Paddling the Apostle Islands

Madeline Island was a nice treat, but we were anxious to get to Living Adventures, Inc. (LAI) for a 3-hour safety course (required) and then paddle to our first island. We had already taken two safety courses on Bainbridge Island, but we were grateful for the refresher - and we got to do wet exits in fresh water!

Some facts about the Apostle Islands:

• 1970 - Congress named 20 of the islands and the peninsula a national lakeshore
• 1986 - Long Island joined the national lakeshore
• 2004 - The Gaylord Nelson Wilderness plus 33,500 acres of the lakeshore were established
• Photovoltaic (solar) electricity has been an energy source for the lakeshore for more than 20 years. 10 photovoltaic systems are currently used throughout the park.
• Average temperatures in Lake Superior in May and June are in the 40's and rarely exceed 60 degrees.
• All the islands sit on billion year old sandstone.

Our planned route:

• Little Sand Bay to York Island = 4 miles
• York Island to Oak Island = 6 miles
• Oak Island to Stockton Island = 12 miles
• Stockton Island to Basswood Island = 12 miles
• Basswood Island to LAI docks = 1 mile

At around 5pm (a little later than we had planned), Joe (the boat house and guide manager - and a very nice guy) shuttled us over to Little Sand Bay where we began our paddle to York Island.
After a few changes in our route (due to wind), and 2-hours of paddling, we arrived on York Island. We were anxious to remove our wetsuits, which were still wet from the day's wet-exits, and get into some dry (and warmer) clothes.

While we were setting up camp, we spotted a black bear (about 15 yards away) checking us out. I must admit, it was hard to sleep, despite our exhaustion. I'm normally not skittish about bears, but this time we were isolated on an island with a bigger bear population than the four of us that were camping for the night. Needless to say, I slept with the titatium cup in my left hand and the spoon in my right, ready to bang the crap out of them, just in case.


The morning was foggy and our clothes were still damp from the day before. After breakfast, we walked to meet our neighbors - a young couple who kayak the islands all the time. Unfortunately, they weren't heading in the same direction we were, but back to the mainland, where we started. Looked like we'd be paddling alone, which was fine. We again had to make some navigational decisions to follow the coast rather than cross the large channels between islands, and we made it safe and sound to Oak Island.

Richie and I had some concerns about the next day's route (and weather) and decided we were a bit overzealous in thinking we could paddle 12 miles (it would actually be about 14 miles) to Stockton Island. So, we headed over to the Volunteer Ranger house where we were greeted by a pair of silk "granny panties" and some booty nylons drying in the sun on the step. An older gentleman answered our knock and was able to successfully update our itenerary from a night on
Stockton Island to two nights on Basswood Island.

Although Oak Island has a large concentration of black bears, I slept like a baby.

Some facts about Oak Island:

• The highest point in the Apostle Islands, rising 1,081 feet above sea level.
• 3.5 miles in length
• 2.5 miles in width
• 12 miles of shoreline
• 5,078 acres
• Housed a flourishing cordwood business in the 1850's.
• Logged for pine in 1880's and 1890's.
• Located in Bayfield County

We woke up to calm waters and were looking forward to a nice, calm day of paddling. As we returned to our campsite, a lady with a ranger uniform and volunteer badge (who we suspected was the owner of the silky undergarment and nylons) gave us some unnerving weather statistics for the next two days.

Washingtonians think the Puget Sound is testy water, well they probably haven't paddled in Lake Superior before! The weather changes instantly, especially within the island channels.

By noon, there were going to be 2-4 foot waves with 15-20 knot winds. And Saturday was going to be 4-7 foot waves with 20-30 knot winds - and a small craft advisory - Damn! While this might not sound extreme for motorized boats, for a kayaker - this is significant. It is already difficult for motorized boats to see us on a clear, calm day because we are so close to the water... but imagine the site difficulty with 2-4 foot waves.

