Woke up at 8:00 a.m., ventured out of the shelter and actually saw the sun rising out in the east. The
temperature was brisk, probably in the mid 40's, but I knew the chill would eventually burn away as
the day progressed. It was not cloudy so this was a great sign. I had some oatmeal

and hot tea for
breakfast and then packed the few small things we had left out from last night.
We went down to the pier one last time to top off our water containers and were
on the trail by 10:00 a.m. The Island Mine Trail closely followed the contour of
the bay, normally only yards from the water's edge. At one point we saw the pelvis
and spine of a dead moose on the edge of the trail and what appeared to be a
large leg bone a short distance from there. The trail headed away from the bay via
a long planked walkway until we arrived at the bridge

across the Big Siskiwit
River. I've heard this was a great location to watch for
moose in the evening but we had not been so lucky due
to the rain. After crossing the bridge we walked back toward the bay on
another long, planked walkway and followed the shore until we came upon
Senter Point. The remains of an old powder house were supposed to be
located somewhere on the point. The powder house was used to store
explosives when the island was being mined for copper during the mid to late 1800's. We decided to
leave the backpacks by the trail while we looked for the old building. We eventually found it a short
distance east of the trail. The building no longer had a roof, portions of the old brick walls had
collapsed and the iron doorframe was lying against the north wall near the doorway. We took a few
pictures and were on our way once again.

Between Senter Point and the Island Mine Trail the path crossed through
some swampy areas and portions of trail covered by fist-sized rocks. I
found the rocks to quite aggravating to walk on because they were

always shifting under my feet and I had to take
extra care so as not to twist my ankles. The
Island Mine Trail eventually took us east along
the north shore of Siskiwit Bay until it abruptly made a left turn and
headed north. The first several hundred yards of the trail were very

mucky and slow going. After the mud ended we
were faced with a trail composed of rocks and exposed tree roots, all the
while the trail kept us hiking uphill. Before we could reach the Island Mine
campsites, our location for lunch, we would have to ascend through 560
feet in elevation, from 640 feet near Siskiwit Bay to 1200 feet near the
Island Mines. Although it was still pretty cool I was becoming very hot and
had to stop so I could take off my fleece shirt. We looked for the remains of the Island Mine
Cemetery along the west side of the trail but never found it.

The next major landmarks were the Island Mines, which dated back to the
1870's. Just off the east side of the trail we saw some large piles of slag
and stopped to check them out, however, the only things here were...large
piles of slag. A short distance up the trail from here was more piles of
crushed rock. We climbed to the top and discovered an old steam engine
abandoned amongst the trees and slag piles. It was interesting to see a
piece of the island's history up close and we spent some time taking pictures of the engine and its
surroundings.
From here the trail went past an old water well and then over a small stream via another plank bridge.

The trail became very interesting at this point because the terrain again
changed into a rocky, root covered composition as we continued the uphill
hike toward Island Mine. The trail went uphill and then steeply downhill
via two separate switchbacks. I was glad we were doing this hike in a
counterclockwise direction or else we would have been dealing with a lot
of very strenuous uphill hiking through these steep switchbacks. By 2:00
p.m. we crossed a small stream with the aid of a few half-submerged rocks, headed up another hill
and then found ourselves at the Island Mine campsites.
After taking a quick look around the area I was glad that we stayed in the shelter an extra day.
There were no shelters here, there were no nice views because it was on

top of a hill with nothing
but trees all around and the wind blew right through the site so we would
have been cold and wet yesterday and through the night. This campsite
also is the only one on the island that is not by a body of water such as a
lake, cove or bay. The mosquitoes were very active at this site and I had to
apply some DEET before eating lunch. Lunch consisted of tortillas, block
cheese, salami sticks, gray poupon mustard and some Gatorade. After lunch
we returned to the small stream and topped off the water bottles before completing the last leg of
today's hike.
By 2:30 p.m. we were again under way. Just outside of the campsite we came across something we
hadn't seen yet during this trip...other people. A single hiker and a father & son duo were coming from
the opposite direction. We stopped to talk for a while and learned that the father and son were here
until Tuesday as part of a two-week trek around the island. For the next .4 mile we made an ascent
to the Greenstone Ridge. As we reached the Greenstone the tree composition changed to mostly
maples interspersed with a few cedar trees. From here most of the trail was downhill and easy-going.
We kept seeing moose tracks and droppings but no moose. Then, approximately 1½-2 miles down the
Greenstone we noticed a bull moose foraging for food in the shallow water near a beaver dam. Then,
roughly two miles from the end of the trail we came across a calf and its mother about 75-100 feet
off the trail. Unfortunately they saw or heard us first and began to retreat to a 'safer' location
deeper into the woods.
At approximately 5:30 p.m. we arrived at Washington Creek and to my surprise only one site was
occupied. Shelter #1 at the west end was unoccupied so we claimed it and began to unpack. This was
the same shelter we stayed at in
2001 and it brought back a few memories of that trip, especially the
12.6 mile hike through the cold, soaking rain. After unpacking and setting up our site we walked over
to the ranger station. The rangers post updated weather forecasts outside the door and there is a
weather radio that hikers can listen to for the most up-to-date information concerning the weather
and marine forecasts. The weather sheet posted by the door indicated the high temperature for
today was 60-62 degrees and the low tonight was going to be 33-36 degrees; looked like we were in
for another cold night.
When we returned to the shelter we cooked spaghetti noodles and rehydrated the spaghetti sauce,
complete with mushrooms and hamburger. The dehydrated sauce looked like a lumpy, maroon-colored
fruit rollup before it went into the pot but it turned out to be very tasty especially after a long day
of hiking, nobody would have known it had been dehydrated. We also finished off the salami sticks

and block cheese and topped it off with some Gatorade and a pop tart. By
now the sun was behind the trees and the chilly night air was quickly
settling into the area. I cleaned up with a washcloth and some cold water
from Washington Creek, changed into some clean, warm clothes and
climbed into my sleeping bag. While I was lying in my sleeping bag writing
in my journal I heard a low-pitched 'moaning' and something splashing in
the river. I got out of the tent and saw a single bull moose walking down the middle of the river right
next to our campsite. It looked like he was just out for a leisurely evening stroll down the river. It
was dusk now and a picture probably wouldn't turn out but I attempted to take one anyway. I ended
up walking down the path, paralleling the moose as it walked down the river to where the river
emptied into Washington Harbor. At this point the moose walked off into the woods. I returned to
camp and finally went to sleep around 10:50 p.m.
Final count for today: five people, four moose (two bulls, one mother, one calf), numerous ducks,
birds and squirrels.
Miles covered today: 11.0
Total trip miles: 31.7
Day 5
This page last updated on 02-25-2016 @ 11:24 AM