Isle Royale National Park

“Just called the park. Seaplane status is still pending in Washington. They probably won't hear anything until June!

You'd think they would plan(e) ahead!”

“when does the park open? i heard there was still a lot of ice on the water this weekend, wonder if the shipping season has started yet either.”

“Park web site says the Park opened April 16. Ferry service is to begin on May 12--twice a week, and daily on June 7. Nothing about the ice delaying the start-up schedule.”

“ISLE ROYALE PLANE SERVICE TO RESUME: The National Park
Service has announced an agreement with Duluth-based Royale
Air Service, Inc. to re-instate seaplane services this
summer. The island has been without plane service since
2002. The service will be based at the Houghton County
Airport, rather than on Portage Lake, as in previous years.”

“How much would that run I wonder?”

“That's odd, we saw the sea plane take off and land on the Windigo side this summer. Maybe it was a private one or something.”

“Great. Noisy planes in the wilderness.”

“last contract it cost $235 Nigal.”

“I saw RL's post on GLH about this. The real neat thing is that you can, with money of course, fly outta Metro and into Houghton, do a short plane change at the airport and be on the island in a fraction of the time it used to take. This option might sway me into flying again.”

“"last contract it cost $235 Nigal."

That's not too much more than the feiry is it?”

“The ferry was only $75, if I remember right.”

“I'd guess it's about double the ferry cost, Nigal. But, if you include the dry cleaning bill (from the throw up) and and meals, it might turn out to be the same, but I'll defer to the experts that went last year.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but this plane service has been offered before, yes? I don't see where there would be increased airplane traffic from the past if that is correct. Maybe I'm missing something. Are they planning on running more than one plane or something?”

“Please add the cost of gas in that "add up" as well....”

“Not saying it would be an increase in traffic, but that the noise from the old airplane service was intrusive, to say the least...”

“Ferry ride runs $84 this trip. The thing about the sea plane is you're limited on how much gear you can take. Last contract it was 35# per person. That may change though, who knows. A person could always mail their stuff to the island though.”

“That's an idea, Sass. Do you know if you can mail back from the island, just incase at the end of the trip you were still over the weight limit? (I'd envision that you would mail all yer consumbles, like food and such, however)”

“Yep you can. It's a regular post office. People still live there in the summer.”

“WoW! Then it would be easy enough to mail whatever you wanted to have on the island (I thinking of the "extra comforts") and then just mail it back. Costly, but still a neat option. Does the mail go to both sides of the island or just one?”

“But on the flip side, wouldn't getting out there without enduring the ferry ride be like taking an escelator to the top of Everest?

Isn't the ferry ride like a right of passage? LOL!”

“There's one problem with your plan, Q. You can no longer fly from Detroit to Houghton, you have to change planes in Minneapolis. Depending on how long the layover there is, and how long in between flights in HOughton, could end up being the same time as driving....”

“Interesting, SG, however, I don't fly all that much any ways and to be honest, I was reposting that idea from another person's suggestion on that GLH thread on the subject. Maybe it was in RL's post that that idea was mentioned. I tried to pull up that info up, ut I'm having trouble finding it. Maybe I just plane, old don't know what I'm talking about.”

“Great, now Q's going to be trying to mail himself there.

Don't forget to drill a few breathing holes in the crate Q. LOL!”

“Here's were I saw this exchange.

from The GLH message group, posted on this past Sunday by a "davehiker2":

I can't help but notice how developments in transportation are
changing the above air and ferry services. For instance, allowing people to
connect
directly to Isle Royale by plane without ever leaving airports when their
flights are not in the air. Which means, for you SE Michigan Isle Royale
lovers,
you can now fly direct to Houghton, then change planes there for Isle Royale.
I didn't know seaplanes could land on runways.


I've been watching these guys for years and hae found them to be a real good source of info, so I naturaly assumed tat you could fly to Houghton without checking it out me self. Sorry for the bad info..


Nigal - You are the bright spot in my day today!”

“It used to be that way up until last year, Q. And by direct, they mean you didn't have to get off the plane, but it did stop in Marquette.


Flying out over Houghton this past fall was one of the most beautiful things I had ever seen. I had recently been on a friend's boat bound out of Houghton, though the Portage Canal and out the "North Entry" as they call it to Lake Superior. Seeing all of that from the air, with some freshly fallen snow that morning and the sunrise was breathtaking.”

“I keep thinking that no one will claim Q at the island after he ships himself, and he ends up as moose food. :)”

“and then, I'd be in some deep moose chit! Hell, I'd prolly be enough to get them thru the winter and into the following years rut.”

