Rock Harbor Ramblings

When I awakened at 6am on the 27th of July I found I was already too late for sunrise! It had started without me! The nerve of Mother Nature! So, being my camera was still attached to my tripod I decided what the heck and to snap this anyway from my room looking at Raspberry Island, it was a pretty colorful sunrise.

So, I went back to sleep since I didn't have

plans until 1pm and finally hauled out of bed at 8:30 and was on the trails by 9. I figured I would putz around Rock Harbor area maybe even making it to Scoville Pointe and back but...I would have to watch my time as that is a 4.2mile hike and I wouldn't be able to stop often or look around much as I had a boat (the MV Sandy) to catch! It was here on the Stoll trail I got my first taste of these (usually) single planks to take you over wet marshy spots. Sometimes only a few inches off the ground, sometimes a few feet, anyway I was careful to watch my step so I didn't get soggy feet!

In one of the nice shady areas I found this pretty white flower that I am still debating about. I think its a three-toothed cinquefoil or a Canadian Anemone. It was buried in a cluster of Thimbleberries and I didn't look closely at its leaves. Any botanists out there?

Blue-bead Lillies were found throughout my stay on the island, their iridescent blue berries were easy to quickly spot!

I found a few of the BigLeaved Asters.

Some Canadian Hawkweed here and there mixed in with some ferns.

Right close to the trail I found some evidence of ancient copper pits where the Ojibway mined copper. They would start a fire in the hole, then place copper containing rocks in the fire and get them good and hot, then dump frigid lake water in the fire on top of the rocks, this drastic temperature change would help to fracture the rock, then they would use sharp objects to open it up further and extract the copper!

A view of the rocky trail looking out on some smaller islands. It looks pretty bright now, but within a half hour, then wind switched and the skies grew dark, and I had remembered the weather forecast from the previous day...strong and severe storms to include, heavy rain, hail, lightening, damaging winds. Good grief, in my hurry I didn't put rain gear or my radio in my pack, let alone a dry bag for my camera. So, I quickly trekked back to the safety of Snug Harbor and decided to stay within a 1/4 mile of shelter.
I meandered out to the southwestern tip of Rock Harbor on the Kneutson Trail to look for birds, flowers, that sort of thing. I found another Silver-bordered Fritillary (I saw them all over the place!)

And some either Green Pyrola or Pink Pyrola...the only other place I found these was on Passage Island!

and some Yarrow. The storm never did materialize to the extent that was predicted...some rain and brisk winds that was all. But, it was a enjoyable leisurely morning and I had time to enjoy a great lunch and even attend a ranger walk around Snug Harbor in search of different rocks before my trip to the Rock Harbor Lighthouse and the Edisen Fishery.