Celebrate Parks & Recreation Month with this episode of Big Blend Radio's "Global Adventures with Debbie Stone" Podcast covering her recent visit to remote Isle Royale National Park in Michigan. Isle Royale is one of the most remote and least-visited national parks in the country, averaging twenty to thirty thousand visitors annually.
Established as the nation’s 25th national park in 1940, Isle Royale sits in the northwestern portion of Lake Superior and preserves more than 130,000 acres of land designated as wilderness. The park consists of one large island surrounded by over 450 smaller islands and encompasses 850 square miles. This includes submerged land, which extends four-plus miles out into the largest freshwater lake in the world. Check out Debbie's article and video feature, here: https://nationalparktraveling.com/listing/experience-the-allure-of-the-wild-at-michigans-isle-royale-national-park/
Big Blend Radio's "Global Adventures with Debbie Stone" podcast airs every 4th Tuesday. Follow the podcast here: https://global-adventures-debbie-stone.podbean.com/
Welcome to Big Blend Radio's global adventure show with Travel Writer Debbie Stone. Welcome everybody. Today we are going to find out about one of the least visited national parks in the National Park Service. We are going to Michigan's Isle Royale National Park where the fire monkey went there, Travel Writer Debbie Stone, just what about a month ago even? She basically just got back and it sounds like it's one of those epic bucket list adventures that was well worth getting there because why it's the most the least visited park one of them is because it's about getting there but I think she's done well. I mean she went to Samoa recently so you're getting to all those parks that are like far and far away and hard to get to. So welcome back to how are you doing? Well I'm doing good. I'm back with just a lot of memories and a few mosquito bites. So yeah it was a grand you know experience. It was as you said one of the least visited and so when making our way through the National Park Service System in terms of the 63 of them you know typically you leave some of the most remote ones towards the end that are harder to reach and take a lot more effort or time or expense or whatever and this is one of them you know and it is one of the least visited here in the service in the system of the National Parks and there's only they only say about 20 to maybe even 30,000 visitors annually but you compare that with like the Smokies the National Park there and that you know gets over you know 12 million visitors a year you know so so it is very it's a drop in the bucket but the reason for that is it's remote location you know it's it's it's a very rugged you know landscape it's it's on the northwest part of the Lake Superior in Michigan you know there's a lot of wilderness about 130,000 acres it's basically one large island and surrounded by all these hundreds of smaller little tiny islands and you know the area that it encompasses includes land that's submerged you know it goes out into the the lake and you know superior lake superior for people who know one of the great lakes but it is the largest freshwater lake in the world actually so it really has a distinction and you really feel like you are when you're you're in it or even you're looking at it whether you're above it whatever it is it really feels like this mini ocean a freshwater ocean because it is just it goes on and on and on and on and you can't believe that it is a lake and it is and it's extremely picturesque but as you mentioned that it takes a little effort to to get there you know so that's that's part of the the issue but but it is also why it is so pristine too so you know getting there you you had to go on a seaplane am i right about that like you went i mean you had some traveling to do um you're getting there but you you went on a seaplane to get there i mean yeah there's pretty fun it's it's there's only two ways to get there there is the ferry which um goes from two places in minnesota uh grand portage or grand mary and the other is uh going from the upper peninsula up in michigan from houghton or copper arbor and that the ferry runs from made through september and you can have from wherever you are you could be a couple hours or up to six almost seven hour journey in the ferry we wanted to make the most of our stay and uh we figure that the seaplane would be the best option for us because uh we took it from grand mary in minnesota and it only took about 45 minutes plus the seaplane it's just that's just a cool way to travel it's just you know you're leaving from the water you're landing on the water and then you get to see the scenery uh because you know they fly but they're not you know way way up there they get that you get to see the landscape and you get to see the water and the the greenery and you get to see the islands and it's it's pretty cool and it's just you just feel like it gets you there really quickly and you're there you know that's cool man that is cool you know just thinking about you're going to samoa which is a little bit more tropical right in a way so yeah how remote on the on remoteness which one do you think was more remote in regards to supplies getting around doing things you know i mean get american samoa is not easy to get to you know samoa the country is you know six