Isle Royale

Washington Creek sunrise
View toward Canada from Minong Ridge

I didn't see another person for 47 hours, so I entertained myself with insects...

Foggy afternoon at Little Todd Harbor

Wolf track near West Chickenbone

Lady Slipper Orchids

Sunset over Tobin Harbor

Ranger III passenger ferry in Rock Harbor

The house I grew up in, in Hancock, MI

Every time people visited us on Isle Royale (while I was growing up there), we all got our picture taken together in front of this sign.

I had a WONDERFUL visit to Isle Royale National Park, in Lake Superior. I grew up in the park, and spent 3 summers working there, and met Mike there for the first time in 1998, and absolutely LOVE the island. Soooo, I was very excited to return for a 2-week volunteer gig. I flew from Georgia to Wisconsin, and had a chance to reunite with a couple of friends before heading to the island. The water was calm and the weather was beautiful on the 6 hour trip aboard the Ranger III ferry from Houghton, MI, to Isle Royale. I wasn't exactly certain what my volunteer duties would encompass, but it turned out that I had plenty of opportunities to "experience" Isle Royale. After training the new interpretive staff on the "how-tos" of a guided hike to Passage Island, I was free to begin my trail roving duties. Over the course of 10 full and 2 partial days, I backpacked over 71 miles with a full pack and day hiked an additional 17 miles or so.

If anyone is curious about my specific route, here goes: I started off with an overnight to Lane Cove, with a brief stop at Mount Franklin. I spent a pleasant (although stormy) night listening to the loons in the cove, and saw my only moose of the trip on the return hike to Rock Harbor. The next day, I set off toward Daisy Farm. Surprisingly, I ended up with four blisters on my toes, probably because the pack is much heavier than I'm accustomed to carrying (since Mike, my trusty backpacking buddy, is still at FLETC in Georgia). I took a couple of quick dips in the 34 degree waters of Lake Superior and felt refreshed!

The next day I hiked about 10 miles to West Chickenbone. From this point on, I saw very few people, no moose, and little sign of wolves. I felt like I had the island to myself! The weather was great, overall, so I was really fortunate. Every afternoon after arriving in camp, I took pictures of my growing blisters, to document their progress. Next, I spent a night at Hatchett Lake, then a very mosquito-filled hike to Little Todd Harbor. I camped all alone there, and spent the afternoon swimming and photographing pretty rocks on the beach. The next day was gorgeous weather, and I backpacked my FAVORITE section of trail along the Minong Ridge, from Little Todd to North Desor. The views of Canada were phenomenal, and the wildflowers were in full splendor. That day alone made my whole trip, and all of the difficult logistics on either end of the trip, completely worthwhile. I lounged around in Lake Desor, rinsed out my only hiking clothes, which by this point were quite salty, and relaxed. Instead of hiking directly to Windigo the next day, I extended the trip by heading to Huginnin Cove for a night. Once again I swam (actually I waded out to water that was about 2 feet deep, then immersed myself for about 15 seconds, until my body felt like it was on fire from the freezing temperature of Lake Superior!...but I still count that as swimming). And the next day, I hiked into Windigo and visited with lots of old island friends.

The Ranger III departed from Windigo (because of a special dedication ceremony for a new building there) and a smooth trip brought me to Houghton, where I was fortunate to spend a couple of evenings and a day with wonderful family friends at their beautiful home on the shores of Lake Superior. I love the Northwoods! Thanks to everyone who made this trip so wonderful!

Northward Bound

As my friend Kate would say, I'm heading to Michigan, where the lakes are great!!! Tomorrow morning I'll hop a few flights and arrive in Wisconsin, where I'll have a chance to visit with two great friends. Then I'll be on my way toward the Upper Peninsula, where I grew up. On Tuesday afternoon, guess where I'll be?! That's right, on Isle Royale!

While I'm sad to leave Mike in GA to finish up at the academy, I'm really excited to visit the island and then head "home" to northern California. Which brings me to some other good news...I've been selected to work at Redwood National Park! I'll be based out of an education center/residential camp in a redwood forest within the park, where we'll lead groups of 4th, 5th and 6th graders on outdoor adventures. Sounds like fun!

So the next time I write, it'll be from a much cooler climate.

Hasta luego, Georgia! Hasta pronto, Michigan!

Congaree Swamp

When we first arrived in Georgia, we came up with a list of goals to accomplish during our time here. The list included visiting all the local GA NPS sites, canoeing in Okefenokee NWR, snorkeling in the freshwater springs of FL, and visiting Congaree NP in South Carolina. So we're pleased to report that we've accomplished all of our goals!

We spent an amazing weekend canoeing, hiking, and camping at Congaree. We were especially surprised by the diversity and abundance of life in the swamp. You really realize it at night, when all the amphibians, owls and other nocturnal birds, and insects begin their nightly chorus. We were lucky to go on a ranger-led evening canoe outing...even luckier that we didn't even need to bring our own canoe to take part. The weather was hot, humid, and sunny, typical of summer in the southeast. It was the first weekend in over a month that we didn't get poured on in the evening/night.

