Interesting to see them refer to "the fifties" and realize they mean the 1850's.

Per the link in the first post, "All fees collected at Isle Royale remain in the park and are primarily used for trail and dock maintenance projects."

If they are not on Lake Superior, they wont have shelters. Check out the 2016 Greenstone for the latest info on what's available in each campsite. Check the "Trip Planning Section". https://www.nps.gov/isro/planyourvisit/upload/2016-Greenstone.pdf More specifically the rule appears to be that the ...

There is a seperate IR season pass. I would assume that is the one that can be purchased at any visitor center, as opposed to the NPS pass for all parks that as you mentioned isn't valid for IR.

So this is my favorite month. It may be because it is spring and summer exploration is right around the corner or that I am a sucker when it comes to fascinating fish pictures. Interesting that they found it necessary to explain that the names of two of the fishermen were nicknames and that they ...

I don't believe "backcountry" is defined by the NPS here quite the same way it is defined in IR parlance. I believe they are considering all overnight stays in federally designated Wilderness (under the Wilderness Act of 1964) to be backcountry, and that the only areas not designated wilderness in ...

Also, what if a solo camper or group of 6 or fewer would prefer to tent rather than use a shelter at Malone Bay? Some may wish to choose the rustic nature of sleeping in a tent even if a shelter is available, and pitching a tent outside a shelter is prohibited per the NPS. It would make sense that ...

A Sunday/Monday Ranger trip would be the most feasible addition to their schedule. Beyond that, I wonder if they could pull off a same day round trip, leaving at say 7:00am, arriving at 1:00 pm, one hour on the island to refuel/clean/disembark/board, and then leaving at 2:00 and returning to ...

I don't suppose the Ranger can make any extra trips while the Queen is out of service to help pick up the slack.

One advantage of the Voyageur using Central time is that those who mistakenly think they use Eastern time will arrive an hour early, as opposed to missing the boat if the opposite were true.

Makes sense. Even if they did trust the person to not ride it on the Isle, it would still cause concern/questions from other guests as to why someone has a bike on the island when they are prohibited.

So he rode his bike from Grand Marais to Copper Harbor, then was using the Isle Royale Queen and Voyageur as his ride back? Clever (and epic)! I assume he took the Queen and not the Ranger from the U.P. because connecting from the Ranger to the Voyageur requires a two day wait in RH and thus he ...

Fascinating. I wonder who built and maintained this trail, and what its original purpose was. If I had to hazard a guess as to why it ceased to exist, the timing of it disappearing from the maps appears to coincide with Isle Royale becoming a national park. Perhaps the NPS didn't see sufficient ...

Can't wait to check it out. Thank you for all of your hard work. I have always enjoyed your writing and appreciate you sharing your passion for and knowledge of the island with us.

Great info, Mike. Looking forward to learning more about these trails. I wonder if any of the rangers could provide info as to when/why these were abandoned.