When I think of remote places to visit, I think of Alaska, I think of wildernesses, and I think of untouched nature. It’s a dream really, because nowhere in America I believe is really remote. However, we may have found one of the most remote places that is still intact and visitable by an average person.
Our journey begins in the farthest northeastern point you can reach in Minnesota at Grand Portage. There we took a 2-hour ferry ride into Lake Superior, one of the largest lakes in the world, and onto an island known as Isle Royale (which is considered part of Michigan state).
Because of its remoteness, the island is inhabited by only 19 mammals. The only time a new creature is introduced into this closed ecosystem is as a castaway on a boat or over the rarely seen icebridge from Canada to the island.
I picked a hike that allowed us to see the diversity of the island, but also challenged us. We started by hiking toward Feldtmann Lake, known for its moose population and one foxy fox. Yes, we are at a lake, on an island that is in a lake. Lake Superior is huge and Isle Royale is incredibly large as well. The island supports a hefty moose population, as well as, a wolf population.
Once at the lake, I had planned on taking a quick 1-mile jaunt after dinner, however, as we were eating a fox came within 2 feet of me in search of food. We had been warned by the ranger the fox would steal shoes or anything that smelled of people and to keep all of your goods out of reach (also recommending to keep food in your tent!). With the fox so bold, the encounter left me uneasy to leave my 4-days of backpacking supplies behind without supervision. So we settled for hanging around the lake that evening.
Isabel and Noah played in the lake until Isabel came running out screaming bloody murder. One look and there were half a dozen teeny tiny leaches attached to her fingers that refused to be pulled off. Finally, I freed Isabel’s fingers from the maul of the nasty critters and Isabel swore she was never going to go into a lake ever again.
The next morning, I awoke to splashing in the lake, but never saw what made the sound. I found out later that someone had seen a moose walk right through our camp. Talk about being on a game trail!
We packed up early for our hardest day of hiking. It was a 10.5 mile hike to Seskewit Bay. The kids had never done over 8 miles, and I have never made them hike more miles than their age. They were nine so the most I thought they could do was 9 miles.
That day was the most magical day of our entire trip. We hiked to a fire lookout and looked out toward an ocean of blue. It was hard to remember we were looking at a lake as far as the eye could see. As we hiked down from the lookout, we hiked on an old logging road that was grown over with wild flowers that were over 4’ tall. Every time we stopped we lost the kids because they were hidden in the height of the flowers. It smelled like a florist and I hiked with childhood memories of growing up in a flower shop. While hiking we saw a beaver dam, the dam was so uniquely built against the stems of the tall flowers that it appeared that water was being held back by a single row of daisies. I wish I had taken a picture, because the site was so unbelievable.
We arrived around dinner that evening and relaxed and watched the stars and were greeted in the morning by these nifty footprints. Since dogs are not allowed on the island, I can only imagine this was another fox or a lone wolf.
We started the next morning early and had to hike around through a dozen flooded beaver ponds. It was slow going and an adventure all by itself. We made it the short 4.5 miles to Island Mine Campground before noon. The campground was a dry campground (no water) and felt like a different place. Unlike the last two days where we walked through thick plant life, and the morning that we trudged through flooded forests, here the tall matchstick aspens wavered in the summer breeze. There was no undergrowth and only a canopy of leaves that filtered the sun.
Noah and Isabel didn’t like the place and wanted to hike more. I wasn’t sure it was a ‘great’ idea considering we had already hiked almost 5 miles and to get to the next site we had 7 more to go. But with a little convincing we hiked on to Windigo Station and stayed there for 2-days instead of one.
We were able to stay in a campers cabin. The cabin is a three sided lean-to with the forth side being a solid screen with a screen door that looks out onto the river that flows through the island. We had hiked around the island hoping to catch a sight of moose or wolves and it was here we finally saw a moose outside our cabin. He came through every morning and night to eat the plant life in the river. It was amazing to get so up close to such an elusive creature.
We learned Lake Superior makes its own weather. When it came time to depart from our magical wilderness the ferry was two-hours late due to a storm. Our ride home was a bumpy one. I slept peacefully on Noah’s lap as we went up and down the ocean-like waves. I later learned that Noah was terrified of the waves and couldn’t move. I also learned I was snoring.