We had to make a decision on whether to stay on Basswood (and potentially get stranded for a few extra days with only 1-day's worth of extra food) or paddle a few hours in the smaller waves and arrive safely at the LAI's dock and call it a good trip.


We decided to paddle along the mainland and make the decision when we got closer to LAI. The channel crossing from Oak Island to the mainland went smoothly, but we started to experience the 2-4 foot waves and at least 15 mile per hour winds near the mainland. Again, this doesn't sound so bad, but it is a different story when you are on the water. In fact, while Richie was paddling behind me, there were many times that a wave passed between us and he could not see me for a few seconds.

We paddled two more miles in the rough lake water and arrived at a private dock in Red Cliff Bay. Unfortunately, there were no easy landing areas for kayakers, so we paddled to the docks and lifted ourselves from the kayaks, then pulled the boats out of the water and onto the pier. We had to find the cell phone in the downpour and make a call to LAI.

After all the preparations for a shuttle pick-up (lifting the kayaks from the water, removing life-jackets, etc.), we were told that the owner of this particular dock does not allow anyone with a kayak trailer or anything like it to pick up paddlers. In fact, LAI was surprised we hadn't been chewed out yet for being at the private dock. This was extremely disappointing (and scary) for us. We have lived in areas where boaters, of all types, are kind to one another - especially in stormy conditions. But this was different. Thankfully, no one yelled at us, and the live aboards who did spot us were supportive and apologetic that the owner was so strick. They went out of their way to say that it wasn't us, but the actions of kayakers past that ruined it for everyone. We still haven't gotten the scoop on why the dock owner hates kayakers so much.

Thankfully, Theresa (the front desk lady at LAI) gave us updated weather information. She said we hit the roughest part of the storm (about 30 minutes) and while we couldn't escape the rain, we had a window of a few hours to get to the docks before the next front would hit.

We had made the decision to end our trip, but were wondering if our safe thinking held us back from potentially enjoying the rest of our trip. When we arrived at the LAI docks, there was a guided group of tandems finishing up their safety course - in 3-foot waves! They were going to head to Oak Island (where we just paddled from) for the night. The good news is they would be paddling into the waves, which sounds silly, but is actually safer because you can see the waves coming, whereas we paddled with a tailwind. While this made for some great surfing, it also caused some stress in trying to keep the kayak aiming in the correct direction... and not being able to see big waves coming our way. This really tested our stability and comfort in the boats. We are glad to say that we were able to handle the intense waves... and successfully navigated and "backpacked" between two islands, which is what we had hoped for.

We felt better about our decision to end the trip when we heard the Oak Island guides decided they weren't comfortable taking a group out in the weather. We were glad that we were smart and made a safe decision. We might not have gotten our money back, but the money lost is better than a life lost. Lake Superior, like the mountains of Washington, have weather patterns that change instantly. Our weather report showed beautiful weather the week we would be on the water, but we experienced something completely different.

There was a sign on Oak Island that named Lake Superior "the boss," and that you always listen to "the boss."

The LAI folks felt guilty about our short trip and the weather - as if they were in the control tower flipping the rain and really-big-ass-waves switch - and they offered us each a free t-shirt and hat. We left with a smile - knowing we had a great time and were still alive.

We've already decided that we will be back to the Apostle Islands some day, but next time in our own boats!

We are also intrigued with the winter cave tours and getting the chance to walk on water - even if it is frozen. The park newspaper put it beautifully: "Winter transforms the Apostle Islands into a landscape dominated by snow and ice. Winter means putting away the sailboats, cabin cruisers and kayaks. Winter means ice fishing, camping in the snow, and a walk to the ice caves." Although we've learned that some years the ice never thickens enough to permit access to the caves, so we'll have to keep an eye and ear out for the "A-okay!"

Note: All photos were taken with a Kodak Easyshare M893 IS Digital Camera. And I apologize for so few photos. The trip required a lot of concentration.

Madeline Island, Wisconsin

We were really anxious to experience Lake Superior from a kayak - and the Apostle Islands came highly recommended by our friends, Lori and Stu. So Richie made arrangements with Living Adventures, Inc. for the boats and we drove into Bayfield to the National Park Service to reserve campsites on 4 islands and to pick-up the necessary permits.