hour flight from hawaii and then from samoa you're you know going back about 25 minutes over the international date line to get to american samoa but american samoa has services it's you know it's it's a territory of the united states and it has you know uh it's facilities and everything um you know people live their year round etc etc you're talking about uh uh basically a national park that is open you know basically mid mid-April maybe until the end of october and you know people don't live their year round there are no permanent you know really residents on isle royale there are you know no road system there is you know it's it's it's wilderness and you know there's only one full service lodge on the island and you know a bunch of camping places campgrounds but so you know you you are dependent on the boats coming with supplies and if they don't come or something happens and they get stuck or whatever for whatever reason those supplies don't come so you have to make do with what you have and you know so people who go there understand that you know there's limited resources and yes you can have the creature comforts that that are nice to have what you know shower bath whatever it is and and some food and and you know you have those creature comforts but it's not like you know you're gonna have it's not like going to the four seasons put it this way okay right i got it i got it no this is interesting to me though i mean what what you experienced you know and even getting there and but now did you did you take snacks with you i mean because you're limited on how much you can carry with you even right getting in there right you're limited on the weight on a on a seaplane and uh you know although when with that little airport and grammar rate they is just the tiniest little airport easiest thing that you don't do security they didn't check our ideas at inch wouldn't they didn't weigh our baggage is either you know and um but you know there's limited space on that the tiny little seaplane you know there was only uh four passengers basically and so uh you know that in the pilot but you know you you can take snacks with you that's not a problem there's a nice uh you know small little like a camping store that has some a little bit of grocery supplies and and some clothing and things like that you know but uh you know if you want to you bring whatever it is if you were coming to backpack of course you would want to have your supplies with you and a lot of the backpackers came by ferry because obviously you can bring what you want on the ferry okay that makes sense you know so this is cool this is cool this is cool so just don't take a hope and that's easier because even hiking and stuff like that you don't want a bunch of stuff you know no you travel light i mean that's basically what you want to do you travel travel light you know and it is the law people should know that when they they arrive at ioroiel and they arrive at either one of the visitor centers they're on either one side of the island or the other you know it's either rock harbor or windingo but uh rock harbor is where the the main uh full service lodge is and at the visitor center as soon as you get off the seaplane or get off of the ferry you need to go in and uh take care of your park admission fee so that's something you know this is a national park and they do check for that and i want to put a plug in for the america the beautiful annual test because i think it's an amazingly wonderful deal especially if you want to go to just even if you want to just a few few parks it would pay for itself yeah and the seniors one is really cool and um they have one now a pass for uh veterans the military active military now that it's i think it's free if you show your id um so that's kind of a cool thing and then there's a fourth graders program which i love for families and if you have a fourth grader you apply for it and for a year you get to go in for free with your family which isn't that cool it's so cool and it's wonderful because you know you get a path holder and the path holder can take several people with him or her you know at no extra charge you know it's a car full of people or whether it's a per person but it's that i just think that's a it's a great deal we it's a sweet deal it really is really yeah yeah now um when you went to the lodge so i'm assuming you better get your reservations and everything done before you go um you don't want to land there and go okay i don't have like a campground i don't have lodging because i forgot to do it absolutely this is this is one of the places that you have to plan ahead of time uh we planned probably i'm trying to think maybe i want to say seven months in advance um people plan up to a year ahead especially if they want the reservations at the lodge or or even their camping reservations we were able to get at that time we were able to get you know three nights stay we ran into people who were only able to get a one night stand and they were hoping that somebody there would be a cancellation they'd able to get another night but you know it's a long way to go uh for a one night stay and you also don't get you know a chance to really explore uh more of the park on on that just short term situation but yeah i urge people if they're even interested you know think about it a year in advance and start reaching out to the lodge