Into the Wilds (3rd in a series about Isle Royale)

Loreen Niewenhuis is an author, adventurer, and dynamic speaker. 

She has completed a trilogy of 1,000-mile adventures exploring the Great Lakes and has authored three books about these adventures. 

To learn more about her work, or to engage her as a speaker, go to 

http://www.laketrek.com/great-lakes-speaker/

This May, I was honored to lead the first organized all-women team on a Moosewatch Expedition on Isle Royale.

My team: Me, April Wilbur, Julie Timmer, Joceline Pasaylo

I have hiked on an expedition four times. This was my first time as team leader.

We cooked dinner and breakfast in camp

This island is a National Park. It is remote and wild. Teams do most of their hiking off-trail and camp in remote areas. 

The island has a mixture of trees

It's difficult to convey how wild and rugged this island is. Rock ridges run the length of the island, often rising hundreds of feet like in the photo below.

My team gives scale to this place

The hiking here is rugged. The views magnificent.

We hiked to the northern shore and had views of Lake Superior at our second camp

In May, snow and ice still persist. 

This stream still wears a cap of snow

We hiked through an area that had burned years ago along the Minong Trail.

Burn area on the Minong

We had some amazing sunsets during our week.

Sunset on the north shore