Introduction: A gathering of waters -- I. Headwaters. As good as it gets : bird diversity on the North Shore ; Harvesting the forest's bounty : wildcrafting ; Be it ever so humble : no home like that of a pitcher plant ; Healing a watershed for coaster brook trout -- II. Highlands. The case of the missing duff : earthworm invasions ; The secret life of salamanders ; Stranger than fiction : plant galls and their makers ; Black bears and the Tettegouche oaks ; The nose knows : star-nosed moles and a life down under -- III. Nearshore. North Shore places : what's in a name? ; Where has all the sewage gone? : development and water quality ; Hay pickers and grass gatherers : botanical exploration along the lakeshore ; Between a rock and a lake : life on the cliff edge ; The leading edge : North Shore bird migration -- IV. Lake Superior. Mapping Lake Superior : the early years ; Searching high and low : the science of Lake Superior exploration ; Amphipods and diatoms : the big lake's bread and butter ; How much water is enough? : the plumbing of Lake Superior ; The missing link : the Lake Superior and Mississippi River Canal ; The rise and fall of seiches -- V. Islands. The chorus frogs of Isle Royale ; The long view : moose and wolves on Isle Royale ; Nature or nuisance? : gulls in the Great Lakes ; A mansion of many rooms : the return of lake trout to Superior -- Epilogue: The wild card of climate change.