uh you know online checking out whether there are rooms available if you're going to do the seaplane the same thing because it's very limited as to how many people and how many times a day that plane goes there uh ferry reservations are also in high demand as well and uh especially if you're coming from outside of the midwest you know we met people that were coming from michigan and minnesota for them it it's less of a of a ordeal but you know coming from outside of the midwest you know you're involved in you know taking a plane to get to where you're going to get to in the midwest and then you know getting from there to where you're going to go to the ferry or or the seaplane uh you know uh airport so it it just takes it takes planning and if it works out it's wonderful you know it also there's also issues where whether could create problems for the ferry whether could create problems for the seaplane so you know you kind of cross your fingers and hope that everything is going to work out okay so that's what's going to say too you you got there now let's tell tell us why it's so worth going i mean you you saw moves you know i love my moves that's my thing i love or bald eagles i mean so the nature oh gosh yeah it's it you know what i i think i started my story by saying that it's just so rare to be uh on a popular trail in a national park and be alone um and this national park you know we we were on trails and and you know maybe at the most we might have seen two or three other people on the trails and it was just it's just you have it to yourself it's wonderful and it you know you like you said the nature of the wildlife and just the views of the lake and you know this the some of the rock formations and just the forests and the woods and it's just it's a very special and unique environment it's a you know it's actually it's it's an international biosphere reserve so which is really really cool too but i i think for people to understand there's a lot of hiking and there's hiking trails that lead off right from rock harbor but then if you want to go other places you have to take a boat to get there so you can rent a boat you can rent a motorboat you can rent a kayak and you can paddle to these different islands there is um you can also um share a private boat with other hikers and and you know like a transport boat um there's also a boat that the uh rock harbor has it's called the sandy and they do special tours that you can sign up for that take you to the islands with a guide who will take you on hikes and talk to you about a national park guide that'll take you you know around the islands when we were there the sandy had not arrived yet for the season we were there at the beginning of the season there were some issues with the and being inspected and so it was delayed so we had to decide to reserve a spot on a private boat going out with several other hikers and being dropped off at different islands but being getting outside of rock harbors is great because you get to really see the rest parts of the the national park that you wouldn't by just staying on rock harbor so there are plenty of other trails on these other islands and some of the islands have some really cool attractions cool man this is sounding good this is sounding good of course it is going to be good right you know i'm like i know i can't i mean how can it not be so you know this is this iconic place you know so i'm like how could it not be anything but iconic you know it is it is very iconic and very unique in in many different ways and uh you know i think one of the places that that was a real highlight for us was going to this other island where there is a historic fishery a fish camp there there's also a wonderful the rock harher lighthouse with these wonderful exhibits inside and then the coolest thing is is the bangs gang bangson cabin which was a fishery that was operated there by a family in the 40s and 50s and then the national park service granted permission to researchers to use the cabin for some field operations on a wolf moose study and that has been continued for umpteen years now and the couple that has been there for like 50 plus years in the summer uh the peterson's wolf and candy and you know wolf is a very esteemed authority on wolves and they've they've been there conducting this study and they coordinate teams of volunteers that spend a week and hike the island in search of moose skulls oh wait a minute i think i've seen them on like an ex like that have you because they're very kind of well known thing or yeah and i think they had all the antlers and all of these like yeah like it was like it's like a hall of fame of moose yeah it's it's called like the boneyard and it's like there's over five thousand moose skulls that have been recovered that are there and um you know so they're studying the moose and the moose and the the wolf which is the you know apex predator they're on uh the isleroyd allen first the moose came oh you know they came they they they swam over from the mainland but then the wolves eventually came and in this ice bridge in the winter and they joined them and so the as i mentioned the lives and deaths of these species are isolated and interwined making it a very good place to study that predator prey interaction so you can go there they welcome visitors and they will talk to you about everything about the