Daisy Farm, Three-Mile, Rock Harbor
So, on this hike, we came from Chippewa Harbor to Moskey with a side stop at Lake Richie. Then we took the Rock Harbor Trail from Moskey to Daisy Farm. Because it’s only 3.9 miles, we got to Daisy Farm early in the day and got set up in a shelter. Daisy Farm has many, many shelters, but it is also the main intersection of all trails coming across the island, so it has a lot of activity. Regardless of where we set up in Daisy Farm, we always take a little time to walk down to the dock as it’s a great place to get to know other hikers who have tackled different trails. We like to think about options for our next excursions by visiting with others.
Even after the hike from Moskey Basin, setting up a campsite, and getting water, it was still early in the day, so we considered a day hike up to the Greenstone Ridge. We made sure to bring a liter of fresh water because it takes at least three hours and a little more if we tarry. We set out on the Daisy Farm Trail up to the Greenstone Ridge Trail and hiked westward to the lookout that has excellent views to the north. It took about an hour and a half, or so, to get there because it’s a bit of a climb, but we had plenty of time to hang out and enjoy the view from the brown bedrock. I did not have cell service at that point on the ridge, so I suspect it might be too far east to catch service from Thunder Bay and U.S. sources are blocked by some geographic feature.
from the Daisy Farm Trail
Heading toward the Greenstone in Full Pack
This sundrenched perch was a perfect place to have a light lunch, especially on this warm day. While we ate, we enjoyed the view of the Ontario shoreline in the distance. On this sunny day, I was glad I brought my sunblock. We so thoroughly enjoyed the afternoon sun in the open air that we will wanted to linger, but we made sure to return before dark as we wanted to have time to check out the other opportunities for adventures at Daisy Farm.
Dropping back into Daisy Farm on the same trail, we had plenty of time to enjoy dinner at our campsite. Then we took note of the beaver pond in the middle of the campground. Like Moskey Basin, there is a resident beaver family, and beaver pups are reared in the pond near the lodge. When we were there, one beaver pup contemplated us, floating in the water, as we marveled at its cuteness from the bridge which connects the east and west sides of the campground that is split in two by the beaver pond.
Then we set out to explore, so we secured our food inside our shelter, for Daisy Farm seems to be a favorite campground for multiple foxes. On this trip, we were visited by a dark silver fox and a couple of red ones. They went from picnic table to picnic table at the many campsites, checking for free meals. Once our food was secured, we headed down to the dock for the evening, but we brought our headlamps and our means for filtering water.
Some people cast from the dock for whatever fish they thought would bite. Of course, coaster brookies must be released because they are a protected species, but lake trout, salmon, and whitefish are fair game. They had barbless hooks and Michigan fishing licenses, and they were aware that live bait is prohibited. Even though we did not try our hands at fishing, the dock was an enjoyable place to socialize and enjoy the views. We saw the Edison Fishery across the bay from the dock along with Bangsund Cabin where the Petersons of the moose/wolf study reside each summer. When in residence, they usually share their knowledge with the public at Daisy Farm on Wednesdays and Saturdays. Given it was not Wednesday or Saturday, we did not catch the presentation.
From the Daisy Farm dock, we watched the sun set behind Moskey Basin. Lingering, we found all the colorful Isle Royale backpackers and boaters sharing stories as they, too, watched the sun disappear. By then, we started to notice familiar faces among the adventurers on the dock. We had seen them at the other campgrounds and along the trails. Sometimes, we had leap-frogged past one another along the trail as each group took breaks at different intervals.
By then too, we had much in common with one another in terms of the trails we had crossed and the beauty of the island we had observed. We remained there on the dock after the sunset to catch a glimpse of the stars piercing the blackness of the night sky. We listened for the loons’ laughs and the moose’s grunts. We hoped for the luck to hear the eerie howl of wolves echoing across the open water.
Before we returned to our site, we filtered our water for the next day’s hike. We used a 4-liter Platypus gravity system, so we filled our Smart Water bottles, filtered a full clean bag, and took full dirty bag so that we didn’t have to fetch water to filter in the morning. The hike from Daisy Farm to Three-Mile is an adventurous one, so we wanted to get an early start, but before we turned in, we listened for the soft crunch of moose hooves on the vegetation next to the beaver pond. The swamp grass seems to be particularly appealing, and moose walk the same paths between the shelters that people do, especially just after nightfall. On this night, we peered out the door at the shadowy moose passing quietly in front of our shelter.
