Archive for the ‘Trips’ Category

Isle Royale Trip: My Original Backpacking Trip Itinerary

Feb 18th, 2012 / 0 Comments

Little Todd trail marker with moose antler

My trip to Isle Royale National Park last summer was unusual in many aspects compared to my typical backcountry jaunts.

Most of my trips take me into the Adirondack backcountry; not only due to my love and lifetime relationship with the area but because of its close proximity; after two hours of driving I can be immersed in the vast forests, wetlands and beaver meadows of northern New York.

Isle Royale was entirely virgin territory for me; I had never journeyed there before. Although I did almost visit the island back in the summer of 1996, at the end of a summer of doing ornithological field work in north-central Minnesota. That plan never reached fruition unfortunately, as a couple day training trip lead to feet riddled with festering blisters, which were totally inappropriate for the long distances required for Isle Royale.

The travel time to get to Isle Royale was exorbitantly greater than my typical sojourns into the Adirondacks. It not only required driving more than over 900 miles, but an approximately 55-mile ferry ride across Lake Superior. Although the scenery along first portion of the drive was not particularly spectacular, the portion along Michigan’s Upper Peninsula was very pretty and reminiscent of parts of the Adirondacks.
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Plans, Trips

Isle Royale Trip: Arriving at Copper Harbor

Feb 11th, 2012 / 0 Comments

Lake Michigan Beach

The following is a description of a 19-day adventure to Isle Royale National Park. The trip includes driving more than 900 miles to Copper Harbor and back, a ferry over the rough water of Lake Superior and two weeks of hiking to one end of the 45-mile long island and back. Part two of the drive there took me from Grayling, MI, across the Upper Peninsula, and finally arriving at Copper Harbor, nearly at the end of the Keweenaw Peninsula.

Section Stats:
Date: August 28, 2011
Length: appoximately 400 miles
Difficulty: Very Easy

The next morning dawns with clear skies, much like the day before. Hopefully such blue skies will hold out for the entire duration of my trip upon Isle Royale.
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Reports, Trips

Isle Royale Trip: The Long Drive to Copper Harbor, Part 1

Feb 5th, 2012 / 0 Comments

View from the Minong Trail

The following is a description of a 19-day adventure to Isle Royale National Park. The trip includes driving more than 900 miles to Copper Harbor and back, a ferry over the rough water of Lake Superior and two weeks of hiking to one end of the 45-mile long island and back. Part one of the drive there took me from Syracuse, NY area, through Canada and to Grayling, Michigan.

Section Stats:
Date: August 27, 2011
Length: appoximately 553 miles
Difficulty: Very Easy

Finally! It is August 27th and time to begin my two-week vacation.

After the glacial pace of August, it is finally time to put all my trip preparations to good use. Now only 900+ miles, and a portion of Lake Superior stand between me and Isle Royale National Park. Luckily, I have two days to travel there before my ferry leaves for the island on Monday morning.
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Reports, Trips

Isle Royale Trip: Preparations are Half the Battle

Jan 22nd, 2012 / 0 Comments

Siskiwit Bay

I always wanted to explore Isle Royal National Park. That is, ever since I discovered its existence in 1996.

The discovery of this gem of the National Park system occurred while I was working as a field assistant (searching for bird nests and doing point counts) within the Chippewa National Forest of Minnesota. If being in the woods for five and half days a week was not enough, I journeyed often to the Boundary Waters Canoe Wilderness in the Superior National Forest on my time off. While visiting the International Wolf Center in Ely, MN I picked up a brochure on Isle Royale and almost immediately started planning a trip before returning to New York at the end of the summer.

When the job finished in late August, my plan to take the Voyageur II ferry from Grand Portage to Windigo was scheduled. Not wanting to miss even a shred of the Isle Royale experience, my plan was to hike around the entire perimeter of the island (or as much as I could by trail).
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Reports, Trips

Oven Lake Trip: Exodus from Five Ponds Wilderness via Sand and Rock Lakes

Dec 24th, 2011 / 2 Comments

Rock Lake

The following is a description of an eight-day bushwhacking adventure into some of the most remote areas within the Five Ponds Wilderness in the northwestern Adirondacks. The trip includes traversing areas of intense blowdown along the oddly-shaped Oven Lake, exploring a cluster of wilderness ponds and following the wild Robinson River. Part two of the final day is a hike along unmarked trails from Sand Lake back to my vehicle at Bear Pond Road.

Section Stats:
Date: July 5, 2011
Length: 4.1 miles (6.8 miles for the day)
Difficulty: Easy

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Reports, Trips

Oven Lake Trip: Hiking some Adirondack Trails to Sand Lake

Dec 18th, 2011 / 0 Comments

Sand Lake

The following is a description of an eight-day bushwhacking adventure into some of the most remote areas within the Five Ponds Wilderness in the northwestern Adirondacks. The trip includes traversing areas of intense blowdown along the oddly-shaped Oven Lake, exploring a cluster of wilderness ponds and following the wild Robinson River. Part one of the final day is a hike southwest along a marked trail from Wolf Pond to Sand Lake.

