Island of Royale National Park

This morning we boarded the Sea Hunter III for the 1.5 hour trip to Isle of Royal from Grand Portage. The weather was a sunny and clear and Lake Superior was nice and smooth.  Sixty-five of us were loaded on the boat with half of us and having to sit on the outside with some of us able to sit on the inside.IMG 6262

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Isle of Royale National Park

We just made it to our 58th National Park (there are 64)!  We tried to go there in 2020, but the boat service to get there was not sailing because of covid.  The park was open, but we had no way of getting there.The park is located in Lake Superior and can only be accessed by boat or small pantoon plane.

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We spent the day hiking 4 miles on the the Overlook Point Trail which was gently uphill the first half.

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Male 421 was a lone wolf that wore a radioactive collar trom 1988 to 1991. As a lone, living without companionship or pack support. his existence would likely have been difficult and perhaps lonely..

Throughout the summer of 1990, this wolf slowly declined in health and eventuallv died of malnutrition as his body was weak and his teeth were worn and damaged.  As an active lone wolf, he traveled the entire island actually killing moose by himself. but his dinners were often stolen by packs of wolves.

He died just outside a den he frequently used, which was located along the Winding Nature Trail.  Researchers found him a few days after hhis death when they arrived in January of 1991 for the annual winter study.

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Moose 2129–This bull moose’s skull was found in 1989, just south of Lake Richie.  He died when he was just six years old.

Moose 2828–The rest of this moose’s skeleton is made up from female 2828.  She was found in 1996 after starving to deathbed less than a mile from Starvation Point.  She was 12 years old when she died.

Each of these moose escaped several encounters with wolves through their lifetime.

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After our hike and a visit to the Ranger’s Station and store, we boarded our boat for the 1.5 hour ride back to Grand Portage.

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We passed the Rock of Ages Lighthouse on the trip back to Grand Portage

 

After our trip to Isle of Royale we drove back to the casino and retrieved our motorhome. We then drove across the border into Ontario, Canada and continued on to Kakabeka Falls Provincial Park where we spent the night.

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The beautiful Kakabeka Falls are located within the park and are Ontario’s second tallest waterfall.  

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We camped in site #46 and had 30amp electric but no water or sewer hookup.  The great thing about this camper is that we can go many days without hookups for either.

TRIP STATISTICS:

  • Miles driven in RV from last stop: 55
  • Miles driven car today: 10
  • Total miles driven in car and RV: 1893
  • Kaakabeka Provincial Campground: 82.50 (that was for two nights but we camped for free at casino last night instead).  
  • Groceries and food:  $177.46 for an average of $17.75 per day
  • We’ve spend $644.26 on gas for car and RV