MooseWatch 2025

This month, I completed my 

10th MooseWatch Expedition 

on Isle Royale. 

During the week, we searched for moose bones and shed antlers, 

while collecting data on other species whose lives are interwoven with moose and wolves (like snowshoe hares and gray jays). 

Wolf print

This  is the longest-running predator/prey wildlife study in the world.
  
It has been ongoing since 1958....so this is its 67th year!

JP on antler seat

The weather this week ranged from the 30s to the 80s! We spent time cooling off in streams...something I never thought we'd do in May.

My team cooling off in a stream

A rainy morning in the field

Stacy finds a shed!

This is the first time my team found 40 sheds!!
We did 48 miles total, 21 off-trail!

Fancy lunch and antler plate

We had some warm days!

Processing a moose skeleton in the field

Karen finds her first shed!

The scientists leading the study are led by Dr. Rolf Peterson who has led the study since 1975. 
I'd love to hear him interviewed on Ologies with Alie Ward!

Dr. Rolf Peterson goes over our finds at the end of expedition

Dinner at our favorite place after expedition

Sometimes a set of shed antlers are found

For the past six years, I've been a team leader. 

My team!

This study is now supported by the Wolf Moose Foundation. 

Consider making a donation to support this amazing work.

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

Gearing Up (2nd 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/

Over twenty hikers traveled to Isle Royale for the first week of Moosewatch Expeditions this May (there are four weeks of expeditions each year).

Once everyone is on the island, team leaders distribute gear and food for the week in the wild.

Teams gather to gear up 

My team (L>R) Me, April Wilbur, Julie Timmer, Joceline Pasaylo

Backpacks can weigh over 40 pounds when heading out for a week in the wild.

This year was unique because over a dozen wolves released this past winter on the island wear radio collars.

The data from these collars indicate where the wolves spend their time and where they hang out for awhile, possibly at a kill site.

These data points were distributed to teams and this year we hiked to those sites.

GPS points of interest from wolf movement on island
 

Dr. Rolf Peterson (in red hat) gives team leaders their assignments

 In my next post, I'll take you into the wilds of Isle Royale in search of moose bones.

Heating water for coffee in morning

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.