study about all the bones i thought of fascinating because they had the bones they had these like little signs outside and it was like one said which i thought was interesting when they get old moose exhibit arthritis period dental disease osteoporosis and then it says sound familiar and it's like yeah that's what happens when we all get old you know yeah that's funny that's funny wow yeah wow wow so that's a lot and you got to go in there it was that just a lot more than wow no she she invites people in people go into her cabin you get to see where she and and ralph have lived and they you know over the past 50 plus years they've raised their two sons there and you know they're just they're they're amazing people and so knowledgeable and so interesting and you know it was it was wonderful and one of the teams that had been gone for a week was coming back when we were there and we got to see them come back with the the moose skulls bones that they had found they had been camping on the island for for a week and so yeah they came back and it was interesting to to see their what they you know what they brought back with them so yeah it's it was fascinating it was a great highlight i didn't ever expected anything like that to encounter anything like that so it was it was a very cool experience yeah how cool that is awesome to to i mean this is definitely a different park you know no matter how you look at it you know just being able to you know have that experience of being part of the conservation you know work that they do in the parks and and documenting you know so that's that's really cool now tell us about you know getting out there and hiking did you see wildlife yeah you know there were there was moose and we thought actually right around the lodge in the woods we saw a moose heading behind a a structure and uh yeah i mean there there and then we saw when they're they were swimming one of them was swimming in the water i mean seeing a moose in the water is pretty cool you know it was it it was just cool and uh the other thing we saw was this incredibly ginormous sandhill crane as we were hiking out to scolville point one of these beautiful picturesque locations um we passed this like area valley we could see through the the woods there was like this meadow and there was this huge bird sitting there and i think the bird was nesting and we found out from somebody that it was a sandhill crane but i had never seen one the size of that we also saw an eagles nest fairly up close because the wave of the trail was that it was like an uphill area and you were on the top of this hill and all of a sudden you looked across and you could see this eagles nest right there and there were two little eagles with their heads sticking out and then with then one of the parents came and dropped off food it was just fabulous so you know we sat there and there was like one or two other people there with us and they were just we were all very excited to to watch this up so close because usually with eagles deaths they're so far away and you need binoculars you know yeah yeah typically can't see that so it was just it was just it was a very a very cool experience but yeah there's plenty of wildlife and there were a lot of people who said they saw them lots of you know moose out of the trail and and you know and also there you know signs that say you know they do have wolves there wolves are you know typically not interested in approaching humans you know but there's big signs saying don't feed the wolves and i'm thinking it was like i've never seen a sign like that in a national park saying don't feed the wolves in particular you know what i mean so yeah yeah pretty interesting because i thought myself who who's going to feed the wolves and what do the wolves have a penchant for granola bars or something i don't know well they're going to take my my snacks and i like you know my ultimate snacks that you know because you don't want to let go of your snacks you know it's like no don't take my snacks they're mine no but that is well you know they have to i mean because well we all know that people are getting stupid in parks lately you know it's been i was not just lately it's this insane amount of people thinking they can go and you know i'm gonna tame a buffalo kind of thing and that's insane yeah you know i completely agree with you the you know the idea of taking selfies with wild animals is ridiculous you know and it's the fact that people getting up close or or taking chances and risks with wild animals is is just not it's it's crazy it it drives me insane you know these are wild animals you know and this is their land you know what i mean exactly it's like what we've taken so much of their habitat that one thing we could do is be you know just can't we just give something back to them you know to just feel that way yes this being respectful of fact this is their land and you know we are we are fortunate that we are able to to visit and share the area and but it also means that we have to be extremely respectful of the space their space and you know knowing that that we can't their predict their behavior is not predictable you know they're wild animals once again and it's not like you're going to walk up to some wolf like a domestic dog or something you know and you know that it just it's just insane i think that people sometimes just don't