Day 5 - Daisy Farm to Scoville Point to Rock Harbor - Sunning

And we were in the mist. We woke early, sore from the days before, but somewhat rested as most of the day before was spent hiding from the storms. The morning gave us a show as fog spread out blanketing the harbor. The fog lifted like a curtain rising before a great show. The sun unveiled a cobalt day. The fleetingness of the moment made it all the more special. We started out the morning continuing northwards back to Rock Harbor to civilization.

Early Morning Fog - Isle Royale

Fog Vanishing

As we hiked through the slippery rocks and deep mud, we retraced our steps from four days earlier, though it did not feel like the same place. I was and am amazed at how different the island felt every day.

Every day the island changed - weather, terrain, mood - in ways that I only discovered because I chose to look. The forests - birch, cedar, spruce, even some beech. No at all forest at all, but instead fields of wildflowers. The trail - blank, stone, mud, dirt, grass, marsh. The sky - cloudless, setting, rising, altostratus, cumulus, covered, clouds with rain. The water - sea, harbour, bay, river, stream, lake, marsh, swamp, bog. The sounds - waves crashing, bugs buzzing, trees rustling, the absence of sound, thunder clapping, wind whistling. This island gave so much diversity because it had been protected.

A mile or so into our hike, and the sun, that had gone away for 36 hours, reemerged, well-rested and burning. The lingering vapor made the entrance even more remarkable, reflecting like high beams on a misty morning. The sun came through, and the Isle’s face changed again, indistinguishable from two days ago.

Sun Shining Near Three Mile Campground

We lingered back into the forest on our back to Rock Harbor, with the mist staying longer in the forest despite the sun’s protests. We walked in a wonderland.

Morning Hike on Isle Royale

We looked out to the bay and saw that the surrounding islands had disappeared. Perhaps, we truly had been transported somewhere else, somewhere timeless, lost, and forgotten.

Into the Mystic

Misty Morning

We journeyed on in bliss, appreciative of the temporary state of the island, presently.

By midday, we had completed our lollipop trail. The trail began to smooth and unfolding from the tunnel of trees, civilization. We arrived at Rock Harbor. What seemed like an outpost nearly a week ago, now seemed busied and frivolous. Our perspectives had been reset. Seventy or so mosquito bites, lactic acid filled legs, and five days to remember. We quickly searched for a wooden shelter, learning our lesson about the luxury of these shelters, and we took a well needed rest.

View from our Shelter at Rock Harbor

A celebratory lunch was in order of chorizo and mac’n’cheese, along with a raid of the camp store for sweets and souvenirs. After this, we explored the metropolis starting with a stop at the ranger station. We asked whether we did the right thing walking on the beaver dam on day two, we did, and I asked for all the information on loons that they had, my new favorite animal. We reported the wolf howlings at Hatchet Lake the morning of day three. We asked what a good way to spot a moose on the island would be. The ranger suggested that we grab a bottle of wine and make our way to Tobin Harbour, where we can see the sun setting and look for moose swimming in between the smaller islands.

We chose to spend the afternoon walking out to Scoville Point. This area of Isle Royale is unlike any other part of the island as the peninsula creates an interesting geography and plants. The lower part of the peninsula encompasses a bright, pine forest. As we progressed towards the Point, the trail became more alpine with exposed rocky cliffs tumbling down into turquoise. To the left and right were the outer islands, untouched.

View on the Scoville Trail

A Pretty Picture

Another Pretty Picture if I Do Say So Myself - Look at that Water, and the Drift Wood!

To our surprise, while hiking through an open patch, we saw sandhill cranes with two babies. The ranger we talked to said this was much rarer than a Moose. We had thought our wildlife viewing was over, returning to the crowded part of the park. The parents were guiding their kids from their nest to the water for a drink.

Cranes and Their Colts

After the cranes, the peninsula narrowed and trees became sparse. We walked closer to cliffs cascading to the water. The warm days, coats of bug spray and sunscreen, and not having showered in six days made our next decision inevitable. We carefully bounded down some rocks to the cerulean water. We tested the water of Lake Superior, frigid. We then noticed some shallow pools holding water from waves. These were warmed from the sun. We enjoyed a dip and soak. It was glorious.

Water Holes Near Scoville Point

After our dip we continued northward, until the trees ceased and the view opened up. On the right we saw the cliffs giving way to an open sea with a bright blue sky and water. On the left, we saw a channel and the northernmost point of the main island. In the distance were most northern islands of the park. As we took it all in, we saw sea planes land, coming into land.

Scoville Point to the Right

Land’s End - Scoville Point

Again but pretty saturated

Sea Plane Coming into Land

We walked back to camp, catching views of Tobin Harbour, and the remote shacks from the time when Isle Royale was a vacation destination.

To my partner’s amusement, she humored me and accompanied me to a ranger lecture. As it turned out, we were the only adults there that did not have little kids. Regardless, we enjoyed ourselves. We learned about the wildlife unique to the island. The predator-prey relationship of moose, how the wolves and moose have evolved on the island as their lives become intertwined with wolves getting 90% of their diets from moose. We learned about the Isle containing some of the largest frogs of their kinds, and that garter snakes are more likely to be of the blue and orange variant because of the predators on this island’s colorblindness to those colors. Isle Royale is a wonder of evolution because of the isolation.

We ate dinner and then made our way to Tobin Harbour, which is just on the other side of the peninsula from Rock Harbor. We joined others on the dock waiting for the show to begin. We scanned the islands within the harbour waiting for the moose to appear. We joked, entirely relaxed that we had made it safely back to Rock Harbor. The sky was large and the clouds wild. The colors changed, and as we waited, I had the time to get artsy with the photography.

Big Cloud

Bigger Cloud

Artsy Time

Dock

Dock Dock

Boat

My partner chose to go up to the bathroom, and I stood behind on the dock. Alone carefree reflecting on the trip, in my own world. The group of guys on the other dock, whispered sharply at me. Coming out of my own world, they pointed to my right, between a small island and the mainland. Dark antlers sticking out against the teal oscillating waters. A moose, swimming head just above the water making its way to the main island. Six whole days desiring to see the mythical, evasive creature, and the beautiful megafauna was there for a moment then gone.

My partner returned a couple minutes later. We’d spent the past six days together, and been apart barely 10 minutes a day. We agreed on returning to the park so she can see a moose. As the sun approached its meeting point with the land, the golds and ambers of the evening mined the sky and sea.

Sunset at Tobin Harbour

Still buzzing from the sunset, we walked home in the dark. We were reading the graffiti in our shelter and had a knock on our door from a ranger. He advised us to stay inside our shelter for the night as the wolves were getting too close to Rock Harbor. He said that they were going to paintball the wolves tonight. What an interesting world we live in.

Summary

• From: Daisy Farm
• To: Rock Harbor
• Miles: 13.7