of Lake Superior. It is technically in Michigan but we visited via Minnesota. This Wilderness Island contains a road-less backcountry which prohibits the use of all wheeled vehicles and devices . Visitors traveling to this Island paradise must arrive by boat or seaplane. Bocahantos was less than pleased with the thought of another bad ferry experience; the positive thing it was a very short trip. Well, at least the ride over was......
A densely forested, wind-lashed island wilderness in the northwest corner of Lake Supe
rior, Isle Royale National Park offers outstanding backcountry recreation and rich human and natural history. It's one of the few places in the United States that's beyond the reach of the automobile—as mentioned the only way to get yourself into the park is via ferry or seaplane. Pleep was overcome with sea sickness again. He insists it's the ferries and not hang overs. Bocahontas is starting to question this because he seemed to be a bit green before getting on the ferry. Dramamine for Monkey's is not working.A giant, jagged seam in the enormous crease left in the earth as glacial ice retreated some 10,000 years ago, Isle Royale became the largest island in the world's largest freshwater lake. Native Americans dug copper here 3,000 years ago. Later French, English, and Americans trapped a wealth of furs. During the 19th century's "copper fever," mining companies sank shafts in the bedrock—left behind are more than 1,000 mining pits. Commercial fishing supplan
ted mining in the early 20th century, until the park was established in the 1930s.Isle Royale is ecologically complex. Three distinct forest types—including a remnant of ice-age boreal woodlands—grow on an island just nine miles wide and 45 miles long. A century ago, lynx and caribou were the dominant mammals. Today, these species are extinct, replaced by wolves and moose, whic
h only arrived here from the mainland in the 20th century. Pleep really likes "mooses"; he's made freinds with them in Alaska and Canada. Now he's looking for a Minnesota moose to round out his collection. We told him the stuffed one at the lodge didn't count.Pleep read the guidebook and discovered interesting facts about why Isle RoyaleNational Park is significant:
- It is a remote and primitive wilderness archipelago isolated by the size and power of Lake Superior.
- Isle Royale is world renowned for its long-term wolf/moose predator/prey study.
- The park offers outstanding possibilities for research in a remote, relatively simple ecosystem where overt human influences are limited.
- Park waters contain the most productive native fishery and genetically diverse trout populations in Lake Superior.
After a long day in the park, Pleep still hadn't spotted any moo
se. So, he decided maybe Minnesota moose hang out in places other than the woods and lakes. So he dragged Buba around looking for moose. What about this place? They have moose signage. Or maybe the mooseberry winery is a good place to try. They kept wandering in and out of moose places. Bochantos finally caught on that it was more of a pub crawl than a moose hunt or nature walk.The worst part of
the trip was when we wanted to head into a local beach spot for a walk and a picnic. Pleep started jumping around and running like crazy when he spotted this sign. He refused to be leashed. No respectable cowboy would ever let himself be leashed. What are they thinking up here. He did agree that it would be best for the dogs to be leashed and personally he has no use for cats at all.
At the end of the day, we finally chased him down at the Redneck Camp. He was certain that he could win the spitting & mud wrestling contest. He wasn't sure about skinny dipping; he is always "au natural" so he didn't see the big attraction. Buba commented that based on what he was seeing, no one up here should be skinny dipping.
the trip was when we wanted to head into a local beach spot for a walk and a picnic. Pleep started jumping around and running like crazy when he spotted this sign. He refused to be leashed. No respectable cowboy would ever let himself be leashed. What are they thinking up here. He did agree that it would be best for the dogs to be leashed and personally he has no use for cats at all.
At the end of the day, we finally chased him down at the Redneck Camp. He was certain that he could win the spitting & mud wrestling contest. He wasn't sure about skinny dipping; he is always "au natural" so he didn't see the big attraction. Buba commented that based on what he was seeing, no one up here should be skinny dipping.