i don't think they think i just don't think they think no i don't i don't think so either and it's i think when you're used to doing a lot of this you know the the hiking and you know we we all do this this is part of what we do all the time but you know for others maybe new um not so much huh so we just kind of have to be aware you know there's just it the more you go to park some more you become a steward hopefully you know and you know going to places like you know what you saw all you know the work that they were doing at the cabin but that's a different place now i'm off my cabins here with your moose people um going and seeing something like that or going into a ranger program i think this is the thing about parks if we can go into those programs we start to understand what we're experiencing and if we don't go into those programs sometimes we just go through we don't we don't understand how to have that respect so i always say go to ranger programs go to the visitor center start to really read about what you're you're looking at you know get that information yeah put the visitor center therefore and that's what the rangers are for and you know they are very uh you know happy to share their knowledge with you point out trails talk about wildlife uh at rock harbor uh there were programs in the evening you could attend talks by the rangers you know about the different wildlife or about the ecology or geography of of the area and you know if you want to learn that's a wonderful way to learn from people who who spend a lot of time there and who have studied the area and and know you know what it's all about so that's what i tell people it's like you know make your first stop the visitor center get some information get some maps and brochures and you know get your questions answered you know and that's that's me the best way yes introduction to a park and find out about the hike so that you don't go take one that you can't do you know what i mean you can sometimes me oh i can do that and then you know one of the easiest hikes i think was in um Mount Rainier and Nancy that was at the beginning of our tour and we were in oh long mire the long mire part of the yeah yeah okay and there's that river coming through and everything yep yep yeah and you know there's that wooden bridge that you cross over there i mean the river going i mean this is you know i'd come out of the southwest like if there's a trickle of water you're like praying to the rain gods and saying thank you for a trickle you know but holy cow this is like a darn ocean coming down with big rocks and boulders i'm like i got up there because i'm really woozy about heights and stuff you know and i go up there and i like my knees start going in i start like uh-uh if i take another step i may even you know pee in my pants i'm getting so scared nancy did it she's like come on you know she goes up and then but i see her doing it i can tell dude this is scary because you could just sneeze and fall off and off you go and you're gonna get seriously hurt you know so it's um you know so you i would have thought oh that's an easy hike no not for me i think but yeah that you know easy easy easy is one of those very subjective terms and you know the national park service uh does rate their hikes and you know we'll say easy and moderate and challenging or you know strenuous or whatever they they rate them as but you know pay attention to that and if you have questions say you know what is the terrain like you know if it's uh you know if somebody you know i saying oh i'm not that much of a hiker or i haven't hiked very much you know what is the terrain like you know i'm not really good on on uh loose gravel or scree or whatever it is you know or or i'm not i'm not great with heights you know let me know what what would be a you know a good a good choice here and they will let you know and i was i think i was standing next to some gentleman and he was you know saying you know i have recovered from some you know knee surgery and blah blah blah and i can do this but i you know i really have to do something slowly and i have you know and so that the you know rangers will tell them you know then this this hike this hike would be good for you this other hike would not be you know would be something that would be much more challenging and you might not you know really want want to do that i mean you know it's nice to have a challenging hike if you're up for the challenge that's wonderful you know but if if you've got if you're just not used to it or if you've got any kind of you know physical issues that you know are concerning to you then you know it find a hike that but there's always a hike that you can do there's always something you can do yep even if you're in a wheelchair there's always some kind of accessibility trail and yeah you know what i think is so amazing about where you went because it's only open part of the year because i mean you're up there and they have like snow snow like big real stuff right but well they you know everything's closed you know for yeah you can't get in there you know so yeah but i mean it's an amazing when you're there and you realize that this was just a few months ago i still like isn't that kind of crazy i always i always go like wow you know you know last at the beginning of the year nancy and i went through all the crazy Oregon ice storms