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.