Snorkeling in the Springs

Over Memorial Day weekend, Mike and I drove to Central Florida to visit the freshwater springs in Ocala National Forest. He had fond memories of a trip through the forest during his college years, and we even ended up camping at the same campground where he and his friends had camped so many years ago!

It's been really, really rainy around here lately, but we lucked out on Saturday afternoon. The first spring that we visited was called Silver Glen. At first glance, it appeared to be nothing more than a tranquil bay, with several boats docked beyond the buoys. But below the surface--WOW! It was full of life and varied microcosms, everything from huge bass and a softshell turtle to tiny fish flitting through the underwater vegetation. The best part was the surprise we encountered while snorkeling above the shallow, sandy bottom: all of a sudden the bottom dropped from underneath us, and we found ourselves hovering over a 25 foot underwater canyon, the springs burbling from within. We dove down again and again, never tiring of the underwater topography.

That evening we drove on some questionable sandy roads in an attempt to find the campgrounds depicted on our map. We eventually decided to see if the developed "Lake Dorr campground" had any spaces available, and luckily, there were plenty. Apparently the threat of rain caused the locals to stay home that night, so we had our pick of a dozen sites. As I said, it had been raining all week, so some parts of the campground had standing water.

We set up our tent and managed to eat dinner just before the rain started pelting down from the dark clouds. One would think we were on the ball to set up our tent during the dry spell, right? Wrong. For the next hour, it continued to rain, hard. The campground filled with water, and a lake formed around our tent. We ventured out with the umbrella and managed to transfer our sleeping bags back into the car and lift the tent to dry (well, less wet) ground. Surprisingly, the tent had managed to keep out most of the water, and when we awoke at 5:00 a.m., the sky was filled with stars. (Of course, we went back to sleep for a couple more hours!)

Sunday morning welcomed us with blue skies and sunshine. We drove straight to Alexander Springs and had the whole area virtually to ourselves for the first hour or so. Once again, the above water view was totally different than below the surface. It was so much fun to dive down and follow the fish and turtles through their habitat. I kept imagining an alligator swimming toward us from an area filled with a wall of dark vegetation, but luckily we didn't encounter any!

We hiked through the forest trails and snorkeled again to cool off. At 72 degrees F, the water was definitely refreshing! I can't believe that the Lake Superior waters that I regularly jumped into when I was a kid are only about 40-50 degrees!

Mike is in week 11 of 18...at the end of the week, we'll head north to Congaree Swamp National Park, in South Carolina!

Video...

Stephen Foster Cultural Center State Park (diorama in the museum)

My little dragonfly friend...

Florida Trail scenery along the Suwanee River

Do you see the tiny alligator? So cute!

Although we've visited Okefenokee NWR in the past, we decided to return for a chance to bike the 8 mile loop. Eight miles of paved, flat terrain is a breeze, but we made sure to stop and see the sights along the way. My favorite thing was seeing a tiny alligator crossing the road! It was so cute, just about 1 1/2 feet long, marching along until he found a shady spot on the other side.

We spent the night camping at Stephen Foster Cultural Center State Park, in nothern Florida.

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The Florida Trail passed through the campground, so of course we hiked on it, along the Suwanee River. The scenery was the prettiest we've experienced on the Florida Trail so far. A highlight was the museum, of all things! They've created super intricate dioramas to depict the meaning behind some of Stephen Foster's songs, including "Oh, Susanna." They were beautiful, complete with moving parts...definitely worth a visit if you're ever in northern Florida!

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On Sunday, we drove to the western entrance of Okefenokee and spent about three hours canoeing among the cypress trees. We were astounded by the number of alligators that we saw (about 21, all in all). A man in a motor boat tried to run over an alligator that was crossing the channel, and the alligator got upset. How does an alligator express its anger, you may ask? By coming after US in our canoe, and creating a huge splash about two feet in front of our canoe. I was so freaked out that I could have flipped the canoe myself!

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Just as we pulled the canoe out of the water, the storm let loose. Deep gray clouds shot out bright streams of lightning, and the rain didn't let up for the 2.5 hour drive home. In fact, Mike estimates that the water was about a foot and a half deep at some points, ON the road! We were SO relieved to finally drive back into Brunswick, safe and sound.

Happy Mother's Day!

Sizzling in Northern Florida

We spent the weekend exploring the National Park Sites and area beaches near Jacksonville and Saint Augustine, Florida. The temperature was 95 degrees and the humidity level was high, so we enjoyed the opportunity to jump into the ocean and play in the waves.

Among the sites we explored were: Castillo de San Marcos NM (an old coastal fort); Fort Matanzas NM (means "The Slaughters" in Spanish); Fort Caroline NM (another old coastal fort); Timucuan Preserve (a beautiful coastal marsh and forest).

We camped in Gold Head Branch State Park, FL. The temperature cooled off soon after we set up our tent, so we spent a pleasant evening hiking, watching raccoons, and listening to the nocturnal creatures explore under the light of the rising full moon. This morning we hiked several miles on the Florida National Scenic Trail.

Next weekend we'll visit one more national park site...any ideas which one it will be? Stay tuned...