Pratt/Thor Adventures: Upper Midwest Tour, Day 10

We were up very early (4:45 am) to pack and drive about 42 miles from Grand Marais to Grand Portege to catch the Voyageur II passenger ferry for the 7-hour trip to Isle Royale. As we left our hotel at 5:30 am, we had a glorious sunrise which deserved a photo.

The drive east was directly into the rising sun but almost traffic free. We arrived at the dock for the Voyageur II passenger ferry in plenty of time. Our luggage was handed to the ship’s mate who stowed it on an upper deck, we boarded when our names were called, and the ferry got underway (a little before 7:30 am). The boat was at capacity, with about half the passengers bound for the Windigo portal to begin backpacking (i.e., no facilities) and the other half bound for Rock Harbor, which is the main entry spot.

A bit worn but the ship did the job. We motored at about 12.5 mph.

Glasslike surface -- thus smooth riding.

Pulling in to Windigo harbor

The ride to Windigo took 2 hours and was directly opposite Grand Portage on the west end of the island. Rock Harbor is kitty corner from Windigo on the eastern end and took an additional 5 hours of cruising time. We made one mail drop stop up a narrow cove on the north side, which added extra time to the journey. The ride was a bit tiring in that there was little to do, and the scenery was repetitive. The boat was very loud (the crew issued ear plugs) and rather chilly for the first portion of the trip but was comfortable inside where we sat. The water was glassy initially and never got very bumpy. I tracked the trip using Gaia App – we traveled 81.7 miles at an average speed of 11.4 mph in 7:09 hours.

Bald Eagle nest just before Rock Harbor, seen later on a hike.

Typical Lodge building

The island reminds us of the Maine coast – rocky shore lines topped with dense conifer forests, although we learned later that the Windego end of the island has richer soil and more hardwoods. The lake is so vast that we keep expecting tides and sea creatures.

We arrived at Rock Harbor, our destination, at 3:00 pm. However, on the island it was 4:00 pm. As it was explained to us, Isle Royale is part of Michigan, but is closely connected to Ontario, Canada, so the Ontario time zone is used, which is Eastern Daylight Time. The same thing goes for the Upper Peninsula of Michigan; the rest of Michigan is on Central time. It gets a little confusing and schedules post both Eastern and Central times.

We have nice room in a two-story building on the edge of the water with a view over to Raspberry Island, around from the harbor. Just after arriving it started showering but the rain was tame by our standards.

We attended a 5:00 pm orientation lecture with a ranger, inside (as opposed to the normal short hike (20 minutes). The ranger did a good job whetting our senses for the park. We then had dinner at the Lighthouse Restaurant (tasty walleye filets), where we shared a table with a retired couple from the Hill Country of Texas. We had a nice conversation and got an idea for what to do tomorrow from them – a short boat ride to a trailhead for a 10-mile hike along the spine of the island and back to the lodge. After dinner we strolled down to the seaplane base at Tobin Harbor and watched a seaplane land, load up with 7 passengers and takeoff. It is a solo pilot operation.