With a few days before our planned adventure, we decided to hop on the ferry (with our bikes!) to Madeline Island.


Madeline is one of 22 of the Apostle Islands, named after Madeleine Cadotte, daughter of Chief White Crane (Ojibwe) and wife of fur trader Michael Cadotte. The town has a population of 220 people in the winter and 2,500 in the summer. With no school on the island, students must take the ferry (spring and summer until the water freezes) or take windsleds or the ice road (when ready) to the school in Bayfield (across the water 2.3 miles).


The picture above is of the Madeline ferry. It was built in 1984 and can carry up to 20 vehicles. We rode on the Island Queen, which was built in 1966 and can hold up to 15 vehicles. Today's ride, it was hauling an 18-wheeler. We must admit, it was a little scary to be on the boat when the truck was loading. The captain had to push the boat against the dock while the truck drove on, or the truck would have pushed the boat away from the dock and slipped into the water from the increased weight and pressure. The truck also had to be perfectly in the middle of the boat for proper balance and efficiency for the ferry.


We landed at La Pointe, which is the "city" at the ferry landing - similar to Winslow on Bainbridge Island. In fact, Madeline Island is similar in size to Bainbridge Island. Unlike Mackinac Island in Michigan, Madeline Island allows motorized vehicles.


We instantly sensed the "island" vibe with free-thinking, hippie-type folks, but a strong knit community. These islanders really depend on each other, especially in the winter when services are little or none at all and it is just plain frigid on Lake Superior. We imagine this is what Bainbridge Island felt like 20 years ago, except for the snow and ice bridge.

We did a lot of biking on the island - getting away from the tiny "downtown" and out where the rest of the islanders live. Unfortunately, we discovered rows of second (and expensive!) homes that had just emptied with the close of summer.


Our Route: Starting at the ferry landing, traveled southeast on South Shore Drive passing through the downtown area and by the yacht club with all of its fancy sail boats. Then we connected to County Road H and took that into Big Bay State Park (no entrance fee for bikes - - I was so excited about this!). We then took Black Shanty Road (also called County Road H) up to the tip of the island. Unfortunately, there was serious road construction which forced us to do a U-turn just before we hit the dirt North Shore Road.


My favorite memory was when we were biking back to "town" on the hilly portion of County Road "H." I was up front and Richie was immediately behind me. We were just discussing how I am a sprinter and he is an endurance guy. As we headed up the hill, Richie zoomed past me laughing and saying "I am feeling this hill." and just went up, up, up - leaving me in the dust, completely. Earlier in the day, I made a promise of ice cream after our bike ride, but I took it back at that point, yelling with a big smile on my face "No ice cream for you!"

Richie's favorite memory was our close encounter with the Bear kind! Somewhere along our route, as we were riding and talking, we spotted the little furry guy crossing the road about 30 yards ahead. Unfortunately he crossed too quickly for us to get the camera out.

After dinner, we played tourist and enjoyed reading the hundreds of quotations and admiring the unique and clever artwork at Tom's Burned Down Cafe.


There are no written histories of the place, but a photographic montage instead. It appears the cafe originated as Leona's Cafe - a small structure wheeled into town - boasting incredible outdoor concerts. It burned and the name was changed to Leona's Burned Down Cafe. Then, I'm not sure when, it seems that Tom (whoever he is) took over and began adding bits of wisdom and art to the place.


To see the photographic history of Tom's Burned Down Cafe, click here.

We ended our day at the Island Inn, a cozy place with a cool website. Check it out here.

Meet Henry - our new found friend from Madeline Island.

And if you are interested in learning more about Madeline Island, click here.

Note: All photos were taken with a Kodak Easyshare M893 IS Digital Camera.

