On Thursday I woke up briefly at 5:40 a.m. and
saw that the sun was already beginning to rise. I fell back to sleep and woke
up for the day at 7:00 a.m.

I
walked down to the lake just as an otter poked its head up through the water
about 20 feet from shore. The lake was like a sheet of glass and was covered
by thick fog a short distance from shore. The temperature was quite cool for
just a t-shirt, probably low to mid 40's, so I put on my fleece top. Ken wanted
to get a picture of the lake just as a lure broke the surface of the water
so I retrieved my fishing pole and tossed the lure out. To my surprise I was
again fighting with a pike; one cast, one fish, it was crazy!
After fishing it was time for breakfast. I tried to keep warm by sitting in

the sun while I ate my
oatmeal and drank some tea. Just as we were finishing breakfast Ken
pointed toward the trail near our campsite. There, in the brush, across the
trail from us, was the same moose with small velvet antlers that we had seen
last night. It was only about 30 feet off the trail so I slowly wandered
over with my camera. As I got closer I noticed another bull moose about 50
feet away from the first. I snapped a few pictures and then left them
alone to eat.
Ken was a site or two away, fishing, when I got back so I sat down by the lake to relax. All of a
sudden I heard something slicing through the air. My first thought was that it sounded like a fighter
plane flying just over the treetops. I had never seen or heard a plane that close before over Isle
Royale. As I looked up I noticed where the sound was coming from; it was a bird. The bird was
moving very quickly and flew over the trees right next to me. Before I knew it the bird was halfway
across the lake to the north of me where it landed in the water. Ken yelled down to me, "Did you see
that bird? It sounded like a jet when it flew by me!" It spent some time in the water diving for fish.
It would dive below the surface and disappear from sight for several seconds before resurfacing.
Then it was back in the air where it covered the remainder of the lake to the north in no time at all.
After we returned home Ken searched the Internet and identified the bird as a
Common Goldeneye.
One of the bird's trademarks is the "slicing" sound it makes while in flight.

Before we continued on to Siskiwit Bay we took a side trip over to Rainbow
Cove. We had read about this place on some message boards and everyone
left comments saying it was definitely worth the extra 1.6 mile round trip
hike. On the way down the Rainbow Cove Trail we saw a bull moose
standing by a group of trees in the distance. It had apparently heard us
coming. It walked toward the trail and poked its head around a birch tree
and looked down the trail at us for a while. It eventually wandered off into the woods so we
continued on our way and arrived at Rainbow Cove a short time later.
Rainbow Cove is a large, open cove on the southwest corner of the island. Small red pebbles cover the
entire beach and the Rock of Ages lighthouse is visible to the northwest about six miles away. It was
a great site and well worth the additional travel time. The sun was shining brightly, the water was
gently lapping on the rocky shore and the morning chill was beginning to burn away. Pine, cedar and
birch trees encompassed the cove, and small scrub trees and tall grass covered the area along the
trail just outside the cove. I laid down on the beach and soaked up the gentle breeze and the sun; it
was very relaxing. The red rocks are so small it was almost like being on a beanbag. I heard a tapping
noise behind me and turned around to find a
Pileated Woodpecker up high in one of the trees. There
was also a formation of geese that flew over the cove while we were there. We headed back to the
campsite around 11:20 a.m. and saw another moose along the way. We dismantled the tent, filtered
more of the red water and were on the Feldtmann Ridge Trail by 12:15 p.m.

The trail was fairly level and easy-going for roughly the first 1½ miles. The most
strenuous part of the hike this far was now in front of us; we had to make a steep
240-foot climb to the top of the Feldtmann Ridge. There was a small clearing at
the top that provided an awesome panoramic view for miles in all directions. We
were high above the forest we had just hiked through and were

now at the east
end of Feldtmann Lake. After the initial climb the trail resumed
its mostly level nature with only a few more ascents and
descents. By 3:00 p.m. we completed one more uphill trek and
had arrived at the ranger tower. The ranger tower was almost
halfway between Feldtmann Lake and Siskiwit Bay and the predetermined location
for lunch. I unzipped the lower half of my hiking pants, hung my shirt over a tree
to dry out and unlaced my hiking boots before climbing the ranger tower. The
views from the ridge were great but the ranger tower allowed me to see even
farther into the distance. I could see Feldtmann Lake to the west, Siskiwit Bay and
Lake Halloran to the east and many other ridges, landforms and features all around. With the strong
wind blowing it didn't take long to cool down. For lunch we ate bagels with peanut butter, granola
bars and water.
By 3:30 p.m. we were again on our way. The trail immediately began to make a slow descent and we
were only a short distance from the tower before the strong wind was merely an occasional, gentle


