the Ranger III, a ferry operated by the National Park Service to take visitors and supplies to the island. The week before I was scheduled to go, they called to tell me Ranger III would not be going to the island on Tuesday as scheduled, but would depart instead on Wednesday. I would still be coming back on Friday as scheduled.

Although the delay was cutting just one day from my visit, this meant that I would get to spend only one day in the back country. Ranger III arrives at the island at three o’clock in the afternoon. I would have to go through an orientation, then register, before hitting the trail at about 4:30 PM. The first day would be nearly over before I began! And Ranger III departs at 9:00 AM, which means on the last day I would have to camp in the Rock Harbor campground, right next to the pier, to make sure I didn’t miss the boat.

Traveling all that way, spending all that money, and carrying all that gear, to spend just one day in the back country — the juice was just not worth the squeeze. My first thought was to cancel and try to go in the fall, but then I remembered there’s more than one ferry to the island.

The Isle Royale Queen IV leaves Copper Harbor at 8:00 AM and arrives in Rock Harbor at 11:30 AM. Amazingly they still had seats available to cross on Memorial Day! I booked a seat out on Monday and back on Friday, which would give me three and a half days in the back country of Isle Royale! Bliss!

I’m so glad I not only didn’t have to cancel, but also got to spend more time on the island, because the weather was beautiful! On the trail out of Rock Harbor I had to strip down to shorts and a t-shirt after walking less than an hour — I had expected temps in the fifties during the day, but it was always in the high sixties, and it might even have gotten as high as the low seventies on the second day.

The down side to the gorgeous weather was, a) I packed clothes for cold weather, and b) I didn’t have any sunscreen. These would both haunt me later in the trip.

Here’s a pretty photo from the very beginning of my hike of Tobin Harbor, just around the corner from Rock Harbor, on the north end of the island. I stopped here to take my winter clothes off and stuff them in my pack.

Most trails were very easy to hike. I saw many signs that they had been recently maintained: fallen trees cut and pulled to one side, drainage ditches cleared. I was constantly impressed at how well-kept the park was, for a wilderness. To either side of the trail, there was nothing but thickly-wooded forest that would quickly have taken back the trails in a single season.

Where the trail crosses a marshy stretch of land, which it does all the time, the park service has built these bridges. They look flimsy, but the heavy planks and thick pilings are amazingly sturdy, when they’re new. At least one season of frost heave has given the one below a roller-coaster look, but the boards were all solid, bouncing with each step like a taut cable in the middle. Better than wading through mud and water, that’s for sure. That they exist at all is really very impressive.

Almost every one of those plank bridges was surrounded by these pretty yellow flowers, which only grew in the wet marshy ground around the rivers and streams. They are Yellow Marsh Marigolds and I desperately wanted a photo of one, but to get close enough I would have to crouch on the narrow plank. It was enough of a challenge to keep my balance while crossing streams and mudholes on those narrow bridges without adding acrobatics to the task. I passed by many without getting to take a photo.

Finally one bridge I crossed was half over water, half over mostly dry land. I carefully crouched down to take a photo. After putting my camera away, it occurred to me that I now had to attempt to stand up with forty-pound pack on my back while maintaining my balance on a narrow plank. Even with a trek pole in each hand to pull on it was almost too much, but I somehow managed to do it without herniating myself.

My goal for the first day was to camp at Lane Cove, 7.9 miles from Rock Harbor. I figured I could make it there in three to four hours. It actually took me close to five hours. I had to climb up to the top of Greenstone Ridge, the highest ridge on the island, to get there, so I had mentally prepared for that. What I didn’t prepare myself for was the heartbreak of tramping down Greenstone Ridge, then climbing and descending three more ridges on the way to Lane Cove. By the time I got there I was well and truly beat.

Here’s an artsy-fartsy photo of some driftwood washed up on the beach at Lane Cove. Funny thing: I didn’t realize I was at Lane Cove when I took this photo. I had stopped in a clearing to drop my pack, take a break, stretch my shoulders and snap a photo of the pretty shoreline. While I was gulping down some water, I checked the map to see how much farther I had to go and realized I was maybe a hundred yards from the campgrounds. I quickly saddled up and pressed on so I could be done for the day.

There were five camp sites at Lane Cove. Just one other was occupied. I think I got the best one.

Everybody asks, so: Yes, I sleep in a hammock. I probably wouldn’t have considered going on a camping trip like this if I didn’t. If I have to lie on the ground, I can’t get comfortable enough to get anything like a good night’s sleep. A hammock is surprisingly comfortable, if you get the right one. And it’s very warm at night thanks to the fluffy down quilts above and below. The one I bought also has a bug net in case the skeeters get vicious at night.

Lane Cove was so quiet and cozy that the idea of staying there all week had a strong appeal, but after giving the idea some thought I decided to stick with my original plan to see as much of the island as I could in the time I had. This was my first visit to the island, after all.

Day Two of my trip to Isle Royale