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| Daisy Farm Trail |
Isle Royale turned wilder and wilder as the month of October went on. I returned to the mainland briefly to get Susanna and Jasper settled back in, then returned to a very quiet island. Visitors were almost non-existent and we were down to just a skeleton crew of staff. A handful of cold rainstorms hit with spectacular blue sky weather in between. I got out on a number of long hikes and paddles and each time thought about the fact that I had a National Park all to myself!
I began to hear the sound of rutting moose throughout the forest. The big bulls were hanging around the cows and becoming irrational. I saw one on the Greenstone one day and it looked at me and proceeded to trash a small sappling with its antlers. I didn't stay long! Another morning, I saw 7 moose before breakfast!
On October 22, I cast off the lines of the very last Ranger III from Mott Island. After that, it was just three of us on our Fall Patrol until the end of the month. The island took on a whole new meaning of the word, "Wild!" On October 30th, we saw a break in the weather and took the opportunity to zip back in the "Goshawk," our 27 foot patrol boat. What a month!
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| Greenstone Ridge |
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| Daisy Farm Trail |
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| Ojibway tower |
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| Cow and calf adjacent to Mott Island |
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| A perfect paddling moment... |
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| On the "Goshawk" in late October |
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| We based out of Windigo at the end of the month |
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| Late October sunset over Beaver Island, Washington Harbor |