“When I last flew from Houghton, a couple of years ago, the cost was based on the number of people in the plane. At that time, the service would coordinate flights to combine groups so the individual cost wasn't so high. Also, that met fewer flights around the island. Much better for me than the barf barge, and one trip saw some wolves from the air.”

“My second trip to IR was to hike the Greenstone Ridge trail end to end, which flying made possible in the window I had to be there. Flew into Windigo harbor at SW end and flew out of Tobin Harbor (over the ridge from Rock Harbor) at NE end. Flying was much nicer than the IR Queen, and the aerial view of the island was worth paying extra for, especially having a view of where I had previously hiked.

If seaplanes were like an elevator at Everest, then everyone in Alaska is a pu$$y. (Though I wouldn't say that to your average bush pilot, Nigal.)”

“http://pasty.com/discuss/messages/2392/2457.html#PN

Here's a picture of the Ranger III in her winter home.”

“Thanks. Been on that dock a number of times, but never when the water was so hard.”

“I've rollerbladed and walked behind the IR building so many times I can't count them. Can't say I've walked on the other side of the dock either, though.

Gosh, I miss Houghton!”

“Ahh, da Siren call uh da Copper Country tries ta lure ya back inta da depps uh da U.P., eh der Smiley?

May all your pasties be gravy free!”

“Gravy pasties?


Sounds tasty.”

“oh, no, pekka, i have been trained to eat pasties with gravy, since the ones in the dorms were so awful!”

“That is a nice place!


8)”

“Well, smiley, I won't tell reino about your curious perversion. Visit us some day and maybe she'll get out her granny's pasty recipe and whip up a batch of the real deal. Mmmmmm, mmmm.”

“i've also ordered them from pasty.com and had some from a shop here in Livonia. IMO, they all need gravy. :)”

“Checked with reino, and she wonders if they are forgetting to put a dollop of lard on the filling before closing the crust, not to mention the lard in the crust. Otherwise they just get so dry and nast.

Gravy, no. A big pat of butter on top, or catsup are within regulations. Just you wait and see someday when you come to visit.”

“catsup is always a crowd pleaser!”

“Nast? Nasty!

That's right, birch, the king of condiments!

That ought to stir up trouble with the mustard crowd. Speaking of which, there's a mustard museum in Mt. Horub, WI, if you are an afficianado of the yellow /brown stuff.

But mustard most definitely is not for pasties.”

“Catsup never gets a fair shake. Its the condiment we love to hate, it's lowly,working class yet we cant get enough. Now with the rise of chipotle sauce, tangy vinagrette and cricket puree we ketchup fans must eat in secret, its a travesty!”

“Not to mention that it's such a special condiment that it can be spelled TWO ways - catsup/ketchup. Let's see mustard or salsa try that!”

“WARMING TREND AFFECTING WOLVES/MOOSE: Wolves are up and
moose are down this spring at Isle Royale National Park,
the home of a 46-year study of predators and their prey.
Researchers suspect that a global warming trend may be
behind the shift. According to Rolf Peterson, professor of
wildlife ecology, the moose population has slid to 750,
down from 900 last year and 1,100 in 2002. In the meantime,
the number of wolves has seesawed upward over the past
decade and is now up to 29, as many as the park has seen
since 1980 and 11 more than last year.
http://www.admin.mtu.edu/urel/news/media_relations/211/”

“Hey you moose loving folks,

I just found this website about the Isle Royale Moose-Wolf study. Check it out if your interested.

http://www.isleroyalewolf.org/


You can be an EarthWatch volunteer in the summer, for a one week stint. Check out the link to get involved.”

“Wow, I didn't know it was still being done. The original study was back at the end of the 19th or beginning of the 20th century. Back then there were hunting seasons for moose, bear and woodland caribou.”

“Earthwatch is pretty pricey to particpipate... just a warning. Cheaper, perhaps, to contact the park or a university or whomever's doing it and try to volunteer that way... without PAYING to volunteer.

I know Earthwatch runs a program at the Mammoth Site in Hot Springs, SD. You can do a PIT project or contact SD state archeology for dig ideas... either free or tons cheaper than the Earthwatch program.”

“Novel about Isle Royale
“Winter Study,” by Nevada Barr (Putnam, $24.95)
Through her 15 novels, most of them bestsellers, Nevada Barr has become one of the country’s top mystery writers. But her stories about park ranger Anna Pigeon also have proven that she’s one of our finest nature writers. “Winter Study’s” focus is on wolves and the annual studies by Michigan Tech researchers in Isle Royale National Park near Lake Superior. Understanding the wolves and their habits and managing the packs has been a 50-year project. Building on that background, Barr delivers an exciting story that weaves in jealousy, government interference, national security and the loneliness of being in a remote area.”

“way cool. any idea what part of the island its located on?”