Hello Everyone and greetings from Green Bay, Wisconsin! I have completed my two month journey through Michigan and have moved on to the Badger State. I spent the first half of the week out in beautiful Isle Royale National Park, a destination I was really looking forward to and which definitely lived up to my expectations. Returning from the park on Saturday, it was time for me to make tracks and get myself into Wisconsin. Summer is passing quickly and I still hope to get through both Wisconsin and Minnesota before winter sets in. It’s been a good week, and I’m excited to tell you what I’ve been up to.
I headed out to Isle Royale on the Isle Royale Queen IV out of Copper Harbor bright and early on Wednesday morning. There are three boats that make the trip to the island, and this one just worked better with my schedule. It was fast and made the 55 mile crossing in about 3.5 hours and I enjoyed chatting with a mother and daughter who I sat with on the way out. The mother owned the rock shop in Copper Harbor and had a grandfather who once lived and worked as a fisherman on Isle Royale. Her daughter was in Copper Harbor for the summer and working at one of the restaurants in town. I was surprised by how many people I met who had family connections back to Isle Royale before it became a National Park.
When we arrived on the island, the rangers gave us their briefing, issued backcountry permits and we were off and running. Most of the park is designated wilderness, so unless you are staying at the lodge near the ferry dock you are on your own for the duration of your stay. I shouldered my pack and made my way a little over 7 miles to Daisy Farm Campground on the east side of the island. It’s been years since I’ve carried a full pack that distance, but I have been doing a lot of walking and hiking and it really wasn’t too bad. I even saw my first of nine moose I would see during my visit on this hike. Because I was there alone, it was easy to hear footsteps which weren’t my own and an adult moose has some pretty heavy footsteps. I was able to see the moose through the dense forest and enjoyed spending some time with her before heading on to camp where I took up residence in one of the shelters they had there. I had my tent with me, but since the shelters were available it seemed like an easier option even though it only takes 5 minutes to set up my tent. I had my first dehydrated meal in many years, something which has improved dramatically since the last time I ate one. It was a beautiful campground right on the lake and even though it was pretty busy, people were spread out and it didn’t seem crowded. I met some really nice people in camp and found it easy to talk to people as we obviously had shared interests in hiking, camping and/or National Parks and had gone to some length to get to this remote island.
I woke up Thursday morning to heavy steps outside of my shelter. It sounded like moose and I figured I better open my eyes and check. It turned out to be a momma moose and her calf less than 30 feet from my front door. They spent about 20 minutes with me there before moving on down the trail and I definitely enjoyed the encounter. After breakfast I headed up to the Ojibway Fire Tower high on the Greenstone Ridge which runs the length of the island. I got some wonderful views up there despite the haze which hung in the air from western wildfires. From there, I hiked on to Mount Franklin and then descended to the other side of the island and Lynn Cove campground, which was definitely my favorite from my time in the park. It was small, quiet and secluded and you had to go up and down the “mountain” and cross several single-board bridges to get to it. I set up my tent right on the water and enjoyed a nice swim which really is a treat after a long day of hiking. I dried off and just got my dinner cooked before the rain moved in. I enjoyed the sound of the rain on my tent and it certainly didn’t keep me from sleeping, although there was some pretty serious thunder and lightning during the night.
The next morning I made my way back up and over the ridge and down to the Three Mile campground which was way too crowded and noisy for my liking. It was a nice campground right on the lake, but I probably wouldn’t use it again if I went back. I did get there early enough to get a shelter, though, which was nice. I swam in the lake and read my book – Nevada Barr’s A Superior Death, a novel about murder and mayhem on Isle Royale which I really enjoyed while I was there. The rain had tamped down the haze a bit and it was so nice to see blue skies and what the island looks like in clear weather. The trees were so green and the water was a beautiful shade of blue and it really was a stunning place to be. I took an afternoon hike to get some photos and visit Suzy’s Cave which wasn’t really much of a cave but I’m still glad I got to see it.
I woke up early on Saturday so I could be out of camp right at sunrise in the hope of seeing more moose on my way back to Rock Harbor and the ferry dock. I saw another cow and calf on the way, so that was really great. The only problem with being the first person on the trail in the morning is that I walked through every spider web which had gone up overnight, and there were plenty of them. I took the inland trail back and it was really great too with amazing views out to the many islands in Tobin Harbor. I even saw a float-plane come in for a landing which I always enjoy. I got into Rock Harbor just in time for breakfast at the Lodge which was a welcome treat after 3 days of camping food. I ran into some friends I had met out at one of the campgrounds and spent the rest of the morning hanging out with them and chatting. I enjoyed the company. At 2:45 p.m. it was time for me to get back on the boat and head back to Copper Harbor. I had covered about 25 miles of the island’s trails and besides the moose had seen plenty of other wildlife as well. It was a magical place and I really enjoyed my stay. I definitely hope to return in the future and spend more time exploring this amazing park. I got back to Copper Harbor a little after 6, grabbed a quick shower and a shave and then headed on back to Houghton for dinner, a few beers and some live music before calling it a night.
