Where Is Daisy Farm At Isle Royale And How Do You Get There?
Isle Royale is a remote island national park that is out in the middle of Lake Superior. It is located in Michigan as is the main visitor center. In order to get out to Isle Royale, the average visitor must take a pretty big boat or a seaplane. Lake Superior is far too rough and the distance too far for most anyone to take a small boat or kayak out to the island. The park service has a large boat, the Ranger III that takes about 6 hours to get out there from Houghton, Michigan. Seaplane rides take about 40 minutes to get out to the island.
Most people who go to Isle Royale camp and backpack on the island though there is a small lodge out in Rock Harbor where the park service’ Ranger III boat arrives and departs. Visitors backpacking and not staying in the Rock Harbor Lodge bring all their gear and food with them, pick an itinerary and go wander around to different campsites on the island for the duration of their stay.
The area where this photo was taken is known as the Daisy Farm Campground. It is fairly close to Rock Harbor. A backpacking trip of a few days can easily include a night or two as Daisy Farm. The campground has a handful of wooden cabins as well as some campsites. There is a dock that goes out a way into Lake Superior and there is a bit of a beach there. It is a great place to spend a night or two on Isle Royale.
What Makes Sunrise At Daisy Farm On Isle Royale An Awesome Photo Opportunity?
Isle Royale is a real wilderness adventure. If you want to go to a national park, are up for backpacking and want some solace, this is a park for you! Much of the interior of the park is a forested wilderness and looks much like any forest anywhere. When you camp in areas along the shoreline of the island where Daisy Farm is located, you get a chance to see the sun rise over the horizon over the water. That alone can be pretty cool. The scene gets even better if there is something interesting in the foreground like a pair of colorful kayaks. Good sunset photos could probably be had from the other side of the island.
When Should Go To Daisy Far At Isle Royale For Amazing Wall Art Quality Photos?
I’ve only taken one trip to Isle Royal because the logistics of getting there with backpacking gear can be a little bit of a challenge. I don’t know when the best time is. The particular photo was taken back in late august of 2012. That was a good time to go. The weather was beautiful. It rained one day out of four. The bugs weren’t bad at all. The days were warm and the nights mild. Weather at Isle Royale can vary wildly and reservations often have to be made well in advance so it can be a real crap shoot if you plan to backpack at Isle Royale and go there for great photo opportunities.
What Is The Best Gear For Photographing Daisy Farm And Isle Royale In General?
Since you are most likely going to be backpacking, whatever camera gear you can carry that will capture the image(s) you want will be the best gear. I didn’t see a whole lot of good opportunities for panoramic photos so I wouldn’t haul a big panoramic rig out there. A newer cel phone will do the trick for landscape photos like this that don’t need to be printed large. A DSLR or mirrorless camera with a 24-105mm type lens would be a good one size fits all setup to carry around with you. Isle Royale is home to moose and wolves. If you have the strength and energy to carry around a 600 or larger lens to photograph wolves or moose, you may get lucky and get some good shots. I saw neither while I was backpacking on Isle Royale.
What Is The Story Behind Daisy Farm Isle Royale Sunrise Wall Art Photo Print?
This Isle Royale Sunrise print was taken in the late summer of 2012 during an extended national park road trip. The goal at the time was to get to all the national parks in the lower 48 states. Isle Royal wasn’t on the map of many people back then.
I drove about 24 hours straight from Mt. Washington in New Hampshire (after doing the sunrise drive) to get to Houghton, Michigan in time for the boat reservation I had for the following day. It was an exhausting drive via Canada and my eyes struggled to get any focus by the time I pulled off the road. Ever see a DSLR camera try to auto focus in really low light? Well that’s how my eyes were functioning by the time I got off the road, pulled over and slept for a while. When I woke up, I checked out some nearby sights and went to the local Wal-Mart for some supplies and slept overnight in the parking lot. The next morning I got up, parked in the park service lot, grabbed my gear and headed to Isle Royale on the Ranger III.
The first night I slept on a picnic table because the cabins were all full and I didn’t feel like setting up a tent. A couple days later I hiked to Daisy Farm and had one of those old wooden cabins to myself. I got up for sunrises, did some day hikes, jumped in Lake Superior to clean myself off and had an amazing couple of days there.
The second day at Daisy Farm I got up for sunrise. It was a clear morning. I watched the sun rise up over the horizon of Lake Superior. There weren’t really enough clouds to make for a light show in the sky. After snapping a few shots I took notice of the kayaks and started incorporating them into the photos. The rising sun cast a nice glow on the kayaks, the shoreline and the trees along the shoreline.
It was my first backpacking experience and I brought way too much stuff with me. It was too much backpacking gear and way too much camera gear too. My body really paid the price on the morning of departure when I had to haul all that stuff back to the harbor to catch the Ranger III.
This particular Daisy Farm photo from Isle Royale won 3rd place in the ShareTheExperience photo contest hosted by the National Park Foundation back in 2012. That was the first fairly big photo contest I won anything in!
In What Formats Is This Daisy Farm Isle Royale Sunrise Wall Art Print Available?
This Isle Royale Sunrise print makes a great wall art piece and is available in sizes up to 40 by 60 inches. It comes on a variety of different media including Canvas and Paper which both make great options at matte prints in most any lighting situation. If you’ve got diffused or subdued lighting then metal or acrylic prints that tend to be much more shiny and reflective may be much better wall art options.
The image looks great on a variety of home decor items including shower curtains, pillows and even towels. It looks great on canvas tote bags that can be used as your replacement for plastic shopping bags.
Finally, it comes on phone cases you can show off anywhere you go. It is also available on 500 and 1,000 piece puzzles that make great brain teasers for the Isle Royale backpacking fan!
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