Isle Royale 2020

 

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

She has completed a trilogy of 1,000-mile journeys 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/

In this year of quarantine and shut downs, the longest-running wildlife study was also paused. Moosewatch volunteers usually gather in May, June and August to hike Isle Royale under the direction of scientists to find and gather moose bones for study.

I've hiked this expedition five times, and last year was the leader of the first all-women team. My team was already set to hike in May when the pause button was pressed on just about everything.

And, yes, in the scheme of things, this was a small thing to cancel. Lives -- too many lives -- have been lost due to the mismanagement of the response to the pandemic. Jobs have been lost. Lives disrupted. 

When Isle Royale National Park announced they would be opening for seaplanes and private boats in late July, I took the opportunity to schedule some time there with friends from Moosewatch. 

It was an opportunity to be immersed in nature, to unplug from the news, to recenter myself.

Here are a few photos from Isle Royale 2020:

After hiking 50 miles (L>R Me, Julie, Zan, April)

Blueberries on the Greenstone Ridge

View from tower on Mt. Ojibway

On tower (Zan, April, Julie)

Sunrise, Moskey Basin

Adult and pup wolf tracks (dollar bill for scale)

Butterflies

Thimbleberries

ground squirrel

why they're called thimbleberries

Sunset, Lake Richie

Lake Richie, like a mirror

Merganser with chicks

Wolves!

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: 

A 1,000-Mile Walk on the Beach  [A Heartland Indie Bestseller]

A 1,000-Mile Great Lakes Walk   [Winner of the Great Lakes Great Reads Award] 

A 1,000-Mile Great Lakes Island Adventure  [Long-listed for the Chautauqua Prize]

 

To learn more about her work, or to engage her as a speaker, go to http://www.laketrek.com/great-lakes-speaker/

The National Park Service has completed the final administrative hurdle to authorize the transport of wolves to Isle Royale.

Press Release HERE.

This is good news for this wilderness island with its exploding moose population. Currently there are an estimated 1,500 moose "...with the potential to double in the next 4-5 years without wolf predation" 
(Ecological Studies of Wolves on Isle Royale Annual Report 2017 - 2018 
by Rolf O. Peterson, John A. Vucetich, and Sarah R. Hoy).

The two wolves currently on the island are  7 and 9 years old. They are a male and female, closely related, and not likely to breed successfully. 

New wolves will bring significant changes to the island which will be observed by scientists and volunteers hiking Moosewatch Expeditions.

A huge fallen tree on the island (& Me)

Balsam fir browsed by moose during the winter

Bull moose skull gathered by Moosewatch team 2018

I will lead an all-women team of hikers in 2019 on a Moosewatch Expedition.

If you'd like more information about hiking a Moosewatch Expedition next year, please email me at: 

LakeTrek@gmail.com

Speaking Tour 2016 Begins

Loreen Niewenhuis is an author, adventurer, and Great Lakes speaker. She has completed a trilogy of 1,000-mile adventures exploring the Great Lakes and has written three books about the Great Lakes [A 1,000-Mile Walk on the Beach *a Heartland Indie Bestseller*, A 1,000-Mile Great Lakes Walk *winner of the Great Lakes Great Reads Award*, and A 1,000-Mile Great Lakes Island Adventure]. To learn more about her work, or to book her as a speaker, go to http://LakeTrek.com

This month I headed out on my speaking tour once again. My first engagements were in SE Michigan.

Fraser Public Library

Librarian Lawrence Marble introduces me to the audience at Clarkston Public Library

I also spoke to a nice group at the Woods Branch of Grosse Pointe's Library system.

I now have presentations for each of my adventures:

Lake Michigan Walk

Great Lakes Walk

Great Lakes Islands

The presentations correlate to my three books:

Go here for a list of my upcoming author events.
This fall I will add a fourth lecture about

ISLE ROYALE.

Moose Bones!

My time on Isle Royale was spent in search of bones...

MOOSE BONES.

Many of these moose died years ago and their skeletons have become part of the island...

covered in moss and leaves....

Ancient moose skull (Photo courtesy of Jason Duetsch {Shiras Photography})

Wayne Shannon with unearthed skull (Photo courtesy of Jason Duetsch {Shiras Photography})

Our team found many bones. 

Swampy skeleton (Photo courtesy of Jason Duetsch {Shiras Photography})

Woman power! Ifi and I haul moose bones (Photo courtesy of Jason Duetsch {Shiras Photography})

Moose bones strapped to my pack (Photo courtesy of Jason Duetsch {Shiras Photography})

Our team brought back five moose skulls! (L>R: Me, Bob, Wayne, Ifi, and Jason) (Photo courtesy of Jason Duetsch {Shiras Photography})

This study has been going on for 56 years now and almost 5,000 skulls have been collected. 

Researcher's collection of moose skulls (photo courtesy of Cathy More)

Many scientific papers have been published using information  from these gathered bones.

Find links to these publications here.

And a recent article on the plight of the 
wolves on Isle Royale here.

{Thanks to my fellow hikers for these photos!}

5th Anniversary

Today is the fifth anniversary of where all of this  began! On March 16, 2009, I stood on Navy Pier in Chicago and then began my walk 

all the way around Lake Michigan.

My visit to Navy Pier earlier this month

This adventure became my bestselling book, 

A 1000-Mile Walk on the Beach.

This year I will complete my third Great Lakes Adventure, this time exploring many of the 
wonderful islands
 of the Great Lakes.

In May, my journey continues on Isle Royale in Lake Superior. There, I will assist researchers with the Wolf-Moose Study.

There are thousands of islands in our 
Great Lakes and I've had fascinating experiences so far on this journey. I can't wait to share them all with you in the book
A 1000-Mile Great Lakes Island Adventure.

The book will be released in 2015.

The Question of the Wolves

Clock tower in Chelsea, MI

 The National Park Service is holding public meetings around the Great Lakes to get input about what -- if anything -- should be done to save the population of wolves on Isle Royale.

I attended one of these meetings in Chelsea, Michigan. 

The ranger talks about Isle Royale

There is one pack of wolves currently on Isle Royale with 11 adults. 
This year they had at least 2 pups.

 The pack has lost genetic diversity over time, and there is a genetic skeletal deformation that has become prevalent in the wolves there. 

 These are three alternatives the NPS is considering:

1. No action

2. Bring a new pack to the island once current pack dies out

3. Bringing a few individual wolves to the island to increase genetic diversity and health of pack 

The Lansing State Journal did an amazing special report with gorgeous photos on this topic. It can be found HERE.

I have applied to assist with the moose-wolf study in May of 2014 as part of my current adventure exploring many of the islands of the Great Lakes. Isle Royale is a special place in the lakes, a jewel of a park and home to the longest predator-prey study ever done. Data for The Moose-Wolf Project has now been collected for over 50 years.

Input from the public is welcome. E-mail your comments to:  ISRO_wildlife@NPS.org