Isle Royale National Park
Dane’s pack on left, mine on the right. New storage lockers on the Island to help keep wolves from backpackers food.
When we planned our Isle Royale vacation, we hoped to see foxes, moose, and especially wolves. But as we began our trip, we added Craig to our list.
By the time the Voyageur II ferry left Grand Portage, Minnesota, and dropped us off at the Windigo dock on Isle Royale National Park, Craig Berg, a 70-year-old hiker, had been missing for five days. A poster at the ranger station asked: “Have you seen this hiker?”
The Ferry from Grand Portage
This was Dane’s second visit to the island, and mine was the eleventh. Three years ago, my friend Carole and I hiked the Windigo loop and saw foxes, a huge cow moose and her calf, snowshoe hares, beavers, ravens, and many pesky squirrels. I wanted to share that up-close wild animal experience with Dane on the 45-mile-long, 9-mile-wide island.
Picture from trip with Carole in 2023
Since my first trip in 2001, I’ve been following the annual Wolf-Moose Project reports. In 2019, they reported 2,000 moose and only 2 wolves. Then 19 wolves were relocated to revive the collapsing predator population and rebalance the local ecosystem. The latest winter report listed 37 wolves on the island in three packs, along with 524 moose. It was working. We were sure to see some!
Our expectations were even higher because the wolves had been getting more comfortable around people. They’d learned it’s easier to snatch carelessly stored human food than to take down a moose. Disturbing pictures showed wolves going into boats and campsites and coming out with food bags in their mouths. Eventually, officials lethally removed a food-conditioned wolf. By 2026, food-storage lockers had been installed at all the campsites, and hikers were notified to use them or risk fines.
After spending our first night at the Washington Creek campground, we hefted our packs and headed north to the Minong Ridge Trail. We talked about Craig and wondered what could have happened to him. The trail was an assortment of boards over bogs, overgrown foliage, dense woodlands, beaver ponds, and many roots and rocks.
At Huginnin Cove, we took in the sight of magnificent Lake Superior, which I have always referred to as Mother Superior; I’m convinced the lake has healing powers. We scouted the best campsite and set up our tent with a great view of the Canadian shoreline. Dane filtered water while I started cooking. So far, there’d been no sign of Craig or any other hikers; only one other person was in the camp area. We also hadn’t seen any wolves, foxes, or moose, although there was plenty of fresh fox scat in the middle of trails and moose poop was common. But we enjoyed a gorgeous sunset, complete with the outline of the Sleeping Giant, a Canadian landmark.
Canada shorline!
Huginnin Cove
In the morning, we heard and then saw helicopters and wondered if they had found Craig. For a few hours, as we hiked the East Trail, I joked that we were walking with Canada, since the trail followed the shore and we could see the Canadian shoreline across the lake. This trail became one of our favorites for its views and giant rock formations.
Soon the days morphed into one another, hiking uphill and down, and it wasn’t until we reached Siskiwit Bay that we took off our socks and shoes and stood in the icy water to relieve our tired, swollen feet. This was both Dane’s and my favorite campsite as it’s completely secluded from the rest of the world. The night sky was fabulous!
Siskiwit Bay
After a day of collecting rocks we liked, washing out my clothes, napping in the sun, and enjoying an evening campfire, we slept well and warm. In the morning we loaded up our gear and headed back toward Windigo, with just two days to go before the boat would pick us up.
We practically rolled downhill into our last campsite, joyful to have completed eight days of hiking without any serious problems. But we still hadn’t seen a wolf, a fox, or a moose, despite the abundant fox and moose scat. Was it because the wolves were being hazed by rangers and staff, or because they were discouraged by the impenetrable food lockers?
Island Mine campsite
After setting up the tent we found lots of great fungus!
By the time we got there, our packs were lighter; we’d confirmed our new tent was rainproof; and we’d heard that two kayakers had indeed found Craig, exhausted and hungry but uninjured after 11 days lost.
Finally, back on the mainland, as we drove home on Highway 61, less than two miles outside of Grand Marais, a wolf crossed the road in front of our car! It didn’t happen on the relatively small island where there are three packs, but we were thrilled nonetheless.
Done!