Greenstone Ridge

On the way up to the Greenstone Ridge from Hatchet Lake Campground, the pain in my groin was pretty intense, enough that I was contemplating some desperate ways to get back to Rock Harbor in four days to catch my ferry ride off Isle Royale. Upon finally reaching the intersection with the Greenstone Ridge Trail, I find the pain has receded, either due to it stretching out during the climb, or its reaction to the several ibuprofens I took before starting my hike this morning. If only I had some beer left over to top it all off.

Upon reaching the intersection, I do not tarry long, as I do not want my groin muscle to tighten up on me. Instead, I start the second to last segment of the Greenstone Ridge Trail that I shall hike on this trip. The trail continues on its northeast course, drawing closer to Rock Harbor by the foot. I will not be going that far today, as my final destination for the day is the Indian Portage Trail intersection around seven miles from the Hatchet Lake Trail intersection.

After leaving the intersection, the trail immediately begins descending down into a lower forested area, but then changes its mind and begins to ascend again to the top of an open ridgeline. The rocky sliver of ridgeline, bordered by forest on either side, provides no views of the surrounding countryside. The open ridgeline is brief, as the trail descends into a paper birch and quaking aspen dominated forest, with dense ground vegetation of thimbleberry, bracken fern and other species.

Section Stats:
Date: September 9, 2011
Length: 6.9 miles (7.5 total daily miles; 100.8 total trip miles)
Difficulty: Moderate (many ups and downs)

And so begins the alternating open ridgeline and forest trail segments pattern, all too familiar on Isle Royale.

While descending through one of the forested areas, I spot a little ball of gray fur lying in the middle of the trail, that turns out to be a deer mouse. It seems a little late in the morning for a mouse to be lying about, and it refuses to move, even when prodded lightly with one of my unique, homemade hiking poles.

Upon examining the little rodent closer, there appear to be cuts or lesions on the little thing’s rear left leg, with some hair missing along it. Did something bite it? Or did a careless hiker step on it?

The little thing’s heart is beating rapidly, whether due to my presence or its current condition, I cannot be sure. I retrieve my camera from its waterproof case along my hip belt, and begin taking a few pictures, feeling somewhat morbid the entire time. The situation brings to mind the picture taking assassin in the Road to Perdition, compelling me to continue on, giving the mouse a little privacy, so it may die in peace.

A mere five minutes up the trail, I nearly step in a large pile of wolf scat. My initial thought is about the injured mouse, but then I decide it is unlikely a mouse would escape from a wolf and get as far as it did back up the hill. The again, who knows, weirder things have been known to happen. Regardless, the scat looks a little old, which squashes my initial enthusiasm about the possibility of seeing one of the large canids.

The trail descends to a low area, complete with wooden planking through what was once a wet area, then ascends quickly to another open ridge, with some scattered white pines present (point #95). The open ridge is brief, replaced with forest again, as the trail begins a steep descent concluding with a small stream crossing.

Injured deer mouse

After crossing the stream, the trail remains within an attractive paper birch forest, with an occasional red spruce and quaking aspen mixed in, for about a half mile. As the trail begins to ascend again (point #96), I stumble upon another pile of wolf scat is in the middle of the trail. It appears much fresher than the previous one, renewing my enthusiasm about the possibility of seeing a wolf before leaving the island.

The ascent concludes with more open ridgeline, but still no views. After alternating through open rock and scattered forest, the trail summits a minor peak to the west of Mount Siskiwit (point #97), and then descends into the col between the two.

As the trail begins to descend, it alternates through grassy clearing and paper birch forests. While hiking through one of the open areas, several palm warblers fly up out of the grassy and into the scattered conifers. These little birds are obviously migrating, given that they breed in bogs and not on open, ridgelines.

After descending for a while, the trail ascends and then skirts Mount Siskiwit through a series of clearings. Despite the promises of views to the west, I decide against climbing the open slope to the top of Mount Siskiwit. If the views are that outstanding then why does the trail draw so close, yet never reach the top?

Greenstone Ridge Trail

Greenstone Ridge Trail

The peak’s surrounding area is a mixture of bare rock, and tall grasses with the slope falling off to the south and rising to the mountain’s peak in the north. Although Mount Siskiwit blocks the views to the north, those to the south are extensive and beautiful.

