13 JANUARY 2008 -

This morning I said goodbye to our cat.  Soon, I’ll say good bye to my love and say hello to Isle Royale.  Winter study begins with the 7 hour drive from Houghton, MI to Ely, MN.  We made that drive today.  Ely is where the seaplane base is - from here we fly to Isle Royale.    

    On the road to Ely we honor our past at the Village Inn – a family diner like thousands of others like in towns scattered across America.  Here, we met with Don Murray, who flew for the wolf moose project 28 years earlier.  Today, he’s blind.  But he remembers so much.  This time a story about a park employee who dumped several barrels of AV (aviation) gas in the lake without telling anyone.  No big deal, except water got into the barrels.  Water and AV gas do not mix – they cause planes to crash.  Don told of how he discovered the error and fixed it without wasting the gas.  After some bad food and an hour or so reflecting on how much has gone on before, we left.  

      Limbo is hotel in Ely, not the invigorating stress of the office, and not the physical existence of life Isle Royale.  Here we wait in Ely until the weather is clear enough to make it to Isle Royale.  A short nap, an unremarkable meal at the Ely Steakhouse, and its time for bed.  Tomorrow a few chores in town before we’re ready.

 

14 JANUARY 2008 -

We hoped to leaved this morning - last night’s forecast was good.  But we were not so fortunate.  The South wind blew and like an alchemist transformed bits of Lake Superior into clouds and fog all along the North Shore and into the arrowhead of Minnesota.

 

15 January 2008 -

More south wind, more waiting.

 

16 January 2008 -

Today was a rerun of yesterday.

 

17 JAN 2008 -

The wind shifted from south to northwest.  With that shift our time in Ely came to an end.  By 10 AM, Rolf and Don flew from Ely in the research plane to Isle Royale.  A big hug and a kiss to Leah, my wife, and then for the next month only lovely memories and short evening phone calls.  By noon, the USFS flew Alexis (Park Service Volunteer) and myself with our gear in a larger plane (pictured above) called a beaver.  

    We moved our gear from the harbor to the bunkhouse.  We removed a part of a tree that had fallen in trail blocking our way to the bunkhouse.  We moved other gear from the storage shed to the bunkhouse.  Started a fire in the wood stove.  We cut holes in the ice - to test the ice thickness, to get drinking water, and for tie-downs for the plane.  We unpacked some of our gear and food, started the generator, ate dinner, did dishes, and went to sleep tired.

    Tomorrow we’ll prepare the research plane.  The forecast for the weekend is good flying weather.  We’ll be ready for it.