Isle Royale Day 1: Rock Harbor to Lane Cove

August 3, 2010
Miles: 6.9

Our first priority of the day was getting to the island. The day before we drove up from the lower peninsula of Michigan and stayed the night in Houghton, MI.  We departed on the Ranger III and it was a pleasant ride.  Apparently the bridge had been having some trouble previously which caused others an extended journey to the island in the past week, but it had no difficulty as we went under it.  On the ride we had great views of Lake Superior and it gave us perspective about the remoteness of Isle Royale.  On the boat we were able to acquire our permits and listen to interesting stories from the ranger onboard.

Couldn't be in the U.P. without pasties!

As we arrived at the island we passed the Rock Harbor Lighthouse and headed northeast toward Rock Harbor. We had a short stop at Mott Island. We then continued northeast past Three Mile until we reached Rock Harbor.  It took some time to get all our stuff together and then we hit the trail.  We made our way to the Tobin Harbor Trail and followed it along Tobin Harbor until we joined the Mount Franklin Trail and headed north up to the Greenstone Ridge.

On the Greenstone

From the Greenstone we dropped down some switchbacks and made our way to the remote Lane Cove, one of the most secluded campsites in the park.  When we arrived, we discovered that all the designated campsites were full.  After meeting some new friends, we were able to double up in a beautiful campsite.

Lane Cove

We had a relaxing evening and ate some hearty backpacking food before calling it a day.  During the the were able to see a beautiful display of the Northern Lights!