If I Were Going...: Midwest Adventure: Isle Royale National Park #2

The next morning, Scott wanted to rent a motorboat, but we were told that the water was too rough. It looked calm in the Rock Harbor marina, but you have to travel on open Lake Superior to get anywhere and you don't want to go out on that lake in a small boat if it is rough. So, even though Scott was disappointed, it was a good call. Part of the problem was that the young man who rented the boats had missed "hospitality training." He was not at all pleasant.

So, we rented a canoe, which are kept on the Tobin Harbor side. Canoeing, of course, is popular is Isle Royale. There are many canoe/kayak routes, many involving portages, along coastal bays and inland lakes.

Canoeing

Tobin Harbor is a lightly developed "historic district" that was a popular site for little lakeside cottages a century ago. After the park was formed, some of the vacation homes were grandfathered to the owners until the last person on the deed died. Most are now vacant. Aside from the periodic floatplane landing/takeoff (which we did not see), Tobin Harbor is quieter than "hectic" Rock Harbor.

Tobin Harbor

We saw just canoes, kayaks and a few sailboats. I am glad we got a canoe because it was peaceful and it allowed us to get closer to wildlife. And, wildlife was our big goal. I still wanted some decent Common Loon pictures.

Common Loon

And, I got them!

The first Loon appeared right as we were discussing how we were not seeing any large fish in the water. There was a huge splash behind us, which we thought was a giant fish. Then, a lull and another splash. Then, a Loon surfaced with a small fish, which she took over and fed to one of her two chicks. Loons can hold their breath for as long as 90 seconds while underwater, so it is not unusual for them to pop up out of nowhere.

A loony day

I was quite surprised at how young these two chicks were. After all, we were seeing trees starting to turn for fall and these chicks still had baby down. All the other young Loons we had seen were adult size and had adult-type plumage (gray, not beautifully colored).

Loons usually lay one or two eggs in late May or June and incubation lasts 26-28 days. If the eggs are lost, the pair may "renest," often in the same general location. Chicks can swim right away, but spend time riding on their parents' backs to rest, conserve heat and avoid predators such as large fish, snapping turtles, gulls and eagles. After their first day or two of life, the Loon family moves to a "nursery" area to raise their young and they do not return to the nest. I suspect these small babies were the result of "renesting."

For more information about Loons, see my post on Voyageurs National Park.

This time we were able to get quite close (maybe too close) and get lots of pictures.

A beautiful bird

little while later, in a different part of the lake, we did see parent/chick pair of Loons where the youngster seemed to be more the appropriate size and color.

Chicks and parents tend to stay very close to each other on the lake. Parents (both mother and father) feed the chicks for weeks, with the youngsters gradually beginning to feed themselves over time.

Mama and chick

By 11 or 12 weeks, chicks gather almost all of their food on their own and have begun to fly. Loons fly strongly, although their high wing-mass-to-wing area ratio makes takeoff difficult. To get airborne, they must run upwind across the water's surface while wildly flapping their wings to generate sufficient lift to take flight.

Although some Loons can, Common Loons cannot takeoff from land. Once airborne, Loons are capable of long flights during migration. Scientists have recorded up to 670 miles in a 24-hour period -- possibly without stopping.

Adult and youngster

Loons can live as long as 30 years.

Loons produce a variety of vocalizations, the most common of which are categorized into four main types: tremolo, yodel, wail and hoot. Each of these calls communicates a distinct message. Loons are most vocally active between mid-May and mid-June, but we were lucky to hear them at close range in late August.

Take off

To see and hear videos of the loons, click here, here, here and here. (When I first started this blog, videos would upload, but they will not anymore, so I have to link to Facebook.)

The Loon appears on Canada's one-dollar "loonie" coin and is the provincial bird of Ontario. Also, it is the state bird of Minnesota and appears on the Minnesota State Quarter.

Common Loons were not the only animals we saw in Tobin Harbor.

Kingfisher

We tried and tried and tried to get good pictures of the many Belted Kingfishers in the area, but I had two problems: they are very, very fast and the mid-length lens I took with me in the canoe (I didn't want to take my long lens) was refusing to cleanly focus at the far distances.

I sent it off for repairs as soon as I got home. We did watch the Kingfishers repeatedly catching fish and landing in the trees on small islands in the harbor.

