We survived!
Some tennis elbow, a far-off island, and some private property teamed up against us and cut our trip a little short. But that didn't keep Brian and me from having a fabulous time exploring the Apostle Islands National Lakeshore. Nasty storms on Thursday night gave us some worries as we drove to the far northern reaches of Wisconsin. But Friday gave way to beautiful weather and a surprisingly-calm Lake Superior. We had fabulous paddling conditions.
We spent Friday and Saturday exploring the open waters of Lake Superior, Sand Island, Oak Island, and parts of the Red Cliff Indian Reservation. During our long traverses between islands, we passed the stunning shorelines of York Island and Raspberry Island as well. We spent wonderful lazy moments on several beaches, camped lakeside on Oak Island, explored caves along Sand Island, and surveyed miles of shoreline along the mainland.
There were reports of bears on several of the islands, but we did not get lucky enough to see any. We did spot many loons, ducks, geese, and an active Bald Eagle. Much to our delight, we only saw about three mosquitoes the whole trip.
The biggest surprise of the trip was Lake Superior itself. The water was both surprisingly warm and delightfully clear. At times we paddled in waters 15 feet deep that were so clear we felt as if our boats were floating on air, not water. The features of the bottom were completely visible. It was startling. Brian and I have vowed to return with scuba gear.
Therefore, there were no drownings and no hypothermia. We paddled, swam, behaved like beach bums, and ate lots of reconstituted food. Jimmy Buffet would have been proud of us, but he was down in Milwaukee singing about flip flops.
Book campsites on Sand Island and York Island (This will save you numerous miles of paddling open water). Get yourself up to Lake Superior. Do a Splendid Weather Dance. Have fun.
I've posted some photos in the Interesting Places section of the gallery. There are more coming when I get my hands on Brian's photos.
