Watching for Wildlife

My backpack on the right, Dane’s on the left. New storage lockers on Isle Royale.

When we planned our Isle Royale vacation, we hoped to see foxes, moose, and especially wolves. So far this year we’d only seen three foxes and no moose or wolves.

This was Dane’s second visit to the island and my 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. And in 2012, I saw a wolf while I was trying to filter murky water at the Island Mine campsite, an experience I reported proudly to the ranger (they ask that all sightings be reported) and have never forgotten. I wanted to share that up-close wild animal experience with Dane on the 45-mile-long, 9-mile-wide island.

Since my first trip to Isle Royale in 2001, I’d been following the annual Wolf-Moose Project reports. In 2019, the Wolf-Moose Foundation 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 a food-conditioned wolf was lethally removed. 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. 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 and scouted the best campsite with a great view of the Canadian shoreline. Dane filtered water while I started cooking. We 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 mesas, a famous Canadian landmark that resembles a giant lying on his back.

In the morning, we hiked the East Trail out, having taken the West Trail in the day before, thereby completing the Huginnin Cove loop. I joked that we were walking with Canada, since the trail parallels the Canadian shoreline across the lake. This trail became a favorite for its wide views out over the lake and its massive 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!

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 warmly. 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 rangers and staff were hazing the wolves, or because the impenetrable food lockers discouraged them?

By the time we got to Windigo, our packs were lighter, and we’d confirmed our new tent was rainproof. We saw ravens, a few toads, and even a snowshoe hare, and apparently that would have to satisfy us until our next visit.

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! There’s a popular saying that you’ll only see a wolf in the wild if it chooses to let you. Why it didn’t happen on the relatively small island with three packs is a mystery. But we both choose to believe the wolves didn’t want us to be disappointed. They wanted us to see them. We were thankful!

We’re Going on Vacation!

Jane Schmidt