There are also a number of different ducks, including Black Ducks, Mallards and Common Mergansers. In the fall and spring, I understand there is an even wider variety of waterfowl as birds migrate to their winter and summer homes.

Although northern pike trout, perch, walleye and other sport fish are said to be in Tobin Harbor, we saw no fish except the little ones the Loons brought up.

Canoeing; Photo: Scott Stevens

After a couple of hours of canoeing, the wind picked up and we took the canoe back to the dock. A much more pleasant young man checked us back in.

Tobin Harbor

There are 165 miles of hiking trails in Isle Royale. That afternoon, I took another one of the popular ones -- the Rock Harbor Trail a couple miles west to Suzy's Cave and then on to the Three-Mile camping area.

Photo: michigantrailmaps.com

Along the trail, I passed by a couple of 36 different small campgrounds/ campsites on Isle Royale.

The sites I saw were really neat – small screened huts with sleeping ledges plus an outdoor table and fire ring. That makes it much easier for the many backpackers who have to take the ferries to reach the island. They don't have to carry tents with them. Plus, it is great protection from bugs and (I guess) moose.

This hike was slightly longer than the Stoll Trail -- about seven miles round-trip. But, it was quite similar -- passing through forests (some deeper and greener than the previous day's hike) and along the shore. The trail is a figure eight, coming together at the mid-point at Suzy's Cave.

My hike

Suzy's Cave was a "secret passage" formed by the lake when it was much higher. According to legend, about 100 years ago Suzy Tooker and her family spent summers on Tookers Island across the water in Rock Harbor. One day she was playing on the mainland and a storm prevented her from getting back to the island. She took shelter overnight in this cave and it was named after her.

Suzy's Cave

At Suzy's Cave, I cut inland and walked to the Mount Franklin Trail. Originally, I had planned to hike up Mount Franklin, where there is supposed to be a view of Lake Superior on both sides of the island. But, it became pretty evident that I wouldn't have time to make it back before dark if I did that. So, I turned around at the trailhead in an area that was swampy/boggy.

I must admit that Isle Royale, while pretty, isn't spectacular. The problem is that it looks pretty much the same everywhere you go (the swamp was an exception) and that looks a lot like Voyageurs and Apostle Islands and all the other places on the Great Lakes. There is nothing wrong with it. It's just that seven miles of hiking doesn't yield much different than a half mile.

Wetlands and Waterbugs

I think I would have felt differently if I had seen anything more than Squirrels and bugs. But, I saw no Moose or Foxes and certainly not the sad, two remaining Wolves on the island. Isle Royale was live with jumping, buzzing Grasshoppers, which I discovered, after some research, were called Crackling Locusts because of the loud crackling/popping noise they make.

Crackling Locust

Another conclusion I came to as I hiked is that we may have come two to three weeks too early. First, it was much hotter than I expected and, second, I suspect that fall is spectacular.

The island has lots of berries in addition to the thimbleberry (this is a bunch berry and crow berries) ...

Berries

... and lots of deciduous trees that Is suspect turn gorgeous colors. We saw a few that we just getting started, but I can image that fall is quite something to see. Plus, of course, those moose antlers just get bigger and bigger.

As I said, the trail was nice, fairly even and generally good for walking. In multiple places, where the land is low and swampy, it has elevated boardwalks. And, most are true BOARD WALKS -- just a line of single boards raised above the ground. Some go one for many 15 feet. They protect the fragile forest floor and your hiking boots and socks. So, it's a win-win for everyone. Plus, even though the ground was wet, the boards were dry. I have seen similar set-ups in Alaska where the boards are slick with moss. That's a tough hike!

Trail

After the Mount Franklin (which, for giggles I must tell you have an elevation of 938 feet) turn-off, I headed back out toward Rock Harbor to the Three Mile Campground.

A pretty view

Some of that hike crosses over large expanses of rock that are (blissfully, after my Scoville Point experience) marked with cairns so that you don't lose your way. Of course, the island is so narrow, I don't think you could get terribly lost.

Hike

I hiked back to Suzy's Cave and then crossed to the other side of the figure eight away from the shore. The woods here were denser and greener, with lots of thimbleberries, mushrooms and lichen. There were also lots of bugs (including mosquitoes!), but, still no Moose or Otters or Foxes.