A "Handy Dandy" Trail

We drove into Danbury to load up on supplies and take one last shower before our 100-mile bike ride on the Gandy Dancer State Trail (which Richie calls The Handy Dandy Trail). We stayed at the Trailside Motel, with luke-warm showers and oddly enough, right next door to a propane station.

Danbury is an interesting town with ATVs EVERYWHERE - driving to the grocery store, getting gas (of course!), and visiting restaurants. Heck, we even saw a few in a church parking lot! These folks love their ATVs as much as they love their God.

You can tell a town's priorities by the product that is placed in the front at the local grocery store. Interestingly enough, when we arrived at a grocery store in Danbury, we were welcomed not by two walls of gleaming produce, but six rows of alcohol, mostly shelves filled with beer and signs about how inexpensive it is. Not that there is anything wrong with that, by the way.


It took us a few tries to find the trailhead for the Gandy Dancer Trail, but we managed to find it behind all of the construction machinery.

A brief history of the Gandy Dancer Trail from the Polk County Tourism website:

This 98-mile recreational trail follows the old Minneapolis, St. Paul and Sault Ste. Marie railroad grade from St. Croix Falls north to Superior. This grade was commercially used for approximately 100 years starting in the late 1880s. Upon abandonment, part of the corridor was purchased by Burnett County and the State of Wisconsin for use as a recreational trail.

Railroad history is remembered in the name "Gandy Dancer." Hand crews, who built and maintained the tracks, used railroad tools manufactured by the Chicago-based Gandy Tool Company. Often the crews used vocal and mechanical cadences to synchronize the swinging of their hand tools or the movement of their feet. Hence the name "Gandy Dancer" reminds us of the past crews who built the railroads.

It was a pleasant ride with perfect weather. Here is a list of the towns we biked through, in order:

Danbury to Webster = 8.9 miles


Webster to Siren = 6.6 miles


Siren to Lewis = 5.7 miles

Lewis to Frederic = 5.4 miles

A log carved bear doing that vertical arm swing dance.
I'll give 5 points to anyone who can tell me the name of that dance.

Frederic to Luck = 6.1 miles

Luck, Wisconsin - where we stopped for some ice cream.

Luck to Milltown = 3.7 miles


Milltown to Centuria = 6.2 miles


Centuria to St. Croix Falls = 4.5 miles

Richie kicking butt on an uphill trek.

And the 3 miles to get to Interstate Park, for a total of 50 miles. The ranger promised that the 1.5 miles to our campsite were all downhill, which we were grateful for at the end of the day, but not looking forward to first thing in the morning.


We were a little confused about the name of the park (Wisconsin's oldest state park). We saw two variations, and couldn't decide which one was correct... Interstate State Park or Interstate Park. And to add to the confusion, it is operated by the Wisonsin State Park System, Minnesota State Parks, AND the National Park System. And we woke up the next morning to do it all over again.

Note: All photos were taken with a Kodak Easyshare M893 IS Digital Camera.

Welcome to Wisconsin!

Sorry, I couldn't help myself. This 30 foot tall skier is just before the Wisconsin state line at the entrance to Big Powderhorn Mountain, the "Ski Capital of the Midwest."

After some time exploring the Porcupine Mountains, we decided to cross the border and spend the next few days surrounded by the sweet smell of lilies at the Anton-Walsh House in Hurley, Wisconsin.



Gene is the innkeeper - and he reminds me of Carl Fredricksen, the elderly man in Disney Pixar's Up. Not because Gene is old or stubborn by any means, but simply the square face and thick black glasses.


Gene is quite the gentleman with a passion for historic maps, geneology, and cooking. His muffins are amazing! Check out a few of Gene's recipes on the Anton-Walsh homepage.

How do we describe Hurley, Wisconsin...

For this, we look to the Hurley visitor's guide. We couldn't have said it better ourselves.

You're invited up to enjoy our warm yet casual hospitality. We'd roll out the red carpet for you, but we're just not that formal around here. This is a place to relax. Forget rigid protocols. Leave your wrist watch on the night stand. You're not going to find a lot of commercial attractions with set schedules and fees for your vacation in the Hurley Area.

