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Isle Royale end-to-end solo loop hike part 10 – Headed for Windigo on the Minong Ridge Trail

On day 6 of my Isle Royale backpacking trip, I leave the North Lake Desor campground on the Minong Ridge Trail, headed toward Windigo.

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Sunrise at North Lake Desor Campground

I was up before the sun to catch another amazing Isle Royale sunrise, this time from the North Lake Desor Campground. The sun covered the lake in an orange glow while a family of mergansers gently paddled across the calm water.

The hike was going to be a long, difficult one – 12.5 miles with 3 beaver dam crossings. I had heard stories of hikers getting lost at one of the dams, and wanted to give myself plenty of time to get there.

The trail started out looking much like it had the day before – up on the rocky Minong Ridge. There were some decent climbs and some views from the ridge, but much of the trail was narrow and overgrown with thimbleberry plants and ferns. I made my way through ferns as tall as me, and longed for the openness of the ridge.

The cairns were all well-placed. As long as you pay some kind of attention, they were easy to spot. Eventually the trail became more wooded, and the cool shade was a comfortable change from the hot sun of the ridge.

Minong Trail beaver dam crossings

I’d been hiking about 3 hours when the trail ended at the grassy edge of a swamp. I realized that couldn’t be the trail – it went nowhere. I backtracked a few steps and realized I had made it to the beaver dam I had heard about – the one where hikers get lost on a false trail.

I ended up on the false trail, but only went about 10 steps where it abruptly ended. Having been warned, I knew to backtrack right away. After retracing those 10 steps, I saw the dam, and knew I was supposed to follow it. The beaver dam was the first of 3 for the day. I had thought the hard-to-find beaver dam trail was the last one I would come to – not the first – but I had probably read accounts of people coming from Windigo.

The dam was very long and very muddy and took a while to cross, but I eventually made it to the other side where I mixed up some electrolytes and had a snack. While resting there, I saw another solo hiker who had wandered off the trail in the same spot. I gave her a shout and pointed toward the trail so she wouldn’t have to struggle too long to get back on track.

The mosquitos were terrible near the dam, so I moved on. There were still two more beaver dam crossings before I would get to Windigo, but the most difficult one was now behind me.