I slept in on Sunday and then tried to sort out my gear, pack it away and clean up the best I could. I went out for a nice breakfast downtown before heading out across the Upper Peninsula. I stopped in at the Bishop Baraga Shrine which commemorates a catholic missionary who would travel 700 miles each winter on snowshoes to check on the five missions he ran in the region. Then I popped into an old sawmill which was once owned by Ford and produced the wood needed for Model T production. It’s being renovated now so I couldn’t go inside, but it was cool to see the small town which Ford built around the mill, all of which is now a part of Michigan Tech University. It was also interesting that Ford took the sawdust and compressed it into little pillow-shaped briquettes. This process started at their other sawmill in Kingsford, Michigan and turned into the very successful Kingsford Charcoal Briquettes. From there, I headed on to Iron River. My grandfather spent some time living in Iron River as a kid, and it was nice to pass through on my way. I didn’t really have any context – where he lived or went to church or really anything, so I just kind of wandered around town and had a look. The Iron County Fair was happening while I was there though, so I headed out to check that out. There were some rides and food vendors and even some live music going on and I enjoyed looking at the prize-winning animals and arts and crafts before heading out of town. I drove on to Iron Mountain where I grabbed some dinner and a beer and then enjoyed a quiet night in my van under rainy skies.
Monday I started the day by touring the Iron Mountain Iron Mine, a wonderful old iron mine to visit and one I had gone to as a kid with my dad. There’s a cool little train which takes you deep into the mountain and I learned a lot about the mine and the process of extracting iron ore. It wasn’t enormously different from copper mining, and it was about as dangerous. This mine operated right up until World War II, when the price of iron dropped to the point it was no longer a profitable venture. The mine closed and disappeared into history but then many years later was rediscovered and opened as a tourist attraction. My guide’s great-grandfather was the one who opened the mine back up for tourism. After the tour, I moved on to Menominee, right on the Wisconsin border. I went to visit the lighthouse there and then crossed the border and out of Michigan. I stopped and had my lunch in Peshtigo which I learned was the site of the most devastating wildfire in recorded history. It destroyed all but one building in town and killed as many as 2000 people. I learned about the fire in the tiny museum there which was small and had a variety of small-town bric-a-brac as well. From there, I took the coastal route down to Green Bay which passed by some really pretty wetlands along the way. I spent a little bit of time driving around downtown and then headed out to the gym, the first Planet Fitness I’ve seen in almost a month. It was great to get a workout and a shower and shave in a familiar setting and they also had a scale which told me I’ve dropped 15 pounds since leaving home two months ago. I’ve moved into Central Time Zone, so it was pushing towards dark when I got out of the gym, so I grabbed some Chinese food and called it an early night.
My first stop on Tuesday was legendary Lambeau Field, home of the Green Bay Packers football team. Green Bay is the smallest town which has a professional football team by a long shot, and it was interesting to learn more about the team and its history on a tour of the stadium. I can’t see paying to tour any other football stadium in the country, but Lambeau is quite a place. The stadium sits 81,000 people and the town of Green Bay only has about 100,000 residents. There’s a waiting list for season tickets with 140,000 people on it though and every game has been sold out for many years. I think because it’s such a small city, the Packers are more connected to the city than most teams are and vice-versa. After the tour, I went over to the training facility since the team is in their training camp now. There were hundreds of people there, on a Tuesday morning, to watch the team practice. It was really cool. After a morning of Green Bay Packers, I tucked into the library for a while to try and catch up on some photos and some other things. I want to wind up my Michigan photos before I get too far into Wisconsin and I still have a few posts I want to publish from the Great Lakes State. I headed downtown in the evening and walked into the Copper State Brewing Company right as the skies opened up. The wind and thunder and lightning were impressive and it rained like crazy. I was glad to be inside when it came down. I enjoyed a salad for dinner and a couple of craft beers while the storm passed through and then headed out to the gym to spend the night.
Today I’ve just been working on these posts, but plan on getting out of here soon and exploring a little more of Green Bay this afternoon if the weather holds up. Tomorrow I’m headed south to Milwaukee which I’m really looking forward to. I spent a week in Milwaukee every summer when I was growing up, visiting my grandparents and seeing the sites. I’m definitely going to go to the Wisconsin State Fair which was always a highlight and was part of the reason I’ve sped down here so fast. I also hope to get to the zoo and some of the breweries I remember as well. I’m going to catch up with some of my family in nearby West Bend while I’m there and hopefully see some new places I’ve never been to before. As I mentioned above, I want to catch up on all of my photos from Michigan before I head out from Milwaukee and come up with a plan for my visit to the rest of the state. If you have any tips or pointers for my time in Wisconsin, please send me a message or leave them in the comments. I plan on being in Wisconsin for at least 5-6 weeks and am really looking forward to it. I don’t have much of a plan yet, but I certainly will before I leave Milwaukee. I have no idea where I’ll be at this time next week, but I’ll be out and about and enjoying exploring Wisconsin. I hope you’ll come back and see how it turned out. August seems to be flying by, and I’m going to try and enjoy these last few weeks of summer while they’re here. I hope you are all enjoying your summer as well and are having some great adventures of your own. Stay safe out there and I’ll see you right back here, same time next week. Thanks, as always, for reading.
-Mike