and snow storms and all of that right which we we're done with now and um if you know we know all these people that have and they've been using your articles by the way going you know to become be a gorge river and the waterfalls and everything like here go at debbie went and their photos are coming back and i'm like yeah well we went through the ice so that you could have a good time but it's amazing to see that within a few months how it changes that quick thing change but it's so green where you were you know it seems tranquil too even though there were shipwrecks out there you know oh yeah i mean it's you know it can be you know like superior is you know it definitely is seen ocean many shipwrecks you know so and when you went to that lighthouse they had a whole section on shipwrecks which i always find very fascinating and i always like to read and see what the kinds of things that they've recovered from you know the the water and it's just you know to me it's fascinating but yeah the you know it's the water the water the lake can be very you know unstable the weather can be you know very unstable and so yeah it's you know it's a very finite time that you can visit this park which makes it even more special you know and even when you go in season you have to be prepared for for whether that can occur and you know we were told and you know everybody mentions online you know that you should make sure you've got your layers and you know you've got your rain pairs and your rain jacket and you know you've got good sturdy you know waterproof shoes and all that kind of good stuff and especially in the midwest as we know with the bugs but you know we were also forewarned about that you know wearing long pants long shirts long socks you know as i said sturdy shoes and then having you know bug repellent or bug spray and having mosquito netting for your face you know it's it's amazing i mean it's it i said very tongue-in-cheek but it is kind of the fashion statement at ale royal it's like you saw people walking around with it and it's like you think through yourself really do i really need that and then you're out there like yes i really do yeah i don't like to mess with it i mean we we were up in minnesota and we stopped for a picnic in a park a riverside nature center somewhere i mean it was spectacular because it's it's like it's different because it still has the prairie landscape as well with the flowers and everything and you sat down and i mean it wasn't a minute and i was like what the heck you know and they were telling us they were going through a drought and then it's not looking at this going what drought i mean it's so green you know we're desert people but this is oh wait this this is a paradise you know so voyagers i mean i'm not voyagers island royal to me i don't know it's it's an island park which makes it really unique and you know because you did the channel islands too so when you kind of look at that there's specific species endemic to that area so absolutely and this is and and you know the fact that it is you know uh isolated animal mode you know it's it's uh it you know the species population they don't have that many animals compared to other you know parks because you know how are those animals going to get there you know it's it's a very finite group of animals they've allowed you know they have birds and they have insects and amphibians and all those kind of things but in terms of actual animals it's it's a limited number of of species that can that are there you know so uh which makes it very i think it makes it very ideal for scientists and researchers who really wanted to study those species because they're studying them in this very kind of in close almost enclosed arena so to speak you know yeah it's different it's different to have that kind of experience you know are there snakes i mean i think everyone has snakes there are i never saw any but there aren't yeah there are and they're sure there's water snakes as well i mean that's a lake and there's probably lots of it and there's lots of fish i mean you know there were people that go you know specifically to go fishing as well you know and you can oh okay fishing boat and you can you can get your own motorboat and go out and fish and you know that's definitely a big attraction there i would say you know hiking and fishing are probably the biggest you know attractions and people you know many people go and camp and and backpack and that's extremely popular um and it's like i said because there is only one full service lodge there and that's a very finite number of of rooms as well so you know your alternatives are are camping hmm i know camping is fun i don't know how my body feels about it these days but camping is good camping is good you're gonna have to live in like a you know mosquito body suit to do it maybe yeah i was gonna say i you know i'm i'm i do like camping um i haven't done it for a while but i do like it but i'm not so sure i i'm i would be up for camping at in that area only because of the bugs but yeah you know a lot of people do it they love it they come back year after year it's it's a very it actually gets repeat people coming because they find it such a to be such a wonderful place because it is a wilderness it just looks so pristine and calm that was the first thing i thought when i saw the pictures with a sense of