Section Stats:
Date: July 5, 2011
Length: 2.7 miles (2.7 miles for the day)
Difficulty: Easy

A hermit thrush greets me with its flute-like song at the beginning of my last day in the wilderness. The sun is still not above the horizon but the darkness’s hold on the surrounding forest is quickly weakening. In the dim light, the hermit thrust appears in front of the lean-to, apparently in search of an early breakfast of invertebrates.

Hear the hermit thrush’s etheral song at Wolf Pond.
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Reports, Trips

Oven Lake Trip: Spending the Final Night at Wolf Pond

Dec 7th, 2011 / 0 Comments

Wolf Pond Lean-to

The following is a description of an eight-day bushwhacking adventure into some of the most remote areas within the Five Ponds Wilderness in the northwestern Adirondacks. The trip includes traversing areas of intense blowdown along the oddly-shaped Oven Lake, exploring a cluster of wilderness ponds and following the wild Robinson River. The fourth part of day seven is a hike southwest along the Five Ponds Trail to Wolf Pond for the final night of the trip.

Section Stats:
Date: July 4, 2011
Length: 1.4 miles (5.0 miles for the day)
Difficulty: Easy

Standing in the Five Ponds Trail between Little Shallow Pond and the intersection with the Sand Lake and Cage Lake trails gives me some perspective on my newly completed bushwhacking trek through some of the most remote areas of the Adirondacks.
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Reports, Trips

Oven Lake Trip: A Long Bushwhack from the Robinson River to the Five Ponds Trail

Nov 28th, 2011 / 0 Comments

Reaching the 5 Ponds Trail

The following is a description of an eight-day bushwhacking adventure into some of the most remote areas within the Five Ponds Wilderness in the northwestern Adirondacks. The trip includes traversing areas of intense blowdown along the oddly-shaped Oven Lake, exploring a cluster of wilderness ponds and following the wild Robinson River. The third part of day seven is a bushwhack from the northern portion of the Robinson River to the Five Ponds Trail.

Section Stats:
Date: July 4, 2011
Length: 1.5 miles (3.6 miles for the day)
Difficulty: Moderate

With the early morning treks from West Pond to the Robinson River and along the river to where it sharply turns south behind me, it is now time to turn my attention to the last bushwhacking segment of my entire eight-day trip. From where the Robinson River turns abruptly south, I need to head southwest until reaching the Five Ponds Trail. After hitting the trail, the way to the Wolf Pond lean-to should be cinch since I have used this trail many times in the past.
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Reports, Trips

Oven Lake Trip: Bushwhacking Along the Robinson River

Nov 25th, 2011 / 0 Comments

Robinson River

The following is a description of an eight-day bushwhacking adventure into some of the most remote areas within the Five Ponds Wilderness in the northwestern Adirondacks. The trip includes traversing areas of intense blowdown along the oddly-shaped Oven Lake, exploring a cluster of wilderness ponds and following the wild Robinson River. The second part of day seven is a bushwhack along an extensive northern portion of the Robinson River.

Section Stats:
Date: July 4, 2011
Length: 1.6 miles (2.1 miles for the day)
Difficulty: Moderate

With the crossing of the northern section of the Robinson River behind me, I can now relax and concentrate on heading west along the northern stretch of the river. The river acts as my guide for at least another mile of bushwhacking before departing for the marked trail system to Wolf Pond.

This part of the day’s hike takes me through some of the most remote areas of the Five Ponds Wilderness in the northwestern Adirondacks. I plan on savoring this wilderness experience since before the day is out I will be hiking along the marked trail system for the majority of the remainder of my backpacking trip.
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Reports, Trips

Oven Lake Trip: Robinson River, Here I Come!

Nov 16th, 2011 / 1 Comment

Robinson River

The following is a description of an eight-day bushwhacking adventure into some of the most remote areas within the Five Ponds Wilderness in the northwestern Adirondacks. The trip includes traversing areas of intense blowdown along the oddly-shaped Oven Lake, exploring a cluster of wilderness ponds and following the wild Robinson River. The first part of day seven is a bushwhack over a shoulder of Greenfield Mountain down to the Robinson River.

Section Stats:
Date: July 4, 2011
Length: 0.5 miles (0.5 miles for the day)
Difficulty: Moderate

A very active morning bird chorus greets me when I wake on my last full day in the backcountry of the Five Ponds Wilderness in the northwestern Adirondacks. The birds are not the only vocal wildlife though, as a boisterous frog chorus is still going on from the previous night. Apparently the frogs never took a break as they were making quite the ruckus during the middle of the night when I got up to relieve myself.
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Reports, Trips