In 2019 I spent six days on Isle Royale National Park with my youngest daughter and one of my cousins hiking the Feldtmann Loop. We had spent the night in Island Mine campground enjoying the only official campground completely in the woods in this National Park. All of the others are near water. Fortunately mosquitoes weren’t as fierce as we originally feared they would be making for a more enjoyable night by our campfire. As daylight crept into the tent and began to light up the forest we began to move around preparing for our final day on the trails. There was excitement about getting to Windigo where there is running water and also hesitation to begin this hike knowing our adventure was nearing a close. All of our gear was now packed up. The last thing we needed to do was cover ourselves in bug spray hoping to reduce the amount of blood stolen from us during the next seven miles to complete our journey.

Doused in repellent, we hoisted our packs, grabbed the trekking poles and began our walk. Today’s path begins by a steep decline immediately followed by a steep incline to reach the next trail intersection leading to Windigo. Beginning the day with this type of terrain is a little difficult and demoralizing as you break out in a sweat right away with tiring legs quickly. As soon as we got to the intersection we dropped the packs and grabbed a snack along with water to recoup for a few minutes. This gave me time to set up the camera for trail pics to mark the beginning of our day surrounded by the beautiful forest. Regaining our legs and energy it was back on the trail knowing that it’s mostly downhill from here. Fortunately this is a relatively high point on Isle Royale.

We were moving at a fairly good clip by now after almost 30 miles of backpacking. Our bodies were adjusting to carrying all this weight allowing us to move faster and for longer stretches without a break. There were times we hiked at over 5 miles per hour which was a very good pace for us on this journey. And that was near the end of the hike. Not while we were fresh starting out. I enjoy hiking but not as much as exploring the areas we hike to. That’s the part I like most about backpacking – relaxing and wandering around in an area taking my time to notice the pieces that make up that place. Unique insects, wildlife, plants, and rocks. It seems most hikers are always in a hurry to get on the trail with the goal of putting in as much mileage as they can each day. I do like seeing the places I go through but I miss so many of the details while on the trail. The hike from Island Mine to Windigo seemed too quiet with very little wildlife moving about.

As we got closer to the end of the trail we encountered a group of hikers heading in the opposite direction. They said we were about a mile away as far as they could figure which was a great sound to our ears – almost there. Just another 20 minutes or so. Soon after they passed I looked at my phone, which was recording the hike, and saw we had closer to 2 miles left if my mileage was accurate. I didn’t really mind that they were off. I kind of knew we likely had more trail left than they indicated based on how long we’d been hiking. My expectation was to hike at 1.5 – 2.0 miles per hour (mph) including breaks which would take us 3 – 4 hours. In what seemed like no time at all we reached another trail intersection marking near the end of our journey. From here, we had hiked the trail on our last journey to Isle Royale National Park so it all should seem somewhat familiar. I was surprised to see we were moving at a pace of 2.6 mph with a top speed of over 5 mph which was close to the end of our hike. We arrived at the Washington Creek campground and immediately headed for the shelter we stayed at the last time we were here in 2012. Fortunately it was open and we quickly set up camp for the last time. Just then a loud splashing was coming from the water right in front of us. A moose had come to welcome us to Windigo (top photo)!