Ray of Sunshine Travel

Welcome back to week 2 of the Great Northern Road Trip! We left off at Chapel Rocks National Park in Michigan’s UP, so I’ll pick back up there.

Saturday I hiked the 10+ mile Chapel Loop trail, starting at Chapel-Mosquito Trailhead. It came highly recommended, and I would argue it was well worth the hype: sights included the 60 foot Chapel Falls and a couple of miles of Lake Superior shoreline. After having seen the sights from the lake the day before, it was neat to get a different perspective on land.

I met a really neat woman by the name of Jeanne along the trail, and we had some good conversation about my upcoming mission work and other topics. Unfortunately I cut our conversation short to stay back and look for a letterbox, and I wasn’t able to catch back up with her, but I’m still glad I got to meet her even if for just a short time.

After finishing the hike, I decided to drive up the road to Miner’s Castle and do a short hike there. It’s the only cliff area of the park that’s accessible by vehicle, so if you’re not looking to put in the ten miles on the Chapel Loop trail but still want some views, this is the way to go! There’s only about half a mile of out-and-back, paved trail to all the overlooks, so it can be a pretty quick stop if you want it to be.

I then drove out to Sand Point Beach, where I made dinner and enjoyed people watching for a while, then capped off the day with a short (<1 mile RT) hike to Munising Falls – beautiful at golden hour!

I spent another night at my free campsite at Hovey Lake, then rolled out that next morning. I picked up a letterbox in the nearby town of Munising, but instead of a quick stop, I decided to linger a little while afterward. It was Sunday morning, and I was missing attending church, so I decided to stream my Grandma’s church service. To my surprise, it was the worship pastor giving the message that morning, and the sermon topic was unbelievably fitting for my journey: God’s glory displayed through nature. Psalms 8, which was the core scripture for the message, is now one of my favorite passages – highly recommend looking it up.

After a nice, restful morning, it was time to hit the road for my second National Park of the trip: Voyageurs! Named for the French-Canadian fur traders who frequently traveled the area, the land can be characterized as having lots of small lakes close together. If you’re familiar with the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness, Voyageurs NP lies just to the west and has very similar topography; however, rules are much more relaxed in Voyageurs, and motorized boat travel is allowed in much of the park.

Unfortunately, I was at a water-based park without any watercraft of my own, and I couldn’t even camp in the park because virtually all of the campsites were only accessible by boat. Fortunately, I was able to get tickets for a boat tour so that I could still enjoy the lakes other than by land, and I found a campground just outside of the park situated on a lake – even better, I managed to snag a site that was directly on the water! It was raining when I got in on Sunday, however, so I just slept in my car that night.

Monday dawned beautiful and sunny. My boat tour wasn’t until Tuesday, so I took a nice, easy chill day exploring what I could of the park. First I meandered down to the Ashe River Visitor Center, stopping first at the Beaver Pond Overlook and the Lake Kabetogama Overlook.

The Visitor’s Center, though not much to it, was very cozy and quaint! I quite enjoyed eating lunch out back on the Adirondack chairs, soaking up the sunshine.

I set off on the 3-mile Blind Ash Bay trail and was overjoyed to hear another hiker mention finding blueberry bushes! I scrounged around in my pack for a ziploc, and finding an occupied one, quickly dumped it out so I could start gathering. I came up with a good little haul and enjoyed views of Kabetogama and some birch groves.

I decided to meander back to Woodenfrog Campground, stopping along the way for a letterbox – I was impressed how much the stamp resembled the sign!

Back at camp, I took a “bath” in the lake and managed to wash my hair under a faucet, then did some bucket laundry. I met my neighbor – a sweet older man named David who had to temporarily leave his apartment due to maintenance issues. Rather than be put up in a hotel, he decided to camp at Woodenfrog instead and was even hosting his grandson for part of the time I was there.

Sunset on the lake that night was very tranquil – I’m so glad I managed to get the spot I did!

Tuesday morning I decided to make pancakes and add in some of the blueberries I had foraged the day before. Pancakes is one of my dad’s favorite breakfasts to make – even in the back country, where the extra effort involved makes them a delicacy – so I was looking forward to recreating that experience. Unfortunately, I underestimated the time involved and wasn’t very accustomed to doing anything more than boiling water with my setup, so what I envisioned to be a relaxing breakfast before my boat tour turned into a scramble to get on the road in time – oops!

I made it though! And I’m so glad I did – as much as I had enjoyed relaxing the day before, a trip to Voyageurs just wouldn’t have been complete without actually getting on the water.

