Saturday morning arrived and I was awake by 7:30 a.m. We planned on getting an early start on the
long hike so we stood a better chance of finding a shelter at Washington Creek. I figured we may
not get one because Washington Creek is so close to Windigo and people just arriving may spend the
night before departing on a long hike, or hikers from the Feldtman Loop, the Minong or the
Greenstone Ridge may spend the night there before catching the boat back to the mainland.
Last night's rain had soaked everything outside of the tent, but we were glad to see that it had
finally stopped because we did not want to hike all day in the rain. We packed up, ate a granola bar
and were on our way by 8:40 a.m. We had only made it a couple hundred feet away from our
campsite when we began to hear rain falling lightly on the dense tree canopy above. For about the
first half-mile or so we had only light rain. By the time we reached the Minong Ridge the light rain
had changed to a slow, steady rain, the kind that looked like it may last all day. As we approached
the first of many high points on the ridge we discovered that there were clouds as far as the eye
could see, and any hopes of a reprieve from the rain quickly faded away. By the time the first mile

was behind us my shorts were soaked as well as my boots. With every step I took I
felt cold water squishing out of my socks and boot linings, and when my foot left
the ground I could feel all the water seeping back into my socks and boots. Until
this point I was still attempting to walk around puddles and muddy areas.
However, it wasn't long before I resigned myself to the fact that even if the rain
stopped and the sun came out I would still be completely waterlogged for the
remainder of the hike. It was this realization that brought me to the point of not
caring anymore, all I wanted to do was cruise down the middle of the trail, right
through the middle of the mud bogs, puddles, and swampy areas so that we could
quickly get to the end. The onslaught of water became relentless. In spots the vegetation was so
close to the trail that it became difficult to see the trail, and the water would saturate my clothes
and drip into my boots as the plants brushed against me. If I slipped and grabbed a small tree to
steady myself I was immediately pelted by hundreds of additional water drops streaming off the
leaves above. On certain sections of the trail it was almost as though we were hiking up a waterfall.
The sheer volume of water falling from the sky caused the water to cascade over the rocks near the
tops of the ridges and form small rivers flowing down the middle of the trail. Even with all the rain
and water I felt that today's hike was still easier than yesterday.
We stopped briefly for a bagel and some summer sausage part way through the day. My hands were
so wet and cold that it was hard to move my fingers or do anything that required fine motor skills; it felt like I
had been out playing in the snow without wearing gloves. I decided not to take off my pack and just
eat under a large pine tree, but the tree was so wet that it did not offer much shelter from the rain.
We came to our first of two beaver dam crossings at what I believe was the halfway point for the
day. In order to cross the first dam we had to carefully balance on two half-submerged, slippery
logs and take very slow, deliberate steps. I managed to make it across without falling, however, when
I turned to watch Ken, my foot lost traction and before I knew it I was in thick mud over the top of
my boot. When I pulled my foot up the top of my boot acted like a scoop and forced mud into my boot
-- it was not a pleasant experience. The second beaver dam is the one I've read about numerous times
on the internet; it has earned quite a reputation! When we reached the bottom of the hill and were
able to see the entire dam we just looked at each other and laughed. It was huge! We estimated it
to

be a couple hundred feet across. There was a lake on one side and brush, trees and swampy
muck on the other with only a couple logs to walk on the entire way. And, to
top it off, the logs were covered with mud and algae. I began to walk across
the logs but had to turn back for some kind of stick to help keep my balance.
Ken managed to find two sturdy branches to use as hiking poles. We took the
crossing very slowly. Falling off to our left would have left us knee-high in
muck and water, while falling to the right would have plunged us into water
up to our necks. I remember putting my hiking stick in the water to my right and not being able to
feel the bottom. Ken had a close call about halfway across this beaver-made atrocity. I looked
behind me in time to see Ken's stick break. His foot slipped into the mud just like mine had a short
time before. Luckily, he managed to grab a hold of the bottom half of his hiking pole just below the
break, otherwise he would have fallen face first into the deep side of the pond. Just after the
beaver dam, as the trail began to head back into the woods, we discovered a pile of long sticks
leaning against a tree apparently left by previous backpackers after their trips across the dam.
Another interesting point along the trail was the very long plank walkway across one of the marshy
areas. My guess is that it was roughly 1/8 mile long and elevated approximately three to four feet
above the ground. It seemed like it went on forever. The steady, non-stop rain gave way to a clear,

sunny sky sometime after roughly five hours/ten miles into the day. The
last 1 1/2 to 2 miles to Washington Creek was a bit more pleasant with the
sun shining, even though we were completely drenched. It was a relief to
finally see the sign for the Washington Creek campsites. There were only
two unoccupied shelters out of the ten at this site. It was now a couple
minutes after 3:00 p.m. We made the 12.6 mile hike in a quite respectable
amount of time (just about 6.5 hours) especially considering the inclement weather. The first order
of business was to

unload our backpacks and assess the damage. I unloaded all the contents of my
pack and quickly discovered, much to my dismay, that everything was
soaked, with the exception of a couple items of clothing in zip lock bags. To
make things worse, the sunshine was now masked by a thick blanket of gray
clouds, which shattered any hopes of hanging things out to dry. I had no
choice but to accept the fact that it was going to be a long, cold night inside
my waterlogged sleeping! We strung out our makeshift clotheslines and hung
up as many items as possible. We couldn't help but laugh as we watched the excess water drip off
the items; it looked like we had just pulled them out of a pool. As soon as our camp was organized we
made some hot tea, warmed our hands over the camp stove and played cards at the picnic table.
While we were sitting at the picnic table, Valerie, one of the NPS Rangers walked by our camp and
stopped to talk with us. Valerie told us she was going to be giving a presentation on

loons at 6:30
p.m. at the ranger station and we were invited to attend. She then asked how our
hike was today. No doubt she noticed all our belongings, still dripping with water,
hanging over the clotheslines and strategically placed on tree branches, in our
feeble attempt to dry them out. Valerie said she did not want to see us sleep in wet
clothes and sleeping bags in the cool night air so she offered to let us borrow two
sleeping bags and a couple blankets. All we had to do was pick them up at the
ranger station after her presentation. After she left our site we threw together a
quick dinner of beef stroganoff and trail mix. We finished just in time to make it
to the presentation at the ranger station. Valerie gave a really informative and
interactive presentation on loons and the effects of pollution on their habitat.
Before we went back to camp we picked up sleeping bags and blankets. It was a very gracious
gesture by the park rangers and a wise move on our part not to turn down their generosity. By the
time we made it back to the shelter it was almost dark and the temperature had fallen quite a few

degrees. I put on my last couple pieces of dry clothing and jumped into the
sleeping bag. This was our last full day on the island and I was a bit
disappointed. It rained too much so I couldn't take any good pictures and
the only real wildlife I saw were three ducks that visited our site shortly
before dinner. I managed to coax one of them close to me because it
thought I had something interesting in my hand. The other animal we saw
was a
Pileated Woodpecker that was busy drilling holes into a tree about 30-40 feet away from our
site. Unfortunately, every time one of us tried to take a picture, the bird would see us and scurry
around to the opposite side of the tree. A couple people we spoke with on the trail managed to see
moose around the Washington Creek site but we didn't see any. One thing was certain; a warm sleeping
bag was the perfect end to a cold, wet, strenuous day of hiking.
Miles covered today: 12.6
Total trip miles: 32.0
Day 6
This page last updated on 02-25-2016 @ 11:23 AM