Isle Royale Hub

🐺 Spencer is making the rounds again!
I've now seen Spencer three times this season—twice in Rock Harbor (including this sighting from about 20 minutes ago) and once at the Duncan Bay Narrows, where she tried to make off with our fishing net.
She definitely gets around. In addition to my sightings, paddlers have reported seeing her on Belle Isle, and she's also been spotted around Daisy Farm and Three Mile.
One thing's for sure: you never know where Spencer will turn up next on Isle Royale.
Have you seen Spencer this season? 🐺

📸 PRESEASON 2026 – THE RETURN

On May 1st, Ray and I climbed aboard the Hazy J with Justin and pointed the bow toward Isle Royale. It was a day we'd been looking forward to ever since leaving the island last fall.

The contrast was almost comical. Less than a week earlier I was in Jamaica for my daughter Alyssa's wedding, surrounded by palm trees, sunshine, and 89 degree temperatures. A few days later I was crossing Lake Superior toward an island where ice still gripped many of the harbors and the water at Blake Point was just 36 degrees.

Winter wasn't quite ready to let go.

Rock Harbor was mostly open, but many protected coves and harbors around the island were still frozen. Tobin Harbor remained choked with ice in places, and there were no leaves on the trees, few migratory birds, and very little sign of spring beyond a handful of resident species.

What stood out most was the silence.

No sirens.

No traffic.

No motorcycles screaming down the road.

No barking dogs.

No lawnmowers.

No trains.

No neighbors yelling.

No kids playing in the street.

Just the occasional eagle overhead and the whisper of wind through the spruce trees, and every so often the faint sound of an airplane headed toward Thunder Bay.

Then silence again.

The kind of silence that's becoming harder and harder to find in the modern world.

Over the next several weeks I'll be sharing photos from Ray's and my 12-day preseason adventure. Ice-covered harbors, quiet trails, sunsets in Tobin Harbor, fishing trips, wildlife encounters, and those special days when Isle Royale is waking up from winter but the summer crowds haven't arrived yet.

For me, this is one of the most magical times of the entire year to be on the island.

👉 If you could visit Isle Royale at any time of year, when would you choose?

A surprising and sobering discovery from Passage Island.

My friend Justin came across this deceased wolf tucked beneath the trees near the lighthouse. Finding a wolf on Passage Island isn't something you'd expect to see, raising plenty of questions about how it got there and what its story might have been.

What do you think happened?

👉 Follow Isle Royale Hub for more stories and discoveries from the island.

📷 A cow and calf moose wading along the shoreline in Chippewa Harbor near the remains of the Awaneesha shipwreck.

About a half hour earlier, I had spotted a wolf nearby, and these two definitely seemed uneasy — whether from seeing it or simply catching its scent drifting through the harbor. On Isle Royale, even the quiet moments can feel tense. 🫎🐺

📷 Isle Royale isn’t just wolves and moose… the island floor is full of wild mushrooms too. 🍄

Some tiny, some strange, some colorful enough to look almost fake. These are just a few I’ve come across over the years wandering the trails and forests of the island.

Which one is your favorite? And have you ever spotted any unusual mushrooms on Isle Royale? 👇

👉 Follow Isle Royale Hub for more hidden details, wildlife, and everyday life on the island.

📷 Two views of the same evening in Rock Harbor tonight.

First photo: my view right now from the side porch of the guesthouse.
Second photo: the view from the Smithwick Channel we**am — and if you look closely, you can actually see the guesthouse in the we**am shot. It’s the two-story building with the light on in the middle of the photo.

Pretty cool seeing both perspectives of the same quiet night on Isle Royale. 🌅

You can check the live we**am here too:
https://www.nps.gov/media/we**am/view.htm?id=EEC7A140-A320-5EC7-9344207E9416A87C&r=/isro/learn/photosmultimedia/we**ams.htm

👉 Follow Isle Royale Hub for more everyday moments from life on the island.