Setting out from Daisy Farm, one choice is to stay along the waterfront to visit the Siskowit Mines that are midway between Daisy Farm and Three-Mile campgrounds. That trail meanders along the shoreline, up and over rocks, and through the forest, with small elevation changes. Still, it is not an easy hike. The rocks and roots are ferocious, and the trail is sometimes hard to follow as its whereabouts are ambiguous as it drops out of sight behind rocks or right down onto the shore, only a foot or less away from the water. The hike is 4.2 miles on the waterfront.
The other route from Daisy Farm to Three-Mile involves taking the Ojibway Trail to the Ojibway Tower, which is almost twice as long, but it affords other views and experiences. We took this route. The hike up to the ridge is as steep as the day hike on the Daisy Farm Trail to the lookout, but this time we had our packs rather than taking only a bottle of water and a snack, so we were slower. The trail crosses over two minor ridges and traverses a long boardwalk across a beaver pond before reaching the tower.
Cresting the second ridge and beginning the descent to the beaver dam at the bottom, the tower was visible on the hill above us. On the descent, we were watchful for moose that graze in the grasslands along the creek which the beavers have dammed. The alder bushes are about twenty feet tall, and the moose graze amidst them, sometimes startling hikers who are passing by.
On one hike this past summer, Lara, Jennifer and I came upon a cow standing crosswise in the trail, not twenty yards from us as we turned a blind corner on our descent. While we backed up the way we came, the cow flopped her ears to dislodge pesky flies and ambled into the alder bushes to our right. We paused on our way past to photograph her, keeping a wary eye out for any signs that might demonstrate she was disturbed, but her ears stayed forward, flopping back and forth only to shake loose the flies that pestered her. After a couple minutes, we continued on to the bottom of the valley and proceeded along the single-plank, no-rail boardwalk across the main body of the beaver pond.
Following the crossing, we set down our packs and sat on a dead log next to the pond in hope that we might see additional moose or other wildlife. It also gave us a few minutes to revel in the opportunity to film the moose. On this hike, we were not as lucky as I had been with Jennifer and Lara, but It’s always great to feel so close to our earth by hiking it.
The Ojibway Tower is open for climbing up three levels, from where the terrain is visible in all directions. A few miles east of the Greenstone Ridge lookout that we visited the day before, this vantage point afforded cell service. At this point, I turned on my phone and left it on for the three miles we crossed atop the ridge, heading eastward toward Mt. Franklin. Muted, the phone vibrated against my leg as it loaded the messages from the previous days.
Cell service is available on this section of the Greenstone Ridge Trail, whether that is from Canada or Minnesota, I can’t say, but I have a cell plan with North American roaming included. People without international service, leave their phones on airplane mode to avoid several hundreds of dollars in roaming fees.
The trail from Ojibway Tower to Mt. Franklin provides views both to the north to Canada and southward over the Lake to the east, south, and west. Even though hiking is easy along this section of the ridge, we stopped often to relax along the way, enjoying the sun on our skin, the brisk breeze in our hair, and the peace that seeped into us as we viewed the sun glittering across the surface of the lake that surrounds the island. There was no rush on that day.
All along the ridge, we identified in the distance the sites we had motored past aboard the Voyageur II four days before. We saw Mott Island, the Rock Harbor Light House, Middle Island Passage, and the open water of Lake Superior through the passage along the ferry route around Saginaw Point where the boat disappeared on its way to Chippewa Harbor.
All along the trail, a variety of lichens grow on the different rocks, some mere scales and others two-inch tall angular structures with a powdery whitish-green appearance. Aspens and birch trees are arrayed in separate stands here and there. Spruce and pine trees grow on the steep slopes along the sides of the ridge, and between the crests the trail disappears into stands of maples and mixed firs. We passed hawthorn tree along the trail, filled with small red fruit; blueberries and chokecherries were ripe along the trailside.
As we traveled from the open ridge down into the dense forest, the temperature changed from hot and dry to damp and cool. Through one of the dips between the crests of the ridge, tall weeds and alder brush grow so closely that we had to push our way through, branches clinging to our packs and closing behind as we passed. I wondered if I’d walk up on a moose, . . . or a wolf.
