North Lake Desor

The ups and downs on the open, rocky Minong Ridge are over for the day now, and I am looking forward to resting at North Lake Desor for the night. This is my last night on the Minong Ridge Trail, as tomorrow is the long slog into Windigo. Hopefully, my resupply box will arrive soon afterwards, or I will be one hungry hiker for the second half of my Isle Royale trip extravaganza.

The trail to Lake Desor initially winds through a paper birch forest on a slight descent. The forest quickly transitions to mostly sugar maple, with many young trees creating a dense but low canopy. Then the trail becomes a mixture of mostly paper birch and sugar maples as it approaches the lake. The trail’s meandering nature makes the trail seem much longer than the half mile indicated on the map.

When I finally arrive at the campground map sign, I am surprised to find there are only three campsites, rather than four as at Little Todd. With four groups hiking the trail since way back at McCargoe Cove, it looks like I will be doubling up with someone tonight.

Section Stats:
Date: September 2, 2011
Length: 0.5 miles (5.3 total daily miles; 36.4 total trip miles)
Difficulty: Easy

At the first campsite, two tents are off to the corner of one of the two tenting sites, leaving one area completely vacant. The second campsite contains Tim and Shelly’s single tent, while the third one contains the two dome tents of the family that I played leap-frog with up on the ridge earlier.

With already four people at the family’s campsite, I am not going to ask to wedge my tarp in between them. And although there is only a single tent at Tim and Shelly’s campsite, I do not want to intrude on their privacy (which is an illusion since the scant understory makes all the campsites visible to each other), plus they typically get up really early in the morning. Way too early.

That leaves Jesse and Lee’s campsite, and they were nice enough to leave me a spot too. Of course, I ask them if I can share their campsite first, and they graciously say yes. This is very good news; there is no need to go to each campsite like a poor, homeless beggar looking for a little patch of ground to camp on for the night.

Jesse and Lee’s two tents are off to the side of their campsite, on a patch of dry, tall grass. The reason for the placement is obvious; they are avoiding the dry, bare ground that dominates the vast majority of the campsite. The one open tent site is just dirt; nothing but filthy and dusty dirt. Lucky me.

After a quick camp setup, including putting up my tarp, filtering water, and setting up a clothes line to dry my sweat-soaked clothing, I join Jesse and Lee down near the water’s edge.

North Lake Desor intersection

The lake is located down a short but steep hillside from our campsite. There is much bare rock along the shoreline, and a nice view of the lake. Unlike the forest of sugar maple and paper birch left behind upslope, red pines grow along the shoreline.

Lake Desor is a very large lake, the second largest on the island after the humungous Siskiwit Lake. It has a very irregular shoreline, with several sizeable islands, two of which are visible from our campsite. On the opposite shore lies the South Lake Desor campsite. I will be staying there for a single night on my return trip to Rock Harbor, when I am following the Greenstone Ridge Trail.

Jesse, Lee and I engage in the usual discussion of past backpacking experiences, with an emphasis on Isle Royale. Jesse has been coming to Isle Royale for many, many years, and is a great resource about the island. I just hope I am still hiking at his age, so I can accumulate such a wide variety of backpacking stories.

Forest along North Lake Desor Trail

Later, Brad, the father of the family down the way, joins us for many of the stories. Unlike Lee and Jesse, who are from Michigan, he is from Minnesota. He and his family came over from Grand Portage to Windigo earlier in the week, and plan on taking the ferry back to Grand Portage the day after tomorrow.

Soon we part for dinner, and I set about cooking a delicious meal of alphabet pasta in pesto sauce. Unfortunately, the pesto sauce gives me a little bit of heartburn. I will have to add some Tums to my first aid kit before my next trip.

After cleaning-up, I return to the lakeshore to relax for a while before heading to my tarp for the night. My two campmates have a similar idea, so I join them down by the shoreline as the sun sets in the west.

With interesting lighting conditions, I cannot resist taking numerous photographs of the lake with my camera as the sun recedes in the west. Unfortunately, none of them capture the true beauty of the scene. And no matter how many I take, or what I angle I take them from, they never do.

View from North Lake Desor campsite

My tarp at North Lake Desor

Wildlife is plentiful on the lake, especially the birdlife. At least eight common loons are out on the water, 6 of them together, while the other 2 remain off by themselves. A bald eagle flies over repeatedly, as does a herring gull, many ring-billed gulls, and a belted kingfisher. A spotted sandpiper bobs along the lakeshore ignoring my presence for a while, before flying off across the lake.

A female merganser, with four young, dives frequently into the water, only to bob up a few moments later. Even with my binoculars, at this distance, and without an identification guide, I am unable to positively identify it as a common or red-breasted merganser. Given it is early September, the young seem a little small for this point in the season. Their mother must have gotten a late start on her family this year. Or an earlier brood met an unfortunate fate.

North Lake Desor

North Lake Desor

Many double-crested cormorants are far out into the water, nearer to the southwestern shore. The noise from the splashes each time a group of them dive into the water carries over the lake like a series of fire crackers exploding. For a while, I am totally perplexed at the source of these sounds until finally locating the source.

Jesse and Lee head off to sleep well before I do. I enjoy some alone time, thinking about how tonight is my last night on the Minong Ridge Trail. Although I am sad to see the Minong go, I am eagerly anticipating the upcoming Feldtmann Lake and Greenstone Ridge Trails. Tomorrow is a long day, with over 13 miles to cover to get to Windigo, where hopefully my resupply box will arrive on the next day.

Since tomorrow is a long day, I do not linger much longer after the sun sets. I retreat up to my tarp at the top of the hill and settle in for the night. I cannot wait to see what the Minong has left to throw at me tomorrow.

Sunset at North Lake Desor

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