If anyone is interested, here's a link to my website where I have posted photos and video (a broadband copnnection is highly recommended) from my September 2005 circumnavigation of Isle Royale National Park by sea kayak:
http://homepage.mac.com/bentleywhitman/Menu6.html
Enjoy!
B.
Very nice!
Nice shots, nice music. Good trippin!
Enjoyed your pics
Had to pass on the movies as I have a dial-up connection. I am planning a similar trip myself to the Island. What month of the year did you do your trip? I was thinking of going in the middle of May to avoid the crowds and the worst of the bugs. Paul
Isle Royale in May
I’m planning to go to Isle Royale in May also!
I’d like to paddle across from Little Trout Bay in Ontario to Isle Royale like we did in the Summer of 2004. Then paddle around the Island again and portage into Wood and Sisquit lakes for some Spring fishing. This will be my fifth time to kayak at Isle Royale.
I went in late-August early-September
Through my research on the trip, I learned that late -August is the best time to to because the overall weather patterns tend to be calmer and the water is as warm as it’s going to get. We extended our trip into early-September in an effort to avoid the Labor Day “crowds” (a subjective assumption, seeing only 17,000 people visit the island the whole year). In my opinion, this was the perfect time to go.
Personally, I wouldn’t to in May because of the risk of hitting bugs–I’ve gambled on this in the U.P. a couple of times and lost. Furthermore, the water will be pretty darn cold which means any lakeside camps subject to the wind (which will blow away any bugs) will be colder as well.
Something else you may want to consider is campsite competition with fisherman. There are some very good fishing waters around Isle Royale, and depending on where you’re going, you may find yourself in powerboat central in the spring.
As for portaging through the interior lakes, I haven’t done it myself but have talked to a number of folks who have and they report the scenery and fishing to be outstanding but some of the portages are iron an clad b*tch. Again, not sure about your plan, but it would certainly be worth researching.
Paddling across from the mainland is truly a manly effort! I wish you luck and safe passage!
If you have any other questions specific to my route, feel free to bounce them off me by emailing me bentleywhitman@mac.com.
Hope you guys have as much fun on your trips as I did on min!
B.
Thanks
Thanks for the info on Isle Royal in May. I have no set plans as of yet and your info will help in the decision. Paul
Isle Royale
My wife and I did a great trip there last summer and will be headed up there this season for a full circumnavigation. We wanted to do this last trip, but we thought we would take a more leisurly approach, plus, we got to split the trip up a bit between fishing and some really good day hikes on the main island and some hiking on the islands off the north shore.
Thats the nice thing about Isle Royale, you can get out and stretch your legs for a day and hike some very beautiful landscape.
Damon…
Nice report!!
We must have just missed you at Belle Isle.
We met Ted at McCargoe (and later at Rock Harbor).
Great video!
We are planning to do the circumnavigation this August.
Thanks for taking the time to put this together.
Were you able to do you video on one battery?
Thanks
John
Sorry we missed one another…
John,
Small world–just this morning I got an email from a guy who shared Birch Island with us the day we arrived there!
I brought three batteries for my Canon Elura 50 camcorder and sadly ran out of juice on Day Eight–you’ll notice Days Nine and Ten are only still shots because of this. Judging by the amount of MB that hit the cutting room floor during my post-processing, I could have been a bit more conservative with my shooting. Or, I could have bought a couple more of those cheap batteries on eBay! Oh, well, there’s always next time.
I gave Ted my email address but never heard from him. I’d like send him a copy of the DVD and touch base with him, so if you exchanged contact information, please let him know I’m trying to track him down.
Did you see the Northern Lights on your trip? We saw a spectacular display at Belle Isle on Day Eight (the day my camcorder batteries were depleted) that completely blew us away.
The one bit of advice I’ll give you is this: be prepared for headwinds.
Have a great time on your trip!
B.
Northern Lights
I’m jealous! I was so hoping to see them when we were up there in August but not a thing…
Oh well, maybe next trip.
Damon…
Small World
We had dinner with Ted and 2 of his friends that he met at McCargoe when we got back to MN.
2 of our frinds exchanged info with Ted's friends who are involved in Real Estate In Bayfield, WI.
I will e-mail our friends to see if they can find Ted. I know he is from MN.
I'll let you know.
We did see the Northern Lights the night before heading out to the island (you were at Belle Isle). Pretty good display!!
Thanks for the battery info, I will have to bring extra batteries and D-video's.
I know what you mean about the headwinds, we are planning on getting up early and getting our paddling done early. If we get a calm day, we may go for extended paddling.
Heading up to the Malone Bay area in May to do some fishing and paddling there.
Looking forward to it!!
Loved the videos!
I got a real idea about kayaking around the Isle and what it looks and feels like from your videos…did sound scary in places, however…too scary for this wimp…then, I had to see the the other videos and pics you’ve got on your website…really nice…you do good work…thanks…