I had set the alarm for 6:15am, and even thought I was half awake and watching the sky lighten up, I was still surprised when it went off. From the tent's unzipped vestibule I could see a red glow in the east. I hustled down to the lakeshore for what would turn out to be our best sunrise. A few wispy cirrus clouds glowed red and reflected off the ripples on the lake. A mist was also starting to rise off the lake surface running toward the sunrise. Once the red color faded we trudged back uphill for breakfast and to pack up for another day.

We were out of camp by 7:45 today, and with all the marshy low land ahead of us on the way to Todd Harbor I hoped we would spot a moose. We walked quietly across the grain of the land, up and over small ridges and through marshes on raised boardwalks.

Still the best we managed to do was hear a moose in a fir thicket. Neither of us felt like chasing down a moose in dense woods, a female moose with a calf could be very protective and dangerous.

Still we enjoyed the silence and solitude of the walk, not seeing anyone else until we reached Todd Harbor where many of the campers were just departing.

Out of Todd Harbor we followed the Minong Trail, another ridge top trail like the Greenstone. The Minong is supposed to be a more rugged trail however. I was hoping to spend some time walking along with views of Todd Harbor and Lake Superior, but the trail immediately headed inland and mostly stayed just below the ridge top.

I assume this was done to shelter hikers when foul weather blows in off the lake, but for Grant and I we missed out on the small breeze that might have kept the mosquitoes down a bit. Instead we had to suffer through several thick patches of mosquitoes raised in the un-drained pools of murky water at our feet.

After several miles the trail started to spend more time on the crest of the ridge, giving us a few views across one of the largest trail-less sections of Isle Royale to the north of us. The trail traversed a lot of exposed rock surface and did pound our feet a bit harder than the Greenstone. Still, the rugged designation for this trail is only relative to the easier trails in the park and definitely not as tough as other trails out west or in New England that I've been on.

We passed a few unmarked turn offs that probably went to the Minong mine and knew we were getting close to McCargo Cove. The cove was our original destination for the evening, but as we were only now stopping for lunch about a mile from the cove, we decided to change our itinerary.

We passed on through the cove, faintly wishing we could stay and take advantage of the shelters available here. We turned down the Indian Portage Trail and passed one group of backpackers headed into McCargo Cove. Next we passed our first canoeist. He was portaging his canoe to Chickenbone Lake having just been dropped off at McCargo Cove. The southwestern end of the island where we'd come from didn't have the numerous lakes and portages of the middle portion of the island so we'd seen only other backpackers and trail crews since leaving Windigo.

We were pleased to discover that the Indian Portage Trail actually hugged the lakeshore for a ways, allowing us to walk along and gaze across the water. There are so many scenic opportunities on the island, and I wished more of the trails took advantage of them.

Grant spotted his first moose across the water mostly submerged in a clump of reeds. We watched as the moose regularly popped out of the water and nibbled on a few plants, then dove back down.

We continued around the outside bend in the lake and crossed our longest boardwalk section where a beaver had built a dam flooding the area. Just past the boardwalk we came to the West Chickenbone Lake campground and set about finding the best spot. We we had arrived at the same time as the canoeing couple we'd seen on the portage and initially we shared separate tent platforms right next too each other.

After we'd swum in the much warmer waters of Chickenbone Lake and avoided some of the large leeches we saw near the shore, we rechecked all the campsites and found a much better site closer to the water with more shade. While the couple was out fishing in their canoe, we moved our camp to give everyone some more solitude.

While this was one of our nicer camping spots so far, it was also over run with aggressive mosquitoes. Even in the tent, where we ended up spending most of our time, three to five mosquitoes would hover at the mesh screens trying to get at us. The mosquitoes here were the only ones who managed to bite through my nylon pants.

Trapped in the tent we watched an episode of "Wild Kingdom" right on our tent roof. One bug managed to hunt down and eat another smaller one as we watched. Grant freed the victor for his services in helping us pass the time.