Chrismoose

Well folks, I know a lot of you were at the east district Chrismoose celebration, but for those of you here weren't, or those of you who are having trouble remembering, I have 22 photos of the relay posted at my smugmug web gallery that can be reached through the following link:

http://photoluke.smugmug.com/gallery/9134717_5Cqvr/1/609004646_CJRDu

Below are a few examples of the photos that await you at the Chrismoose gallery:

Remember, for more Chrismoose images that you don't want to miss, visit:

http://photoluke.smugmug.com/gallery/9134717_5Cqvr/1/609004646_CJRDu

Island Ignited

As most of you have already heard there is a fire burning on an island in Duncan Bay on the north eastern end of Isle Royale. The fire was reported during the afternoon on Friday by 172 via radio. An initial team from protection proceeded to the fire where they were able to take the following photos. Thanks to the protection division for allowing the use of these photos on the SHR.

Following the initial assessment on Friday by the protection team aboard the Lorelei, a two person protection team was sent to the top of Lookout Louise to keep an eye on the fire during the night. Blustering wind and dropping temperatures made for a less than optimal evening for the night watch, but the team was treated to occasional flare-ups on the island lighting up the night.

The next day (Saturday) a group of three fire experts, including a fire ecologist, were flown in from Minnesota to monitor the fire. According to protection, the fire has burned a half acre and is, “Creeping and smoldering with the occasional torching tree.” The fire is still being monitored. Below is what the fire looked like from Lookout Louise on mid-day Saturday.

Independence Day!

Just because we couldn’t shoot of fire works here in the park doesn’t mean we can’t have a good time. July 4th festivities were coordinated by the concession operating out of Snug Harbor. For those attending the concession dinner a plethora of culinary delights awaited. Rangers and concession employees alike had great difficulty in choosing between a tasty shrimp boil, beef brisket, bbq chicken, salmon, many different sides, a fine selection of sweet desserts and many other items!

The culmination of the night’s festivities was the annual concession canoe regatta. While the concession regatta is a young tradition here at Snug Harbor, regattas were common festivities on the island prior to its existence as a National Park.

Here we have the eventual winners of the race demonstrating precision coordinated paddling technique.

The early leaders in the race pass by a couple of downed paddlers. The Snug Harbor Reporter did not see the events leading up to the capsized canoe, and can only assume that no foul play was involved.

The downed paddlers did manage to recover their canoe close to shore and were back afloat in time to continue participation in the race.

Part of the course required paddlers to bring their canoes under the bridge of the America Dock. As an extreme bottle neck in the course, collisions were inevitable.

Unfortunately, due to many different reasons, much of the Snug Harbor interpretive personnel was out of the area during the 4th. Here we have the only ranger participants in the race making their safe, but snail like progress through the course. Despite threats from the protection ranger at the back of the canoe to coerce the SHR to report a 1st place NPS finish, the SHR has a higher standard of ethics than that.

The early leaders in the race were led by the rowing cadence of a kazoo.

Here we are offered an insight into the determination that allowed this canoeist to win the regatta.

Those having lost hope at winning the race re-dedicated themselves to the task of getting everyone else wet.

The aftermath.

The triumphant group. While only one team was victorious, all were frozen.

In addition to the July 4th post, the SHR would also like to add a post regarding the interpretive staff's training retreat to Passage Island:

Here we have a view from the point of Passage Island to the great mass that is Isle Royale.

The narrow passage between Passage Island and Isle Royale proper is watched over by Passage Island Lighthouse. A beautiful building, made of basalt bricks, the lighthouse is maintained by the US Coast Guard and operates off of solar power.

Here our group trudges through the dense foliage of Passage Island. Without moose to browse the vegetation, the place almost seems tropical and contains several plants not found on Isle Royale proper.

This concludes this post of the Snug Harbor Reporter. Stay tuned for new and exciting updates!

Boat School!