Our waterfalls roar around the clock and admission is free. The sun rises when it does. Our wilderness trails - silent or motorized - never close. You don't need a Blackberry to tell you when to catch a breathtaking sunset over the shimmering waters of Lake Superior. Besides, our blackberries grow in thickets all around the woods. Because we're way up north we get more summer sunlight per day... an hour and a quarter more than Chicago on the first day of summer, for example.
You will find a variety of lodging for you to relax in your way with warm and friendly hosts. You'll discover great restaurants where you can just come as you are for good food, ample portions and remarkably reasonable prices. Friendly folks with deep roots in a community that welcomes visitors is what you will find in Hurley.

Some facts about Hurley...
Population: 1818
Elevation: 1480
Average Annual Snowfall: 204 inches (Eeek!)
Known at Wisconsin's ATV Capital

Gene said Hurley loves festivals and parades - and he's not kidding!
There's at least one a month ranging from an ATV Mud Run and Festival Italiano to a Pumkin ATV Run and a Fireman's Picnic. There are 5k races and many, many more events for the community to get involved and excited about.

At the 2005 ATV rally, a new Guinness World Record was set for the largest ATV parade - 687 participants. Just a side note that Kentucky currently holds the World Longest ATV Parade record with 1,138 participants.



Ironwood County is rich with Native American traditions and history, but also thick with stories of the timber and iron mining industries. Hurley has a colorful gambling and prostitution history and chose to ignore Prohibition. It seems the alcohol tradition continues... fellow guests at the Anton-Walsh House counted 12 bars in a town of 1,818 people.

While at the Anton-Walsh House, we stayed in the Lotta Morgan room. Gene said the murder of Lotta Morgan (we've also seen Lottie Morgan) is probably one of the nation's oldest cold cases. She was a 28-year old "entertainer" whose body was found in an alley a few blocks from the Anton-Walsh House. She was buried on her 29th birthday.


Probably the highlight of our visit in Hurley was just chatting with Gene. He really is a fascinating man with a breadth of life experiences. It was refreshing to meet such an open minded person in such a tiny town. A few days in a row, we found ourselves conversing with him long after breakfast was over. We didn't mind at all.

Gene is really involved in the community (an influential member of the Chamber of Commerce, a key photographer for numerous county brochures, and a devoted member of the Iron County Historical Society - whew!).

One thing we've noticed in these smaller towns is that the local museums have incredible collections of items significant to the area's history. And Hurley's Iron County Historical Society Museum (located in the old Iron County Courthouse) was no different.


There were rooms filled to the brim of items like year books from the Hurley school district (known as the Hurley Midgets) to military uniforms and pharmaceuticals to the evolution of everyday items like knives, eyeglasses, and kitchen appliances. There was a wonderful collection of photographs and shelves and shelves of country records in the old courtroom.


Gene told us about the wonderful ladies who volunteer their time and strength to making hand-woven rag rugs and placemats. We also learned that the sale of these rugs and placemats is the main source of income for the museum... so we picked up two to use as seat covers for Sally the Subaru (since we don't have a floor to put them on). I became fascinated with one lady working on a hand-braided rug - and she was very patient in giving me advice on the technique. I'm excited that this is a project I can try while on the road - and it is made with recycled clothes!

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We were sad to leave Hurley, but the road trip must go on!
Gene gave us great directions and suggestions on a good route to a few nearby waterfalls and Lake Superior. So we followed Highway 505, past an artesian well - filled up our water bottles, and viewed Lake Superior from Little Girls Point Park. We ended at Copper Falls State Park in Mellen, Wisconsin. It was rainy the next few days - but we looked at this as an opportunity to play with the tarp. Here is what we came up with!



And here are some water features we spotted on our hike through Copper Falls State Park...

The Bad River

One of many waterfalls in Copper Falls

Why is it called Copper Falls?
It is named after the copper mining that took place here from the mid-1840's to early 1900's.

