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!