Lost Wonder: Moose Boulder (Classic)

The Atlas Obscura Podcast

SiriusXM Podcasts & Atlas Obscura

Society & Culture, Places & Travel

4.6 • 1.8K Ratings

🗓️ 25 February 2026

⏱️ 14 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

How far would you go to find the largest island in the largest lake on the largest island in the largest lake on the largest island in the largest lake in the United States? This week, we’re bringing your stories of places that – for one reason you another – you can’t visit. Plus: We want to hear from you! What’s a place in your life that YOU can’t visit? Give us a call at 315-992-7902 and leave a message, or send an email to hello@atlasobscura.com.

Transcript

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0:00.0	It's 3 a.m. on Isle Royale in rural Michigan.
0:04.7	It is the least visited national park in the country.
0:07.5	The sun is long, long gone.
0:10.7	And two hikers are dreadfully lost.
0:15.5	It was terrifying.
0:16.9	We got lost around three in the morning in the middle of a rock field.
0:20.9	This is Roger Dickey.
0:22.2	He and his travel buddy had been hiking and canoeing all day long.
0:26.1	By 11 p.m., they had made it only 10 out of the 20 miles they needed to get back to their camp.
0:32.2	And by 3 a.m., when they arrived at the rock field, they were utterly, completely lost.
0:39.0	So you're hiking a quarter mile just over nothing but bare rock, and you have to, when you get
0:43.9	to the other side, try to find where the trail continues. No trees to use as landmarks, no trail
0:48.7	markers, just a sea of identical rocks in the pitch black, barely halfway home. They had some supplies,
0:58.2	iodine tablets, a GPS, but it was all pretty much cold comfort. This is an extremely remote
1:04.4	location. As far as I know, there were no ranger outposts in the area. Roger went looking for the
1:09.9	trail. He hiked out half a mile in every direction, making a star pattern.
1:14.6	While he was looking, his hiking buddy stayed put in the middle of the rock field.
1:19.6	She said at grace points she heard rustling in the forest and she called out my name and I didn't answer.
1:24.6	She's like, is this a bear? Is this a moose?
1:46.3	I was afraid I might lose her or that we could have a confrontation with some wild animals. I think I was more scared than my mom was, actually. Roger's hiking companion, the person he was lost with, it was his mom. And the whole reason Roger had brought his mom out here was to find a boulder. not just any boulder, not one of the boulders in this rock field, a very specific boulder, a boulder that may not have existed at all. And it might
1:55.3	have been my fault. Today, we are talking about Moose Boulder, this possibly mythical rock, and a certain online guide that lured Roger Dickie and his mom out to this very remote location and got them incredibly extremely lost.
2:17.2	More after this. and got them incredibly, extremely lost.
	...

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