We arrived via a ferry named "Voyageur II" from Grand Portage, MN. The ferry first stopped in Windigo, a harbor on the West side of the island. Everyone got off the boat and some of us re-boarded to go to different destinations on the island. The next stop was McCargoe Cove, located at the end of a scenic channel on the north side of the island. We got off the boat at the final stop, Rock Harbor. On the southeast side of the island, Rock Harbor has a lodge, a store, and a ranger station, but only the ranger station was open for our arrival. It turns out most people don't visit the island until the summer, and we were about to learn why.
It was around 4 pm by the time we arrived in Rock Harbor, so we didn't have too much time to make it to our campsite for the night, which ended up being about 3.5 miles down the shore at a place called "Three mile". On our hike over there, there was light rain and plenty of slippery rocks. We arrived and set up our tent inside a shelter that was available. This made for a very clean camp.
The next morning we set off on what would be our longest trek- about 13 miles. We hiked up a tough trail to the top of Mt. Franklin, encountering multiple patches of snow. Then we caught the Greenstone ridge trail, which we stayed on for the remainder of our trip. Along the way we visited Mt. Ojibway, where a weather station/lookout tower is located. Much of the trail was wet from both the snowmelt and from the rain, and in trying to keep our feet dry, we often navigated around puddles.We continued hiking until we reached our campsite at West Chickenbone Lake. Our campsite was quite windy and with the rain coming and going all day, it was a relief to enjoy some hot cocoa and eventually getting into the tent.
We were a little slow to leave camp at West Chickenbone Lake, as the weather wasn't any better in the morning. We eventually did move on, and we hiked about 8 miles to Hatchet Lake. Along our way we saw a bull Moose about 50 feet away. It got startled by us, but we slowly backed away and when he went back to his business, we continued our hike. The rain came on stronger, as we navigated around large puddles all day once again. In addition to the puddles, there were many down trees all along the trail, as the "trail crew" hadn't gotten out to the park yet. This was certainly a nuisance, but it was all part of the experience. That night we cooked a very easy meal and hopped in the tent, our shoes soaking wet from the 8 mile slog. We were happy to get out of the rain and wind, and didn't bother to make hot cocoa.
With temperatures in the 30s every night, it wasn't a warm trip by any stretch, and as the rain continued to fall at Hatchet lake, we were quite certain nothing of ours would get dry. We stored some of our items in the nearest outhouse, which sounds nasty, but since very few people had been to the island yet this year, the outhouses around the island (located in campsites) didn't stink. It probably smelled better than the tent!
The next day we hiked about 11 miles to the Washington Creek campsite, located within the Windigo Area. The weather dramatically improved, and while there were still puddles and trees to navigate around, we were much more comfortable overall. Once we got to the campsite, we set up the tent in a shelter that was available and relaxed. In the distance we saw 3 moose, so it was a rewarding and stress free night.
We took the Voyageur II back to Grand Portage the next day, which (of course) was a gorgeous day. There were a handful of other folks on the boat heading back, some of them seemed pretty beat up from their hikes, some happy from the experience, some happy to leaving the island.
I would definitely recommend visiting Isle Royale to anyone interested. Going in May might not be the best time unless you are looking for an adventure. Even though I didn't come away with any bug bites, the rain, snowmelt, and downed trees made the trip a little less easy-going than it could have been.
