Isle Royale National Park (45.5 miles; d=51.50)
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Day 1 - Isle Royal Queen 2 - Our ride to Isle Royale. It is a 3-3.5 hour ride from Copper Harbor to Rock Harbor.
Day 1 - Leaving Dock at Copper Harbor - Pulling away from the dock, we officially began our Isle Royale Trip.
Day 1 - Bella Vista Hotel, Copper Harbor - Base Camp for our Isle Royal Trip as viewed from the boat dock. The previous night we were treated to a beautiful display of Northern Lights over Lake Superior.
Day 1 - Copper Harbor Light - Heading out onto the open waters of Lake Superior we passed the Copper Harbor Lighthouse.
Day 1 - Copper Harbor, MI
Day 1 - The Keweenaw as it looks about a half hour out from the docks.
Day 1 - Fog on the big lake hid the island from view for quite a while. This was the first view we had of Isle Royale about 2.5 hours into the trip.
Day 1 - The fog finally thinned out as we got within a half hour of the island.
Day 1 - We passed Raspberry Island to our right as we entered Rock Harbor.
Day 1 - The rustic but expensive ($300/night) Rock Harbor Lodge as seen entering Rock Harbor.
Day 1 - Approaching the National Park dock at Rock Harbor.
Day 1 - On Isle Royale at last, this shot is looking west down Rock Harbor from the boat dock.
Day 1 - It was hard to believe I was actually here.
Day 1 - Rock Harbor was much more cosmopolitan than I expected. Private boats, tourists in straw hats and hawaiian shirts, and souvenier shops didn't feel too much like a wilderness.
Isle Royale Hiking Route Map - Day 1
A depiction of the first day of my backpacking trip to Isle Royale National Park, taking me from Rock Harbor to Lane Cove Camp, depicted a la Google Earth...
Isle Royale Hiking Route Map - Day 1
A depiction of the first day of my backpacking trip to Isle Royale National Park, taking me from Rock Harbor to Lane Cove Camp...
Day 1 - After some last minute preparations, we set out. The trail from the dock area to the Tobin Harbor Trail is very wide and well-graded.
Day 1 - Looking up Tobin Harbor with the Greenstone Ridge rising in the distance.
Day 1 - For the first 3 miles out of Rock Harbor we followed the Tobin Harbor Trail along Tobin Harbor.
Day 1 - At the head of Tobin Harbor we turned north on the Mt. Franklin Trail to ascend the Greenstone Ridge. We soon crossed Tobin Creek on this footbridge, typical of many on Isle Royale.
Day 1 - Just before making the final climb up to the ridge you pass this swampy area. We came to realize that on Isle Royale there were two types of terrain...exposed rock and swamp...
Day 1 - The Greenstone Ridge runs the length of Isle Royale. This was the first of four times we would ascend it this week.
Day 1 - Mt. Franklin - 1074 feet
Day 1 - The Mt. Franklin Trail does not pass directly over Mt. Franklin. We made the side trip .3 miles down the Greenstone Ridge Trail to see the views in case they were not as good the next day. It was hazy so many of the photos I took are not worth seeing. This one however shows our destination the first day-Lane Cove.