Our first stop of the day was the former homeplace of a man named I.W. Stevens. Stevens, more commonly known as “Steve”, purchased and moved to his 400-acre island after a doctor recommended he choose a less stressful career. He built a small, rustic resort on the island and operated it for over 20 years. While the guests were mostly seasonal, Steve lived there year-round, growing a garden, grinding his own wheat and baking his own bread, heating his cabin with wood he chopped himself, and many other impressive feats. He continued to live on the island for another 20 years after he closed the resort, putting him at 94 years old when he left, and he lived for another ten years after.

This was my favorite stop on the tour: I was in awe of Steve’s tenacity in building multiple structures basically by himself and eking out a living in such an isolated, formidable place – especially up until 94 years old! I’d say his doctor’s advice paid dividends, and then some!

The next stop on the tour was the Kettle Falls Hotel. In true Voyageurs fashion, the hotel is only accessible by water. Built in the 1910’s by timber barons, the hotel purportedly hosted some rather seedy guests, including Prohibition-era bootleggers who took advantage of the hotel’s proximity to the Canadian border. It’s now a much more mellow place and is most known for its tilted bar floor, which has slowly sank over a century-plus of operation.

While we were stopped here, we were also able to walk over to the Kettle Falls Dam, which happens to be one of the few places in the US from which you can look south into Canada. More of a fun little trivia fact than anything, but the view wasn’t half bad either!

After boarding for the final time, our boat meandered back to the visitor’s center, the interpreter pointing out sights to us as we went. Overall, I’d highly recommend the tour and even call it a must-do if you don’t have a boat of your own or other water access.

After deboarding, I decided to do another small, out-and-back hike on the Sullivan Bay Trail, but I honestly wasn’t very impressed, so I didn’t stay long; it didn’t help that it had gotten kind of overcast, so views weren’t especially appealing.

I headed back for my campsite, made dinner, and caught another pretty sunset: I really lucked out with getting the campsite that I did.

I also talked with my neighbor David a little more, and he showed me what serviceberries are! They are in fact edible, though a little seedy and slightly tart. I quite enjoyed snacking on them. These pictured here are not ripe yet – they should be a dark purple color.

Wednesday I packed up my site and said goodbye to David. I was really touched at how disappointed he was that I was leaving, and I even got a bit emotional on the drive to my next destination. I love solo travel and the freedom that comes with it, but I was starting to understand the drawbacks of extended solo travel. Up to this point the most I had traveled by myself was about ten days; here I was pushing 12 days and planning to spend another 4 weeks without seeing anyone I would know – quite the lonely thought.

Despite a somber start to the day, it ended up being a good one – I got to stop at the beautiful Glensheen Estate in Duluth, Minnesota. Built on Superior’s lakeshore between 1905-1908, the 39-room mansion was home to the family of the influential Chester Congdon, who gained his fortune by investing in iron mining in the area. My favorite room in the house was probably the Breakfast Room; the beautiful green tiles lining the room were said to be individually designed, each stamped with their own serial number in case it should need replacing. Such a luxury came at a cost: each tile cost $1 – $30 in today’s money – making it the most expensive room in the house. The custom chandelier, fountain, table, and stained glass windows were the cherry on top.

I also enjoyed exploring the grounds; having a view of Lake Superior from the backyard was quite the treat!

It wasn’t until after I had finished touring the estate that I learned about a terrible event that had marred its history. It’s a rather dark story, so I won’t go into details here, but if you’re into true crime, you should look it up.

Having made it as far south as I would go, it was time to turn back north towards my next National Park: Isle Royale! My route, however – the beautiful North Shore Scenic Drive – held some stops for me along the way.

First I made a last-second decision to pick up from Betty’s Pies a slice of strawberry rhubarb, which I enjoyed at Gooseberry Falls State Park.

I then stopped at Split Rock Lighthouse, which was unfortunately closed by the time I arrived, but I still was able to explore and walk down to the shoreline. It was pretty cool to stumble upon remnants of an old tramway, which was used to hoist supplies from the lakeshore up to the lighthouse. After hiking up and down the stairway running parallel to the tramway, I can definitely see why it was needed!

At this point, I hadn’t made it very far out of Duluth and had a ways to go to get to Isle Royale, so it was time to put “touristing” on hold for a bit and hit the road. I had planned to stay at a free campsite that night that was a ways off the beaten path but one of the closest I could find to the ferry departing for IR. The drive in to the site took me on a gravel road that got progressively rougher the further in I went, until I was suddenly faced with a very rocky, steep hill that I knew my little Civic would never be able to climb. I turned around, thinking I made a wrong turn somehow, but Google Maps led me right back to the same spot.

I debated just parking there, as there was no around to get me in trouble, but I was a bit unnerved – Google Maps was starting to cut out on me, and I didn’t really trust myself to find my way back to the main road in the morning. My only hope of lodging was a state park that I had passed a few miles back. I pulled in – it was past dark at this point – and managed to find the camp manager. Miraculously, there was one campsite available that someone had checked out of early, and because they had already paid for it, the camp host let me stay there for free! It was truly such a blessing and a relief. I set up camp and quickly passed out.

