Tuesday, May 23, 2017

Day 1 Copper Harbor to Lane Cove

Before I get to the hiking I want to talk a little about getting to the Isle. As far as I know no restaurants are open at six. You park in the field about 7:00 am after a one minute drive. It was windy and icy out. The pack seemed heavy. I got a thimbleberry turnover at the bakery and checked in. This year the office opened on time. They only made us wait in the cold wind a short time before boarding. 

The 3.5 hour boat ride was nice on a fairly calm Lake Superior.  I brought and ate my lunch. 

After deboarding we got the Ranger talk. Quick. But he said lots of trees were down everywhere and the Minong Trail was washed out. The latter made me change my plans. On down trees he said go under or over and don't make new trails around blow down. 

That was the most stupid thing I've ever heard in a safety talk. Some you can go over or under. But most have too many, often very sharp limbs. You can get stabbed way too easily. 

Another thing that bothered me was the water in Rock Harbor was still off. They sent the first boat out to open the island in April. What is their priority in opening?

This meant I had to filter water before I could start walking, again!  Where are my doubled entrance/use fees going?

Monday, May 15, 2017
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Started 12:30 PM, stopped 03:45 PM.
Ave mph was 2.15, excluding lunch.
Battery used: 15 percent
Fitbit: 20,993 steps, 9.31 mi, 2495 cal
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Walked 7 miles from Rock Harbor to Lane Cove. Until I got to the trail from Mt Franklin down to Lane Cove, hiking was good. Then I started to hit the down trees. One walkway across a pond was partially submerged and my feet got soaked. Best weather of the week; sunny and almost warm. But the downed trees meant lots of bushwhacking.

I wanted the same campsite but had to do more bushwhacking to get to it!

I was also a little worried by the 'crowd'. I passed three groups on my way. The first was a solo guy who had set his stove up on the top of the ridge. He said he ate his big meal at lunch (2:00 today). The second was an older couple. I walked 3-4 feet behind the guy for about 5 minutes before he noticed me. I hope they could handle the blow down and underwater walkways. The third was a couple of guys in their twenties. They seemed a little faster than me. I caught up to them three times for their breaks with their packs off. The last time was on the Greenstone Ridge just before heading down the trail to Lane Cove. I said hi, went on past and sped up. I think I heard them coming into camp about an hour after I got there. 

This was the most normal camping evening of the trip. No rain and not too cold. 

By the way, May is supposed to be one of the driest months here. Forecast said nights in the low 40's and days in the upper 50's. I think this was the only day like that. All other nights and mornings were ice cold. Afternoons only got into the upper fifties maybe once after today. 

No rain tonight and the tarp was dry in the morning!

































































































The End

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