Boardwalks on Isle Royale

This photo was taken along the Rock Harbr Trail near Three Mile Campground about a week ago. A group of backpackers heading out into the backcountry for 4 or 5 days was coming down the trail toward me. I was standing on the edge of a swamp that the broadwalk bridges. You can see that the ferns in the swamp have only recently emgered -- and in late June! It is summer, but late spring would be a better description of the some of the micro-climates that are near the shores of harbors and lakes in the national park. The many boardwalks on the island are important in protecting the swampy areas of the island, which have there own partucular charms, especially concerning the varieties of flowers and plants that do best in low-lying damp areas.

An Easygoing Squirrel

I have certainly been striking out on the big wildlife lately on the island, but our customers, the folks we transport to Isle Royale on the Isle Royale Queen IV, have reported seeing moose, both cows and calves, regularly. I just had one sighting so far this summer, and it happened so quickly that I couldn't even get a photo, as I explained in a previous post. Here's a shot of te best of my wildlife encounters so far, a placid red squirrel on the Tobin Harbor trail a few days ago. Usually, these fellows are cackling at you as soon as they see you coming up the trail toward their nests. But this little fellow was standing on a downed log just a few feet to the side of the trail and showed no anxiety or anger or any desire to get away. He was nibbling busily on a spruce nut of some sort. I left him to his business. But if you're coming to IR this summer, don't despair. From all reports, it seems that the wildlife viewing could be excellent this year. There have been a couple of wolf sightings in the Rock Harbor area as well.

A Stream Re-Emerges from the Forest

There are many signs that 2008 has been better to the island with much-needed rain than 2007, which was, according to the wolf-moose researchers, the driest in many decades. Here's some evidence. The photo is a shot of the edge of the big, tangled swamp at Starvation Point, about 5 miles down Rock Harbor from the main entrance at Snug Harbor, where the Isle Royale Queen IV docks each day we sail. The little stream has not been present from a couple years in this location. But now the swamp has a lot of water in it, where it had been very dry, though damp, for years on end. I could hear water moving through the swamp all around me when I went deep into it. And then I found the little stream emptying into the harbor on the beach beside the point. A good sign for the dry island all in all. But the mosquitoes were certainly up a bit and busy trying to get me.

Shreds of Fog Tumble Up Rock Harbor

I made my first trip to Isle Royale as Captain of the Isle Royale Queen IV on Friday last week. It was an endlessly interesting and beautiful day, because it changed just about 180 degrees in the afternoon. We had heavy fog patches, sea smoke, and large rollers from the southeast on the way to the island. Then conditions changed dramatically. The wind came up out of the southwest. The fog was torn apart on the 20 mile-an-hour and was pushed northeast. Suddenly it seemed, within a half hour, Rock Harbor was clear. Here's a photo of the fog rolling northeast up Rock as I walked along the Scoville Point Trail. I later saw a moose near Scoville Point, but it was a very brief glimpse. It was yearling, it appeared, and it was a little mangy already, from the wood ticks that harry the moose so relentlessly. I spooked it; so I assume that it is not yet accustomed to people after the long winter and very cool spring. I tracked it for a while along a couple of densely forested moose trails, but never got a another glimpse or a photo.

Foggy Night in Copper Harbor

It has been cool on Lake Superior and all across the Midwest this spring. We've had a bit of fog on the Big Lake on our first few crossings to the island, though I would say that fog has not been as prevalent as it was in decades past. Here is a photo of my brother Captain John on the dock of the Isle Royale Queen IV in Copper Harbor as the Queen comes in from a crossing to the island in May. On nights like these the captain first has to find the dock before we can get her moored. We've taken quite a few passangers this May, and people have reported finding good hiking across the island. The Lodge is now open along with the Lodge Dining Room and Greenstone Grill.

A Wild Story Arises in Winter on Isle Royale

I have finished Nevada Barr’s new murder mystery set on Isle Royale, entitled Winter Study. Now, what can I tell you about it that you might not get from the reviews at amazon.com? First, if you love Isle Royale, it’s worth reading. Barr brings the island in winter to life reasonably well, at least as winter happens on the west end, the areas around Washington Harbor and the Feldman Ridge. Her descriptions of place and setting are often not all they could be, but she has never been all that good at description anyway. Her first mystery set on the island, Superior Death, lacked in its descriptions of the island, too. Barr also makes a variety of geographic mistakes and exaggerations, though they are not so important as to be ruinous. (The photo is a satellite image of Isle Royale in later winter, 2008.) Nor does the famed scientific study of moose and wolves itself get much attention from her. Barr does a quick sketch of the moose-wolf research effort and quickly leaves its nature and purpose behind for her far-fetched plot of rape and murder. That plot is a dark, wild one, even darker and more outlandish than her first mystery set on Isle Royale. A number of readers at amazon.com have noted how violent and disturbing some of the scenes and plot elements are. Yet, though I might be getting callous, I found them standard fare for the modern murder mystery.

