Isle Royale Michigan to Grand Portage, Minnesota. Tuesday, June 1, 2021
The ferry for the trip to Minnesota was not as luxurious as the Island Queen. The Voyager II was older and extremely noisy inside, so I spent the entire 6 1/2 hour ride on the back deck.
Luckily, I had great company, two couples from Duluth, who had just finished a seven day backpack along the length of the island.
All 4 are clinicians, Sarah and Harrison are speech language pathologists, Kyle is a chiropractor, and Mari a physicians assistant who primarily does vascular surgery. We had lots to talk about on the voyage, both about medicine and about our outdoor adventures. I was envious that they had gotten to see so much of the island, when I had seen so little, but our ferry route did give us a view of quite a bit of it, as these maps show.
Again, I took a few photos, but they can’t capture the majesty of the place, the silence, the isolation. Truly a Royal Island.
We were amused by some major cargo that was unloaded at Windigo, many cases of soda, or “pop” as they call it here
The island was beautiful, but I was looking forward to returning to civilization, and an Internet connection. I was surprised to see that despite the name, Grand Portage was an isolated outpost. There was nothing at the ferry dock except a gravel driveway, a bathroom, and a lot of bugs. Still no cell signal. When the passengers departed, I was all alone, and not sure of where to go, since I was still dependent on digital maps. I groped my way blindly for a few miles until I came to a casino, which offered lodging. I had planned on going further, but the highway was under construction, there was a headwind, and the next accommodations were 30 miles away.
Geez, this was my lowest-activity day since being marooned in Amsterdam NY. The casino was pretty low-key, the rooms were nice, the Wi-Fi signal strong, and they had a fire going by the lake shore, although I was too chilled to indulge.
The room came with a $15 voucher for the slot machines, which I succeeded in blowing in seven minutes.
It called to mind one of my favorite mournful ballads from David Bromberg, Diamond Lil https://youtu.be/cDzISoDQL98
Distance 4 miles, 2,068 total. Time 1 hour. Elevation gain 172 feet. Sheesh.
The Ends of the Earth 