Siskiwit Lake dominates the southern view, with Ryan Island sitting prominently in the middle of the water. Behind the lake is a thin slice of land separating the lake from its larger neighbor, Lake Superior. Long Island, a thing strip of rock, lies just off Isle Royale’s southern shore in the distance.

While marveling at the outstanding view, four large sandhill cranes suddenly take flight with a few croaks, startling the heck out of me. As soon as my heart stops beating rapidly and I am thinking clearly again, I take out my binoculars and spot the cranes flying over the treetops as precede together down in the direction of Siskiwit Lake. The steep slope allows me to watch them for several minutes until I finally lose sight of them.

Siskiwit Lake

Siskiwit Lake

The Greenstone Ridge Trail continues to weave its way along the open ridge, with an almost constant view to the south. A few times, views to the east are visible too, although nothing but uninterrupted forests are visible. The trail stays south of the ridge’s crest for the most part, the steep slope to the north suggesting the possibility of another fantastic view in that direction. Unfortunately, I stay to the trail and never get to see whether this is the case.

The open ridge continues for almost an hour, providing some of the most continuous views since the Minong Ridge Trail, a week before. Occasionally, there is even a view of the Canadian shoreline to the north between the trees.

For much of the time along the open area, a pair of American Kestrels fly before me (point #99), perching in a tree in front of me, until I get close, then they take off ahead of me once more and it starts all over again. This game of tag continues until the trail descends into a paper birch and quaking aspen forest, and the kestrels fly over my head and back in the direction from which I came.

View from Greenstone Ridge

The descent into the forest follows a series of steep switchbacks, providing some views in almost every direction at different points along the way. Chickenbone Lake, my destination for the day, and McCargoe Cove are visible to the northeast, Lake LeSage and Lake Livermore to the east.

At the bottom of the descent, the trail crosses several streams, surrounded by dense northern white cedar. Near one of these streams (point #100), I stop for lunch since it is already one-thirty in the afternoon. I devour my tuna fish sandwich quickly, and return to the trail shortly after, as the map indicates the intersection with the Indian Portage Trail is near, and therefore my day’s hike is almost at its end.

Hiking along the trail, I soon arrive at the edge of wet area, with open water apparently a short distance off trail. The promise of open water, and perhaps another moose sighting, lures me off the trail for a while. Bushwhacking a short distance off the trail brings me to the edge of the pond, but there is no moose lingering about. Drat!

Returning to the trail, it soon crosses a small stream on a bridge (point #101). The reddish water flowing through it is clearly not fit for human consumption, so there is no reason to stop for a drink. A reddish slime grows along the edges of the stream, making it look more like the site of an industrial accident, rather than the wilderness stream. What causes such a condition?

Chickenbone Lake

McCargoe Cove

The trail gradually climbs out of the streambed and enters an area with a large amount of blowdown. Numerous logs lay across the trail, requiring me to lift my increasingly weary and aching legs over each one. The blowdowns, and resulting access to light, allow this area to grown thick with regenerating paper birch and quaking aspen saplings. The thick new growth blocks out much of the view on both sides of the trail, giving me a sense of tunnel vision as I hike along.

As the trail continues through the blowdown, it parallels a wet area to the south. Occasionally, open water can be seen through the patchwork of mature and young trees, although no moose sign is observed. At one point, I swear I hear the sound of something in the water, but I never catch a glimpse of the source.

Spruce replaces the paper birch as the trail continues over a knoll. The surrounding area is somewhat open, although downslope to the south are many tall quaking aspens. After reaching the top of the knoll, the trail descends for a short distance and then finally arrives at the Indian Portage Trail intersection (point #103).

Blowdowns over trail

I take a short rest at the intersection before proceeding on to West Chickenbone Lake campground, just a couple tenths of a mile to the north. Although my original itinerary called for continuing on to the East Chickenbone Lake campground for the night, that plan assumed moving on to Lane Cove tomorrow, which is no longer intention. Instead, West Chickenbone is my destination for tonight with tomorrows plan to proceed along the Indian Portage Trail to the south, eventually reaching Moskey Basin, encountering three different lakes on the way.

So draws to a close my penultimate Greenstone Ridge experience. In two days, I will hike the last segment on my way back to Rock Harbor for the conclusion of my Isle Royale adventure. For now, it is just a short distance to West Chickenbone Lake for the night.

And for some reason, I have an urge for chicken tonight.

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