The story concerns the deaths of two people out of six involved in one of the recent annual winter studies of the moose and wolf populations, a research effort which has become famous worldwide. Is it as famous as Barr excitedly proclaims several times in the book? Probably not. But it’s somehow nice to delude ourselves that everyone knows about and loves Isle Royale as we who know her do, which is far from true, even in Michigan. The plot turns on the premise that the Department of Homeland Security is considering opening the park in winter for reasons of state security. The consideration of this question brings a couple of newcomers to the winter study, in addition to the wildlife biologists who conduct it annually, and puts in motion the elements of the weird and elaborate revenge-murder story.

As usual, Barr writes with her finger-snapping jauntiness. But she tries to be so witty, so hip, so knowing, that she can become tedious -- and even confusing. As typical with her work, she delves deeply into the psychology of her main character, Anna Pigeon, but, strangely, she does not portray her evil-doers or her secondary characters to any great depth. A boatload of highly implausible events take place on the island during the few days that our heroine is present. They could happen, I suppose, but you know they wouldn’t -- and the chances of all of them occurring within the space of a week are nil. But readers of murder mysteries accept outlandish events as a matter of course. Nonetheless, the book begins to read like a soap opera and actually starts to lurch headlong toward the ridiculous. Yet Barr manages to keep most of it entertaining and keep it from falling off the cliff into complete absurdity. The idea of Isle Royale being the subject of security concerns is not something I am well versed in. So I don’t know how plausible it might be that the island and the wolf-moose study could face the sort of problems that Barr imagines they might.

In sum, if you like Nevada Barr’s jaunty style and psycho-probing, you’ll surely like Winter Study, assuming you can take the dark nature of the crimes committed on and off the island. If you don’t know her work, get ready for a wild ride with a lot of intent study of Anna’s mind and moods, and of small words and gestures among the six characters. But don’t look for some sort of engaging overview of the natural world of Isle Royale in winter. Barr seems little interested in that.

2008 Season Begins

The season has begun. The Isle Royale Queen IV made its first trip of 2008 this morning at 8:00. There was a period of windiness yesterday, but the nor'easter that kicked up its heels for a time settled down in the evening. This morning dawned fair and cold, with a light breeze out of the north. Waves were running only at one foot out on the open lake. A lot of people made the journey to the island on the first day this year. No doubt they'll be spreading out. This is a nice time to be on Isle Royale. It is only early spring right now. The leaves are not out; so the view through the forests is excellent. You are able to study the terrain to a great distance much better than in summer. Tonight will be very cool, I'm certain. The temperature along the lakeshore should at freezing, inland below freezing. The hiking during the day should be great, however. Some of the Lodge managers went out to the island today as well. They'll be getting ready for the opening of the Lodger in early June. Start making your plans. The photo is of one of the Lodge's very popular Housekeeping Cottages. Make your reservations for those units quickly.

By the way, I've been reading the new Nevada Barr mystery Winter Study, which is set during the winter wolf-moose study out on the island. I'll post a review shortly. I'm already hooked. The events are a little over-the-top, in the way of popular mysteries, but it's been a good read so far.

Encouraging Results from the Annual Study of Moose and Wolves

The Wolves and Moose of Isle Royale annual winter study has finished, and the preliminary results have been published in the press. It was a good winter for wolves and moose, according to the Associated Press story, which I have attached as a comment to this post. Moose were up substantially, by about 40%. Wolves were up slightly. There are very few old moose left on the island nowadays, which means that the wolf population should decline -- it perhaps should have declined this past winter. But not so. You can read the blog of the research study at isleroyalewolf.org. The magazine cover on display here shows that Lake Superior featured the 50th anniversary of the study in a recent issue. There have been a number of other magazine articles published about the anniversary lately, many of which can be found on the web by using a search engine.

Nevada Barr Returns

Have you heard about the new Isle Royale mystery that will hit bookstore shelves next week? It's Nevada Barr, returning with another book about the island. She is the author of a mystery series set in national parks around the U.S. One of her earlier novels in the series was Superior Death, which concerned Anna Pidgeon's investigation of murders on the Kamloops shipwreck on the north shore of Isle Royale. I've read that book a couple times. It wasn't bad. We still sell it at the Harborside Shop in the offices of the Queen IV. The story is rather far-fetched, but fetching things a little far is typical in mystery novels. But it isn't a bad read. I've got to admit that I found Barr's first IR book weakest in its descriptions of Isle Royale itself. The island comes off as pretty bland, in my judgment. I'm hoping for better in Winter Study, which, as you can guess, will be set during the annual winter study on the island, which is conducted by the MTU moose-wolf researchers. Reportedly, the new novel will be "heart-pounding," naturally, and "brilliantly crafted." Well, we'll see. The story will concern Anna Pidgeon pitted against a predator -- a human coward with a sadistic violent streak. I look forward to it. We'll have it on sale for sure this summer. I'll post a review soon.