With this being an island park, there is an abundant need for employees to be able to operate watercraft in park waters for official purposes. This year Marshall conducted the largest Motorboat Operator Certification Course (MOCC) undertaken by the park. As all of the staff this year was new at Snug Harbor, four employees were slated for MOCC training during their second week on the island. So let us begin with those who we put in charge while paid employees undertook MOCC...



Here we have Michelle catching a line from the IR Queen. After only being on the island for a week and undergoing a week of training, it was up to SCA interns Michelle and Casey to run the Rock Harbor VC, greet both the Queen and the Ranger, conduct orientations and issue permits. Without their dedication, MOCC training for the RH interp staff would have been very difficult.



While some MOCC training was in the classroom, a good portion of it was outside along the water learning several different safety techniques. Here we have backcountry Lucas throwing a line to an overboard person (buoy). Lucas's previous life as a firefighter made this look easy.



Another safety aspect of the course was the proper use of fire extinguishers, which is properly demonstrated here by Shane.



Here, Cabby learns first hand how to handle a smoke signal, one of the many visual distress signals carried on the park's boats.



Once again we have backcountry Lucas demonstrating how to safely use a parachute flare.



Donning a survival suit in order for MOCC participants to practice rescuing overboard persons from the water, Tom demonstrates the butterfly.



In this photo Tom is safely rescued from the water by Caitlin and Shane...



...and then returned to the drink by Shane so the next group can try.

Backcountry Ranger Rob, the special topic instructor for the land based safety modules in the course, utilizes a boat hook to rescue Tom from the water.



In addition to the MOCC course, Mott island also hosted the MOCC recertification course. While the photographer for this blog sprinted back to the classroom in hopes of getting a photo of Phyllis in a survival suit, he was too late. However he did get this photo of James returning from the drink.

MOCC was a great experience for the staff at Snug Harbor. Unfortunately the photographer for the Snug Harbor Reporter was not able to photograph the water based portions of the course, but the course did include sections on hands on watercraft operation, knot tying and a final practical. Once again we would like to extend our thanks to our wonderful SCA interns for manning the Rock Harbor VC, and we would also like to send out a special thanks to the instructors who made the training a whole lot of fun. Next up on the reporter, interp's trip to passage island.

Welcome to Snug Harbor!

Greetings!

This blog, The Snug Harbor Reporter, is a new feature of the Division of Interpretation at Rock Harbor and serves to replace the older Ranger Picks newsletter from previous years. This blog will serve to inform the rest of the park on the happenings at Snug Harbor, to increase communication with this division and to provide an avenue for friends and families to keep up with island life.

Updates will occur on average about once a week, and will be primarily photographic in nature with accompanying descriptive text. Any questions on this blog may be referred to sungharborreporter@gmail.com, however that e-mail will only be checked once a week.

Our first post will be a little larger than subsequent posts, as we have much ground to cover since the Ranger III dropped of the seasonal Sung Harbor staff on May 27. Since then, a massive amount of training has occurred to get the staff up to speed. As all seasonals on this end of the island are new this year, this training has been no small feat, but tremendous progress has been gained. So let us begin…

First of all, our motley crew. This photo is from our arrival day potluck and includes staff from both the Windigo and Rock Harbor visitor centers, cooperating association employees and volunteers and protection division staff. Thanks to George for this photo.

Immediately following our arrival potluck, some staff went out on an introductory nature hike on the Scoville trail and were treated with the observation of the Calypso or Fairy Slipper Orchid.

The next day training commenced with a combined crew of interpretation and protection staff for a wonderful day (despite unanticipated sunburn) at the Edison Fishery, the Wolf-Moose Research headquarters and a hike up to the Mt. Ojibwe lookout tower. Above you have Rolf Peterson with the Wolf-Moose Study explaining the growth rate of moose antlers. Immediately above you have a close up of the Moose-Wolf study 'boneyard' which is open for visitor photography and interpretation.

Rangers take a moment to take in the view from the top of the Mt. Ojibwe lookout tower. After training was done at the tower, some of those in the training group hiked the 7.5 miles back to Snug Harbor.

Well, that does it for the introductory post, stay tuned next for the Boat School post!