• Monday-What'sUP August 28 - 06:48 am

We are now flying high over Rock Harbor, located on Isle Royale National Park, out in the waters of Lake Superior. The only thing better than being high overhead with E. Neil Harri, would be to have your feet planted firmly on the ground in that very same spot. If you have a high speed connection or don't mind waiting the for BIG picture to load, it's worth taking a closer look at the harbor formally known as Snug Harbor. Click here: Rock Harbor-Full Size and enjoy the ride! Then click on over to this site: Park Vision-Isle Royale for some interesting information and pictures around this beautiful park

I love the aerial views , always. Thanks for the Big picture too. I needed a new background for my "puter today.

Thanks for another great picture!

As always, Neil gives us a great shot!

What a perspective!

Awesome aerial picture, Neil! Thank you. I've never been to Isle Royale, so this is a great substitute. This is a great way to start out the week!

Yet again Neil gets a great picture, how does he do it? I can't walk & get a picture at the same time.

Wow! Rock Harbor has sure changed over the years. The last time I was there was in the summer of 1968 with my wife. We stayed overnight in one of the "motel" type of lodges. I told her we would sail out on the Ranger and fly back the next day. The next day we went to catch the plane in the next harbor back of Rock Harbor. It was a Beech King Air on pontoons with carrying capacity of nine passengers providing one passenger sat in the co-pilot's seat. When we got back to Houghton and off the plane my wife threatened to "kill me" if I ever did that to her again. She hates flying, especially in small planes. Thanks again to Neil for bringing back great memories of Isle Royale.

How cool....the big picture is really neat...what are all the buildings on the island ???? One of these days I am going to get there.....getting on bad water scares me...you never know.

God Bless ya all..........

Thanks for the great pic. I see a seaplane tied up in Tobin Harbor. Is that a private plane or did they reinstate plane service?

I talked to an oldtimer that was on the Charlie Kauppi's Isle Royale Queen when it ran on the rocks not far from Copper Harbor. He said Charlie jumped into the water and pushed the boat off the rock while the mate steered.

I believe Kaupi's "Queen" became the first "Voyaguer" which ran from Grand Portage, MN and carried the mail as it circumvented the Island.

To Gloptmike, That was a Beech 18 on floats and not a King Air. The seaplane tied up is the Isle Royale seaplane service that flies out of Houghton airport.

I THOUGHT that was a float plane in the little picture. You're right -- the big picture is great to examine.

Not sure exactly why, but I tho't there wasn't much at all on Isle Royale, in terms of structures, that is. So this picture is a great surprise.

Actually, looking at the big picture, the seaplane must have just landed itself, you can see the ripples in the water where it came towards shore.
Gordy

Neil can you remember when we had the Grumman Goose flying over. We used to do some of his bookings, and got quite a few rides in the right seat. That plane was owned by Chaulks out of Miami. I m sure you ve heard of the airline

That's the best aerial photo I've seen of the Rock Harbor area. Neil must have nerves of steel to fly over a large body of water without floats. On Pasty.com, I saw a photo of your plane, a single engine Cessna when it had landed on the ice near some ice fisherman a few years back. Do you carry floatation gear when you fly over Gitchee Gumee?

Neil, your "big picture" is wonderful, especially now that I have had time to sit down and take a closer look at it. Thank you for sharing it with us! And Mary, thank you for selecting it to be today's picture!

Great Picture!!
I'm with Helen, what's with all the infrastructure, did they move the generator from Mott Island to the Rock Harbor area and get rid of the power lines as I see three fuel tanks(diesel, regular and hi-test)? And the silos? Lots of questions - need more explanations, perhaps from some Park Service Personnel?

Hello all. This is Captain Ben Kilpela of the Isle Royale Queen IV. Despite the many comments about this photo showing recent development, I must tell all that very little has changed at Snug Harbor in the past 50 years. No new major buildings have been constructed, and very few of the existing buildings have changed structurally in any way. The power lines are gone because they were buried on their route from Mott Island to Snug. The silo is part of the water treatment system that went in at Snug some 20 years ago. Otherwise, it is all the same as it was, except cosmetically, some 5o years ago when the current Rock Harbor Lodge was built.

Oh, by the way, Charlie recommends Park Vision for information on Isle Royale, but please check out the Isle Royale Queen IV web site, isleroyale.com, which has links to my web site and to my Isle Royale blog. These sites contain a wealth of information, especially for first-time visitors.

Captain Ben Kilpela