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Isle Royale end-to-end solo loop hike part 8

This is the 8th post on my end-to-end solo hike on Isle Royale, and my 5th day on the island. I leave Little Todd Harbor and hike on the Minong Ridge Trail toward N. Lake Desor.

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Sunrise at Little Todd Harbor Campground

I awoke a little before 6 a.m. and went down to the water to watch the sunrise. There was a light fog over the calm water. I was still the only person in the campground, and everything was still and quiet after the storm the night before. The sun was a brilliant, fiery orb as it pushed its way above the water.

Packing up after a rainy night

Back at camp, I had to pack up a very wet tent. I had gallon size baggies with me, and put my rain fly and ground cloth into one, and my wet camp shoes into another.

It took longer to pack up in the morning with the tent. Every other night so far had been spent in a shelter, sparing me the extra work of packing up a tent. And a soaking wet tent didn’t help the process any. I hit the trail at 8:15.

On the Minong Trail, leaving Little Todd Harbor

I wore my convertible hiking pants as shorts, the legs removed, paired with a rain kilt and gaiters. It was a good choice as the trail was very wet. This was a much more comfortable combination than wet pant legs.

The climb out of Little Todd was not as bad as I expected. Today was supposed to be the hardest section of trail. Even though it was only 6 miles, people said it could take 4-6 hours.

I saw a moose fairly soon after hitting the trail. Well, he saw me first and ran back into the woods. He didn’t run far, but they are very good at disappearing for a such a large animal.

At one point I was walking under some trees when I saw something dangling down. I saw it was a slug and it looked like he was dangling from a web. Looking more closely at it I realized it was dangling from a really long bit of slime. I avoided touching it – so creepy! – and kept going.

The Minong Ridge Trail

Much of the hike was up on the ridgeline. The views were breathtaking. In many places, the trail was high, narrow, and rocky. It required picking your way carefully across the rocks. Slow is my specialty, so I was just fine with this. There were a couple of tougher climbs, but nothing too terrible.

The cairns were well placed. I kept looking ahead to make sure I could see the next one and was staying on track. Some parts of the trail were marked with rocks painted orange. I have a feeling those are older than the usual stacked cairns.

In the text article, I’ll finish up this stretch of the Minong Trail and show you around the North Lake Desor campground.

Next: Isle Royale part 9: On the Minong Ridge to N. Lake Desor

Missed the beginning of the series? Read Isle Royale part 1: Planning & Training