Audubon Looks at Isle Royale

I just heard about Audubon magazine's article about the Isle Royale moose-wolf research study, "The Long View." The occasion is the 50th anniversary of the moose-wolf study, which some have called the longest continuing study of prey and predator in the world. The article came out in the March issue and is available online. It was a good read. The article can be found at:

http://audubonmagazine.org/features0803/wildlife.html

The photo is a thumbnail of the first two pages of the article. Les Line is the author. Audubon has covered Isle Royale very well over the past 30 years or so. Line has written about moose and wolves and Isle Royale for a number of publications and knew several of the famous researchers who have led the study in its first five decades. His overview of the study during its first 50 years is brisk and enlightening. Rolf Peterson, who has retired as head of the project, gives a rather bleak outlook for moose and wolves on the island at the end of the article. I might offer another post on this article once I've had a chance to digest it. There are a number of shorter articles that commemorate the anniversary of the study on the web, by the way. You can find many of them through a search engine.

Lake Superior Water Levels Go Up

Recent reports from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers have made the news: Lake Superior water levels last month were 8 inches higher than they were in February of last year. According to many that's a sign the lake is beginning to rebound from its record lows of last summer, which hurt recreational boating and the Great Lakes shipping industry. The news came from Detroit District Meteorologist Keith Kompoltowicz, who said that the lake is expected to be 7 to 15 inches above last year's levels through August. The level of the lake has risen because of a very rainy fall and a winter with plenty of snow in the Lake Superior watershed. The lake remains 10 inches below normal, nonetheless. There are a couple of photos illustrating the low water levels in my 2007 Isle Royale slide show. My photo in this post is a shot from near the end of Tobin Harbor. That's Edwards island on the left in the distance. The shot shows a broad reef that has been exposed in recent years by the low lake levels. This photograph is available for sale if you like black-and-white photos, as I do, because they are often the best.

Family Time

Here's a shot of Isle Royale from a long time ago, the summer of 1970 to be exact. I was 14 years old. I'm the curly blonde-headed kid standing in the middle of the crowd. We had taken the well-known hike up to Lookout Louise, which is on the Greenstone Ridge on the northeast end of the island. Nixon was president. He had recently ordered the bombing of Cambodia. Kent State had just happened, Woodstock a year before. The two families, the Ben and Eva Lassila clan of Farmington, MI, and the Don and Betty Kilpela clan of Livionia, MI (both Finnish-American families), were close friends and spent time on the island a couple times way back in the late 60s. We had great times together. The Lassilas had four kids, my parents' had six, for a total of ten. We always stayed at the Rock Harbor Lodge (in the Housekeeping Cottages) back in those days. My parents weren't much for camping, though I became a wilderness-loving guy in no time because of my exposure to Isle Royale. My folks bought the Isle Royale Queen II in 1971, just a year after this photo was taken, which is when or family's connection to the island began. Is it time to begin your own family tradition on Isle Royale? If it has already begun, send me a photo and I'll be happy to post it on this blog. It can be a great way to stay together and form lasting memories.

Rock Harbor Lodge 2008 Opening Dates

We've heard from our friends at the Rock Harbor Lodge about their opening dates for the 2008 season. The Lodge will open its very popular Housekeeping Cottages on May 23. The Lodge buildings, which contain the motel-style rooms and and the Lodge Dining Room and Greenstone Grill will open on June 3. The wintertime number at the Rock Harbor Lodge is 866-644-2003. Also, you can visit the web site, which is posted in the right column of this blog. The photo is a shot of one of the decks on the four main Lodge buildings, which are located smack-dab on the shores of Rock Harbor. What a spectacular view in the morning -- any time of day, for that matter. It was just about perfect on this morning a few years ago when I snapped this shot of my wife Marsha watching the harbor and enjoying her morning cup of coffee. May and early June are superb times to be on the island, when it is actually still spring. The nights are wonderfully cool, the days gently warm. Long hikes at that time of the summer are great because you can get a deep, wide view of the terrain through the trees, which are not yet in full leaf. The Queen IV and the Lodge both offer Off-Peak rates, too, so it's cheaper to go and stay.

2008 Season Approaches

Just a short note to let everyone know that we are taking reservations at the office of the Isle Royale Queen IV for passage to the island in summer, 2008. Rates have remained almost steady, with just one small increase in one category. The Queen IV keeps getting better and better as the years go by and we keep working on her. Look for more improvements in 2008. The photo is of a cove along the Scoville Point Trail on Rock Harbor that I took a few years ago. It is one of my Isle Royale notecard shots. You can always order notecards by writing me on email, and we can make some arrangement for payment. I plan on getting some kind of web ordering system for our Isle Royale merchandise some time this year.

Captain Ben

Bounding Fox

My daugter Miranda Davis, of Copper Harbor, went out to the island in late September on one of the last regular seasons runs of the Isle Royale Queen IV. She and a couple friends took a day-hike on the lovely and easy trail to Lake Ritchie from Moskey Basin, a great hike in the fall. They ran across a fox on the way, and Miranda got this video of him on her digital camera. It's a very cool sht of him bounding through the woods. Of course the island is all closed up for the winter now. I haven't been posting much. There was some news about fears of the recovery of the moose population in the Detroit Free Press a couple weeks back, but I haven't had a chance to look up what the latest is or who said what. I'll try to get to that. In any case, I will try to offer some new photos from last summer as time goes on. Enjoy Miranda's fox.