Porkies

No, I'm not talking about the movie Porkies... I'm talking about the Porcupine Mountains Wilderness State Park.

Some facts about the Porcupine Mountains Wilderness State Park:

• The state park was established in 1945. The Porkies qualified for national park status, but the state park title was acquired faster, therefore protecting the land sooner.
• The Ojibwa call the area kaugabissing, meaning "the place of the porcupines."
• 59,020 acres
• It is popular to backpack a few miles into the wilderness and spend a few days in one of the 19 cabins (reservations required).

Our original plan was to spend 4 days, 3 nights in the Porkies... starting just outside the Presque Isle campground and hike the Lake Superior Trail (17.10 miles northeast) and loop around on the Big Carp River Trail (9.6 miles east to west), then connect back with Lake Superior Trail (about 8 miles) to our starting point for a total of 35 miles.

We arrived a day early to the Porkies to get backpacking permits, familiarize ourselves with the area (bears and bugs), gather last-minute goods, and pack. We felt a little restless during our night at the Presque Isle Rustic Campground (in the Porkies) - and the guy running his generator half the night for his RV didn't help much.

A map of the Porkies
(Our original plan included the blue line.)

Due to some road trip hick-ups, our backpacking trip went from 4 days, down to 3 - forcing us to adapt our original route. Our new plan took us only 8 miles up to the intersection of the Lake Superior and Big Carp River Trails, where we camped on the shore of Lake Superior. It was a peaceful night with waves drifting back and forth on the gravel about 100 feet from our tent. And I didn't even think about the numerous black bears scrounging the area for food.


Those who have hiked with us before are familiar with my tree counting. This trip was no exception...

Tree #1

Tree #2

Tree#3

There were many more downed trees, by the way. Richie was just tired of posing.

The Porcupine Mountains have numerous waterfalls from a tiny brook to a thunderous overflow. Here are a few large ones we were able to capture in the Presque Isle area.

Manabezho Falls
(The largest falls in the Porcupine Mountains, named for the powerful spirit-god Manabezho)

The Presque Isle River is the largest in the Porcupine Mountains, draining over 300 square miles of forest land.

Manido Falls
(Manido means "spirit" or "ghost" in native Ojibwa)

There is also a 4,600-mile trail in progress stretching from North Dakota to New York, part of it passing through the Porkies. To learn more about the North Country Trail, click here.


The next day we hiked about a mile from our starting point and spent the afternoon swimming at the mouth of the Presque Isle River. The river was warm, but being at the mouth of the river resulted in frequent back flows of water from Lake Superior, which were really cold.

There were people swimming everywhere and a few brave souls jumping off the natural cliffs. A teenage boy playfully yelled "Leach! Leach!," and we didn't think much of it. Well, it turns out there were leaches in the water.

I was fortunate not to get leached, but Richie had one riding on his ankle on the walk back to our campsite. We didn't realize it for a while, so the leach was pretty full by the time we spotted him. Eeek!


Luckily, leaches are harmless - releasing themselves once they've had enough of your blood. Muah-ha-ha! Richie's ankle did bleed a lot because leaches, remember, have a serum that makes the blood not clot. And he never noticed the leach because they release a natural antiseptic when attaching to the skin, so you wouldn't feel it anyway.


The one thing we remember most about our experience in the Porkies are the biting flies... yes, biting flies. Also, this backpacking trip, while short in distance, was a blast! It forced us to change our outlook on the reason for backpacking. Remember that we spent almost a year training not only our bodies, but our brains to climb 10,000+ foot mountains. Every outing we took to the woods was for training purposes. So this was a good trip to reacquaint ourselves with the wilderness... to look at bugs (and leaches) and explore the trail rather than bypass it all in the name of training.

The Porcupine Mountains are very popular with the locals. We'd like to return for another backpacking trip - next time for some elevation gain.

We spotted this VW van with some beautiful drawings on the doors. Just thought I'd share the beauty.


Note: All photos were taken with a Kodak Easyshare M893 IS Digital Camera.