Then without ado, we climbed out of the forest to emerge at Mt. Franklin. At that point, cell service was certainly from Canada. We found ourselves cliffside, looking down hundreds of feet onto shelves and treetops below. Then we raised our eyes across the expanse to Canada and then to the shore in front of us and right toward Lane Cove.
Mt. Franklin is a usual stop for advanced day hikers from the Rock Harbor Lodge who have taken the tour boat Sandy to Lookout Louise and then hiked westward on the Rock Harbor Trail to Mt. Franklin. It’s also the return route for people ending cross-island hikes. The chatter as we took in the view gave a sense of the diversity of people and interests and the different ways of experiencing Isle Royale.
Two-tenths of a mile east of Mt. Franklin, we came to the Mt. Franklin Trail junction. To the north, the trail goes to Lane Cove. Continuing east, the trail dead-ends at Hidden Lake Dock where the Sandy stops while tourgoers hike the short distance to Lookout Louise. Some more adventurous hikers continue on independently to Mt. Franklin and then drop down on the Mt. Franklin Trail to consider options for returning to Rock Harbor, on the same route we were taking.
The Mt. Franklin Trail descends steeply; on the way down, we took a moment to stop at a couple of excellent overlooks for viewing the southern shoreline. The trail also passes alongside a beaver pond that is mostly dry.
In this open meadow, we noticed a couple sandhill cranes on one end, and a single moose was eating at the far end of the marshy grassland. Shortly after the beaver meadow is the Tobin Harbor trail junction which diverges toward Tobin Harbor and directly to Rock Harbor. We continued on the Mt. Franklin Trail for another half mile to catch the Rock Harbor Trail and continued eastward to Three-Mile Campground. We wanted to hike the waterfront after all the views from the ridge.
Our choice to go to Three-Mile rested on a few factors. First, there is a one-night stay limit in Rock Harbor, so we didn’t want to arrive any earlier than we were scheduled to arrive. We also wanted to take a swim at the dock at Three-Mile. Finally, if we felt like it, we could have hiked to the Siskowit Mine that is midway between Daisy Farm and Three-Mile on the Rock Harbor Trail. We chose to swim and then enjoy the evening in camp because we had already visited the mine on previous trips.
Some hikers did day hike to the mines, taking headlamps in case they were late in returning. The other option is to go prior to returning to Rock Harbor in the morning, extending the hike from three miles to seven miles because of the four-mile round trip from Three-Mile to the Mines and then back to Three-Mile and on to Rock Harbor. We chose to skip the mines entirely.
We did stop by to visit Susy’s Cave which is on the trail between Three-Mile and Rock Harbor. We dropped our packs at the signpost for the hundred-yard hike to Susy’s Cave. We didn’t worry about whether someone would want to take our stuff because we know that everyone already has too much of their own stuff. In years past, we have turned down offers from people who wanted to give us some of their stuff.
We started into Rock Harbor early the next morning to have time to take advantage of all that this eastern hub has to offer. After breakfast, we hiked out to Scoville Point on the Stoll Trail, which is a five-mile roundtrip hike. We took the shore trail outward to the point and then went through the forest and along Tobin Harbor for the return.
Then we took the time to get a shower before dinner, after doing a load of laundry to have clean clothes to wear. The store sells tokens for the shower and the washer, but we had been mindful to bring along a few dollars in cash because the store does not allow the purchase of quarters for the drier with a debit or credit card. Once we freshened up, we ate dinner at the Lighthouse Restaurant that is part of the Rock Harbor Lodge. Funny thing is that we always talk about steak when we are hiking the trails, but we invariably order the burger and fries when we get to the restaurant. Regular food prepared for and served to us felt like a luxury.
On the day of departure, we made time to have breakfast at the Greenstone Grill and shopped for mementos prior to boarding. I enjoyed visiting the Lodge giftshop in addition to the Rock Harbor store and the Visitor Center, just for the different kinds of gifts available.
We also bought something to eat on the boat ride home. You can take Grab and Go from the Grill or something from the Rock Harbor store. As we always do, we spent visited with our fellow island explorers as we wrapped up our island excursion, talking to those we don’t know and the ones we have seen at the various campgrounds and on the different trails throughout our hike.
It’s good to compare notes and share what made our experiences both unique and similar. When we boarded the boat, we found ourselves among friends for the four-hour return passage on the Queen IV. At the end of the day, we found ourselves standing on the dock in Copper Harbor, wondering where all the time went.