breeze. Strangely, I noticed that the moose
tracks and droppings were almost non-existent
after we passed the ranger tower. We came
across the remains of the previous ranger tower
about ½ mile east of the current tower. The
cement footings were still in place, however, the
old wooden frame and structure had been torn down and was lying in a large pile on the ground
waiting to succumb to the elements. From this point the trail began to descend even more until we
were back in the trees and walking on soft ground. For about two to three miles we walked through
grassy fields, swampy areas and large stands of birch trees. This would have been another
picturesque portion of trail to take our time on if it hadn't been for the mosquitoes. We were
mercilessly hunted down and attacked by swarms of these evil, blood-sucking, winged creatures for

about the last hour of our hike. We were very hot and the breeze was
virtually non-existent, but we did not bother to slow down. Whenever we
did stop for a breather it was only for a brief 30-60 seconds because the
mosquitoes were so intense. Even though we really picked up the pace on
this last portion of trail, and were constantly swatting at them, we were
still being bitten by 2-3 mosquitoes at a time. And, as if the mosquitoes
weren't bad enough, we also had to be very careful of our footing. The trail was quite narrow and we
had to walk almost heel-to-toe so we wouldn't lose our balance on the raised edges of the path, which
was covered by nearly chest-high grass.
By 6:00 p.m. the ground turned back into red dirt and rocks and I looked up to discover that we were
entering the Siskiwit Bay camp area.
Jim Dufresne's book, a must-have for every visitor, refers to
Siskiwit Bay as the 'Riviera of Isle Royale'

and I would have to agree with the description. The
large bay is surrounded by red rock and pebbles, similar to those at
Rainbow Cove, and by pine trees beyond the beach. The brightly shining
sun really enhanced the beauty of the area by bringing out deep, rich
colors in the trees and the pebble beach. To the south of the trail are the
individual and group campsites and the shelters. To the north is the beach
area, a cement dock

for boaters to tie off on and a rocky breakwater to
protect the dock. We quickly checked out the campsites/shelters and again
determined that we were the only people here. We chose shelter #5 which
was straight out from the beach. It provided a nice view of the bay, but
also had a couple big trees in front of it to block the cold north wind if it
kicked up. The shelter had a picnic table inside and another outside the
door. The table inside later proved to be a nice thing to have. We hadn't
been in the shelter for more than 10

minutes when the sun suddenly disappeared. We looked outside
only to see thick, dark clouds quickly rolling into the area from the west;
our timing for getting to Siskiwit Bay couldn't have been better. Not
knowing when the rain may begin to fall we decided to take care of the
important jobs first before relaxing. We filtered enough water for
drinking and dinner and then returned to the bay to wash up. Water in Lake
Superior at this time of year is normally 35-40 degrees, however, getting
the sweat and dirt washed off outweighed the thought of bathing in ice water. I waded in up to my
thighs, rinsed off with a washcloth and water and then dunked my head under. Boy, was that water
cold! By the time I got out my feet were numb and my scalp felt like a block of ice, but at least I was
clean.
When I got back to the shelter we made beef stroganoff and green beans for dinner. After some hot
chocolate and a pop tart we went down to the bay to do

some fishing. I didn't have any luck but Ken
managed to catch a 33-34 inch lake trout while casting off the end of the
breakwater. We finally had to call it a day and retreat to the shelter when the rain
began to fall. It had cooled off substantially by now and since there were no other
people at the campsite we set up the tent inside the shelter to provide some extra
warmth; it was definitely going to be cold tonight. Insulated by several layers of
clothes, I sat at the picnic table with my candle lantern and notepad and wrote
about the day's sights and experiences while listening to the symphony of pattering
rain on the trees, chirping crickets in the woods and the lonely sound of a distant
owl. Today had been another great day minus the killer mosquitoes. It was quite an
odd feeling having not seen a single person since we hit the trail at the Windigo ranger station. The
solitude finally set in and I felt like we were the only people on the island. I finally went to sleep
around midnight.
Final count for the day: zero people, four moose, one 'jet bird', one otter, one rabbit, one pike, one
lake trout and two formations of Canadian geese.
Miles covered today: 11.9
Total trip miles: 20.7
Day 3
This page last updated on 02-25-2016 @ 11:24 AM