On Day 2 of our visit to Isle Royale, we planned on spending the morning doing a hike, grab lunch and then head out on a boat tour. As I woke up, I wondered how much I actually slept in Isle Royale National Park on the first night. I could not believe that I was actually there and was so excited to explore the island some more the next day.
We were staying in the Rock Harbor area of Isle Royale National Park. There they had a boat named MV Sandy that would take visitors out on excursions. Depending on the day of the week and time of the day, there were various excursions. When we were there, the boat was going to the Edisen Fishery and Rock Harbor Lighthouse. The description went like this:
Visit the historic commercial fishery with the resident fishery demonstrator (July through August), take a quarter-mile walk to Rock Harbor Lighthouse. Enjoy its maritime exhibits, and walk to the moose and wolf research station at Bangsund Cabin. Introduction upon arrival by the National Park Service.
We were told that the MV Sandy left at 1:00pm and at these locations, you could depart the boat and walk around. The wife and I were discussing if we should sign up for the tour while at breakfast. We heard another family at a neighboring table talk about taking their kids on the tour as well. We did not know the other family, but they had kids around the same age as our kids, so we thought it would be a fun way to spend our afternoon and decided to sign up.
Before we could get to the boat tour in the afternoon, we had some time to explore the island and decided to take the Stoll trail to the Northeast of the island.
This trail was a little longer than the trail that we have taken to Suzy's Cove the previous day, but an equally as pretty hike. The terrain also followed the terrain headed southwest on the island. Rocky and no trees on the east side of the island and a canopy and much smoother trail on the west side of the island. Also, like the previous day, my AllTrails app was not working properly.
Before we departed on our hike, the girls needed to visit the Ranger's Station to hand in their Junior Ranger books and get sworn in as Junior Rangers of Isle Royale National Park.
We departed on our hike right after breakfast and were treated to more amazing views as shown in the pictures.
The hike was about 5 miles long in total and we all really enjoyed it. When we got back, we cleaned up, rested, got lunch and then got read to head out on the MV Sandy.
On the boat ride out to the Edisen Fishery and Rock Harbor Lighthouse, we stopped at a dock across the bay from the fishery. There we dropped a family of hikers off at the Daisy Farm trail as they were doing some camping down that way.
The boat ride down there was beautiful and peaceful. It was so nice just seeing the park from the water. Norah and I sat at the front of the boat and it was a blast.
Once at the Edisen Fishery, we took the short 1/4 mile hike over to the Rock Harbor Lighthouse. It's a beautiful old lighthouse that is undergoing some restoration. There are a bunch of artifacts there for you to look at while walking around.
While there, Avery and Norah met up and started talking to the kids of the other family that were at breakfast and were talking about going on the tour. They instantly bonded and started climbing on some of the rocks. We had talked about quickly visiting the lighthouse and then going to the Wolf Research Station, but when we saw the kids having fun with other kids, we decided to just let them be kids for a while. Oddly enough, they were a family on a huge road trip and they happened to be from Maryland as well. Small world!
We did not want to be left on the island, so I suggest heading back to the fishery to look around before our boat left.
The fishery was a beautiful old log cabin right on the water.
Once on the boat, we went by the lighthouse for a look at the lighthouse from the water. The weather was beautiful, the sights were amazing, and I was having a blast!
As we arrived back in Rock Harbor, we grabbed some dinner with our new friends at the Greenstone Grill. The dad of the family and I grabbed a beer after dinner and let the moms go off to relax. We took the kids over to the dock where I bought them ice cream, let them horse around, and just enjoyed the beauty of Rock Harbor. It was here I took two of my favorite pictures.
Avery and Norah also wanted a picture with their new friend at the Rock Harbor sign with the moose antlers.
We said goodbye to our new friends and the girls and I headed back to the room to get to sleep. We had an 11am flight back to Houghton in the morning we had to catch. We needed to do some packing and getting ready.
Along the way back to the lodge, Norah found and caught a cricket. She love bugs in the wild, but if there's one in the house, look out! She's running the other direction.
I laid in bed that night and thought back on how Isle Royale National Park was so much more than I ever expected it would be. It is one of my favorite places I have ever visited and I hope I can make it back some other time in my life to explore other parts of the island, maybe even do some more hiking.
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