absolute calm you know as we do our parks and i know you do around the world and i'm finding it harder and harder to find calm in paradise um just i try to record bird sounds the other day in a refuge because i could hear them all they're beautiful right every time i went to record them a airplane a truck something and i was like this is this is you know now that i'm doing it more from audio too it's a whole new world and so i think when you have parks like this i'm glad it's remote because i think it helps balance the ecosystem you know so it's not too heavy in foot traffic but also not overdone in you know i mean did you have Wi-Fi and things like that or are you pretty remote um the the Wi-Fi only uh worked worked in a certain area at uh rock harbor so you know it doesn't work in your in your room um only works in certain places and sometimes it was erratic you know which is understandable and expected right and and it's it's so you know i was okay with the fact that oh i wasn't going to freak out if i couldn't you know get Wi-Fi it's like okay for it's kind of cool three nights for three nights if i if i yeah vlogged that's that's quite quite all right you know yeah like it's okay that the rest of the world can continue on i'm fine without knowing everything you know so it's it's got to be pretty quiet in regards to human noise as i think where my point was like when you're out and about in the woods yes is definitely or if you're on the water it's it's definitely uh very serene and and very peaceful you know so that's uh you know that's i think that is the the major attraction for visitors for people who want to go there is because they know that they can they can get that peace and that serenity and they don't have to share all the trails in the park with hoards of visitors and people trying to get photos all the time you know yeah god i know i hate that like you're bummed out of the way excuse me i've got to get myselfy you know it's okay it's yeah it's so annoying you reach to a you know you you reach an incredibly beautiful spot you know whether it's a lake or waterfall whatever it is and you're at this national park and then all of a sudden there's all these people and they're all trying to jockey for position to get the best picture and you're just kind of like oh my gosh no but actually though nancy and i just like to watch the poses because that's funny you know i don't know what everybody's doing with their lips pursing their lips in like abundance like it's how far can you go with it i mean are you trying to compete with the fish like honestly it's like it's a fish i mean i love i love photos you know like the the next person i mean i love taking photos but i i really enjoy taking photos when i can have the space myself to do it yeah yeah and i don't have to worry about somebody in my picture or even just somebody trying to block something or whatever it is it's just nice not to you know yeah worry about that it really really is i remember my husband i were hiking and we got somewhere and it was like oh good there's nobody here and then you know we sat down and we're enjoying it and it was like 10 minutes later all the sudden we heard this noise and it was like this large group of people heading from the trail to where we were and all the sudden they're all over the place and we're just like oh no oh there's like it just like ruined our our moments you know yeah i think it's there's a um we just have to learn to balance out of how our actions and parks a little bit yeah it's you know it's kind of like hi you know um and then sometimes someone will be hiking you know you always just smile or not or high you know and some people just look in turn away and i'm like okay fine you know i'm not going to save you on the trail you're gonna do that yeah i think yeah normally the people i meet that are out at our door lovers are pretty friendly and oh yeah really respectful of of using the trail and sharing the trail and they're you know a lot of people are you know friendly you can say oh you know how much further is it this and they'll tell you or you'll be like oh yeah did you see that bald eagle nest you know yes it's you know it's it's fun when somebody does that you know it's like when we found the one or two other people on the trail out to the point we're like did you know see that bald eagle nest you know it was like you know you want to share that with somebody because it's such a cool thing you know so you know doing that i think is is a really nice thing to do when you when you can find wildlife and you want somebody else you know who really would love to see wildlife too you know i agree i agree you know you make friends on the trail for sure you know you really do you know we've made friends all over the place just by traveling you know it's just no for sure that's uh that's one of the most interesting parts of travel is is connecting with other people who have a a love of you know exploring places definitely oh now did you like the food being served before you go i have to ask because i know did you get fish from there or is it just really yeah it seems like it's just like you're your basic food because it has to be shipped in literally yeah it's very it's it's you know but but there was there was actually a few options that you know that i i seized upon there is uh there was great lakes walleye and