ISLE ROYALE NATIONAL PARK
Some of my favorite photos I want to share with you from Isle Royale National Park in northern Michigan
This was my last park I had yet to reach in the lower 48 states and this was park 54 of 63 I have been to, when I first started this goal, I had no idea what Isle Royale was and I was not impressed when I first saw photos of it, however as time went on I started to see more of this park from reading and seeing photos online, I realized this place was going to be something special. I was counting down the days before I went to Isle Royale all summer and dreamed doing work on here just to go there.
I finally made the 15 hour drive from my house to the Upper Peninsula in Michigan, a two day drive through New York, Ontario, Canada and Michigan and stayed the night sleeping in my car in Copper Harbor. The next morning I made it to the harbor to board on the three and a half hour boat ride across Lake Superior. By about noon on Thursday afternoon, we docked in Rock Harbor, the main guest area in Isle Royale and went about on my day.
EDISEN FISHERY/PETERSON RESIDENCE
The first place I went and visited on the island was the Edisen Fishery and Peterson Residence. A hour boat ride from Rock Harbor going by many sights like Mott Island, Suzys Cave, Three Mile Campground, and Daisy Farm. We landed at the fishery and we had two hours to explore the area. This photo near the dock looking at Lake Superior.
ROCK ISLAND LIGHTHOUSE
Also on this trip further inland is the Rock Harbor Lighthouse, arguably the parks main icon. Unless you come during a private boat ride or camping in the wilderness, the only time you will see this up close is during daylight, I got lucky there was some clouds around that time of day. Making sure I photographed everyone outside of the frame was a bit of a challenge but I think I managed to do okay.
SMALL COVE
After the boat ride back to the harbor, it was near sunset and I wanted to take a photo around the area of Rock Harbor. Now for as isolated as the island was, it was a bit of a challenge in the Rock Harbor area to be alone weirdly. I found this small cove near the lodge that worked out. This long exposure was of a minute long.
THE SANDY
The “Sandy” is the main boat that brings passengers around the island to places like the Edisen Fishery and Daisy Farm as well as sunset cruises. This sunset, she was docked in Rock Harbor. The waters were slow, calm, and quiet that night which made little to no motion of the boat, because of that, I wanted to take a long exposure of this. This photo was taken over the period of two and a half minutes long.
SCOVILLE POINT
One of the most well visited hikes on Isle Royale and probably the easiest one to complete is Stoll Memorial Trail to Scoville Point. About a four mile hike from Rock Harbor through swampy bogs, rocky coast and lush forests, you end up at a end of land place where its all rocks except for the end of the trail. I normally do not mind cloudy days but I was not quite that happy with the weather conditions that day but as many of you do, you have to make the best of it. However I have came around on how much I like this photo.
BOG FOREST
On the trail to Suzys Cave, about a 4.5 mile round trip from Rock Harbor, you cross areas like this when there is no dirt paths around. Having not being on many trails like this, I love how ethereal this looks with how dark it was compared to what I was used to. It truly felt like being wild. I actually enjoyed this more than going to Suzys Cave believe it or not as you take a nice trail down along Tobin Harbor and cutting over.
SEA PLANE LANDING
After spending a long day on Friday, I did not want to do much this day. I originally wanted to go to Lookout Louise this day but I was drained at that point, I rented out a kayak instead and paddled all morning and afternoon. While getting my kayak in the water, I grabbed my camera and shot this photo of a sea plane coming in from the mainland bringing visitors in and out of the island. I have to try this next time I come out.
TOBIN HARBOR
I previously came here Friday night after the shoot at the Sandy on Thursday Night but I came back on Saturday Night to shoot this because the colors were so much better personally. The sky went from yellow to orange, then pink and lastly red before the clouds covered the sky before the sun went down. This long exposure was over 4 minutes long during the pink light.
FOGGY HARBOR
On Sunday Morning, the day I left the island, the fog started to roll into Rock Harbor. It was much colder than the high was supposed to be that day, making it feel like the Pacific Northwest. I loved it because I was wanting a fog shot for a while and I got it. The sky was low not long after this. I would have experimented with a long exposure but my tri-pod was packed up in my luggage to get ready for the boat.
LEAVING THE ISLAND
My last view of the island is the fog, layering in the background. It is not much different from what the above photo was but I loved the wave crashing onto land down in the lower right of this photo. Not long after seeing land, the skies opened up and it became a hot and sunny ride back to the mainland, go figure. I tried to make this photo as dark as I could make it because I felt like the dark look worked best with this.