Thursday I woke up nice and early to get my pack ready for my 31st National Park. Located on a large island in Lake Superior, Isle Royale is one of the least visited, but most revisited, of the 63 parks. This is largely due to its relative inaccessibility: to reach it, you have to take either a ferry or seaplane, and once there, there are no roads and only one full-service lodging facility. This inaccessibility, however, is definitely a large part of the draw, and has made the island an exemplary place to conduct population studies on moose and wolves, for which it has become well known.

A 40-mile trail called the Greenstone Ridge Trail traverses the island from east to west, and I had originally hoped to hike it during this visit; unfortunately, permits and ferry schedules did not work out for that itinerary, so I settled for the lesser known 30-mile Feldtmann Loop Trail on the western half of the island.

The ferry ride went pretty smoothly, though it was a little chilly with only outdoor seating available. Got some beautiful views of the island though!

After docking, we backpackers had an orientation with the ranger, and then were set free to hike.

I had about 8.5 miles to go before reaching my site for the night at Feldtmann Lake. There was a little bit of elevation gain, enough to get a few views, though I think I liked the views of the wildflowers just as much!

I soon concluded that this trail doesn’t get a ton of traffic compared to the popular Greenstone Ridge Trail – it was quite overgrown, in some places nearly up to my shoulders. I quickly learned that my trekking poles worked well as a sort of plow through the grasses in front of me. This trail, in fact, made me a convert to the trekking pole lifestyle: I had never understood the hype and had found them awkward, just one more thing to coordinate and to occupy my attention while hiking. Here, however, they proved invaluable: the undergrowth was not just an annoyance, but a cover masking a rocky, rooty trail. Though the poles would occasionally catch on the grasses, they also caught me after tripping on a rock or root a handful of times.

I reached Feldtmann Lake after about 4 hours of hiking, with plenty of daylight left in the day. I snagged a nice site right on the lake and set up camp, then decided to hike the 3/4 mile trail to Rainbow Cove to get some views of Lake Superior. It was a nice little view, but I didn’t really feel like swimming, so it was a pretty quick trip.

The real excitement happened once I got back: I was at my campsite chatting with my neighbor when he suddenly spotted a classic Isle Royale sight: a moose! This one in particular was swimming in the lake, diving down to eat reeds growing on the bottom. The news spread among the campers, and soon we had a small crowd gathered on the beach, watching to spot him each time he would resurface. A large portion of the group was made up of a volunteer crew of deaf teenagers doing trail maintenance; not knowing sign language, it was a little tricky at first to tell them what we had seen, but once they had figured it out, it was really fun to watch them excitedly tell their friends.

This was my first moose sighting, so it was a pretty special moment. I thought it was so funny how each time he resurfaced he would shake his head, just like a dog would shake dry after being out in the rain. I was also really glad that for my first encounter he was a fair distance away – those things are big!

After Mr. Moose disappeared, a few of us poked around the lakeshore and found some moose tracks, and soon had another moose encounter – likely the same one, just closer up this time.

After the excitement died down, I cooked dinner and retired to my tent, where I picked up the Fellowship of the Ring (yet again) before falling asleep.

The next morning I took my time cooking breakfast and packing up before eventually hitting the trail. A wrong turn, however, meant I ended up back at Rainbow Cove, which added a mile to my hike for the day and pushed my start time back even later. Thankfully I only had to cover a little over 10 miles for the day, so I wasn’t going to be reaching camp in the dark.

This section of the trail followed a ridgeline for the first few miles, so I got a few nice views! Here’s looking back on Feltdmann Lake.

A few miles in, I stopped at a firetower for the views and ended up having lunch with a small group of girls who were out for (I think) their first backpacking trip. My pace was a bit quicker theirs, so it didn’t really work out to hike together, but I was fortunate to keep running into them – they were a lively and fun bunch!

I enjoyed the hike this afternoon quite a bit more than the previous afternoon. Though the trail was still overgrown, it wound through fields of fragrant flowers and beautiful birch forests.

I also had my second moose encounter! This one was definitely a bit more scary – we startled each other, and a startled moose tends to behave aggressively. Thankfully, moose do not have great eyesight, so I just had to stand still, and it soon calmed down and moved on.

Even with my late start, I made really good time to Siskiwit Bay, enough to set up camp and take a nap, and still have a few hours of daylight left. After my nap, I wandered down to the docks on the lakeshore and shot the breeze with a couple of boaters for a while before returning to my campsite to make dinner and crash for the night.

Well, that officially wraps up Week 2 of the Great Northern Road Trip! If you’ve made it this far, thanks for coming along – hopefully the next installment will be a little quicker to come out!