there was like uh a white fish and chips and you know so they did have some options in that range you know but i think the best thing for people to understand is you you have to think where am i going and not to have very high expectations of what you're going to get in terms of when you're you know in a grill or a restaurant there whatever it is and it's limited and that's what you have to think about and if they're out of something because the boat didn't come in with the supply well then you got to choose something else you know yeah i as i said in my story i was just happy that i didn't have to cook so you know yeah or lug it in yeah cook over fire and fight over with the mosquitoes exactly right no no but that's you in some of remote you're not there for a five-star dinner right that's not what the place is about no it's about the nature no so but at least you have and and it's got food and you know you had a you know i had a very functional room and it had the most gorgeous all the rooms have gorgeous lake views they were like dropped in beautiful lake views you know and you have a bathroom and a shower and you have creature comforts and it's it's fine basic and fine you know now what about these fried cheese birds did you try them i've had i've had she's curds before having gone to school in Wisconsin i've had fried cheese curds cheese curds period no i didn't have to try them she's like i'm sticking yeah but it's like fried cheese curds sounds about good now you know and then the miners pasty that reminds me of um you know we stick at the um yeah Cornish pasties in England yeah the pasties they're like they're like um it's a british i mean it's a british like an empanada in a way right yeah yeah you know it doesn't like you know piece of dough with some you know meat and vellings or veggies inside and it's yeah i mean and it was like oh wow that's on the menu that was a little surprise okay why not hey sounds good to me well they've got a lot of european history you know yes up there i don't feel a lot of uh british history so you know there is uh you know a lot of a lot of that so yeah definitely that's because of the fact the the war of 1812 that's going to be part of that right yeah yeah because you're right up there you know i mean think about it you know the uh you know some of the the Canadians coming the fur trade the whole thing up there you know so there was a lot of uh a lot of um intermingling so to speak and they did not have mosquito repellent back then i'm just gonna say like you know i always think about like the battle of 1812 a war of 1812 and things like that like battle of New Orleans i that's i connect them together because they are kind of connected but like you go out and these swamps and stuff like they're fighting in New Orleans and swamps and stuff and here comes a win one after the british right and they did such a good job um but i'm going like how did they do that you know how did they do that in those times what was it like being Lewis and Clark with a bunch of mosquitoes like seriously like i would dig a whole and bury myself in it you know i just can't even i can't even imagine it you know yeah but when you go to these parks you get that feeling of what people went through you know you get a tiny taste of it before you run inside you know what's like that's funny well the visitor centers are good for that you know did they show you know there was obviously all the the shipwreck history and things like that but um what about a Native American history did you see any of that while you were there yeah they had um exhibits uh in you know about that and and um not as much there as opposed to uh Voyager National Park which had some uh that dealt with that as well but um yeah that's definitely you know noted um but i think they really focused a lot on now it's more on the maybe the geology, ecology, wildlife you know more on that um but you know yes of course they they definitely noted that i find that most national parks now do do uh give time or space towards that that's awesome they're getting better and better a man on what they do for African-American history women's history Hispanic i mean they're really the cultural roots is they're really working on that um before you go where's next because it sounds like we're going to have some epic podcasts coming up yeah well i will be rafting in Utah and i will be in Alaska to do five national parks some of them even more remote than then uh aisle oil so it will be uh quite an adventure and i hope that all works out smoothly and but i get to get to uh experience these places and uh definitely will be taking a lot of repellent with me that's it exactly here's my carry-on bag all it is a repellent and netting and netting that's it netting netting the netting thing is a good idea i would need that when we do Arkansas yeah for sure well they're so much always fun ordering about your adventures and i know this can inspire people to get planning so that they can go have an amazing time in a very unique and remote park in our national park service so take care fire monkey have fun on your next adventure and travel so thanks so much and looking forward to talking to you soon thanks for listening to big blend radios global adventures show with travel writer debbie stone debbie is here every fourth tuesday you can keep up with us at big blend radio calm
