It’s a Small World

We awoke to bright sunshine and clear blue water. Well, most of us awoke. A certain someone who had heavily medicated didn’t so much as stir. We lifted anchor, raised our center board, nosed the boat onto the beach and happily hopped off the bow onto firm ground to explore.

Blueberry Cove is otherworldly. Because it’s small and gets quite shallow going in the average keel boat can’t anchor there. The trees dripped with strange looking moss and it seemed no other humans had ever been there. We explored the woods, ducking under low branches, our feet sinking into the soft moss. Angry squirrels chattered at our intrusion and we spooked ourselves with stories of Sasquatch and ghost canoes.

Feeling refreshed after the walk, we headed back out to discover Rock Harbor. This is the main port of entry to Isle Royale and has a Marina, showers, laundry, restaurant and US Customs for the boats coming from Canada. We had pre registered with the park and got all our permits so our main concern was lunch and showers.

It’s a pretty ride over there, past the Rock Harbor Lighthouse and passing between lush islands. It also has a no wake zone, as we were suddenly informed over the VHF:). The harbor was a happening place! The ferry was dumping a large load of passengers and picking up an even larger load to bring back. It hadn’t run the day before because of the waves so some people had to spend an extra day on the island. That soothed my spirits a little, knowing that it wasn’t just us that had said no to the rough ride.

We refueled, showered and then headed to the restaurant for a delightful meal of pizza, quesadillas and a fish sandwich. That sounds kinda gross listed like that, but we were happy as clams. The people running the place were friendly and the stories being swapped around us were entertaining. We didn’t stick around long because we were anxious to get out of civilization and go explore Passage Island.

Passage Island was a highlight! There is an old brick lighthouse on the point with a crumbling concrete dock. We cautiously pulled up, avoiding the bent and twisted metal chunks poking out at various angles and hopped ashore to explore. A bramble covered wooden track with two rails led down to the dock and at the top of it we found an old cart that had obviously been used to haul provisions up to the light. An old winch sat half covered in brush. Of course we peered in windows and tried doors to no avail. Modern equipment was now mounted on the light and a helipad out back looked strangely out of place.

Back on the boat we continued to circle the Island, proceeding with great caution as the area is rife with shallows and rocks that are only noted with a vague * on the chart. With two lookouts posted on the bow to point out perils, we managed to squiggle our way into a little inlet that surprisingly had a boathouse and nice dock. Behind the boathouse was a well worn path leading into the woods. It passed a wooden outhouse that was obviously somewhat serviced and after taking advantage of it we continued to follow the trail. We hadn’t a clue we’d be hiking, so some were still in their life jackets and hats and coats. The air was toasty warm inland and we were soon shedding layers. It was a beautiful hike with gullies and cliffs. We kept expecting to reach a pirates lair, or at the very least an abandoned mine but after nearly reaching the lighthouse again we gave up and went back. We could see by old steel tracks that there had to have been something like a mine in the area and after rooting around noticed that the tracks went almost directly to the outhouse. After concluding that perhaps the outhouse hole was an abandoned mine shaft we returned to the boat mollified that our adventure had after all yielded something.

The wind had died a thorough death by the time we had circumnavigated the island and we were tired and ready to rest. With our engine in the water we ripped back to Isle Royal and steamed into Todd Harbor just as the sun set. A friendly guy on shore gave us a hand beaching the boat and we sat all cozy inside as the stars came out and the air turned cool. We drank hot tea and ate our supper, then crawled contentedly into bed.