Monday morning we set off heading for our next state –
Wisconsin. We drove the Lake Superior
Scenic Byway to Bayfield; occasionally getting glimpses of the Lake through the
trees. We stopped at Cornucopia for coffee
where there was a beach and people were swimming in the Lake waters – not quiet warm enough for us. We arrived and our
camp site and after setting in we drove the short distance into Bayfield were
we took a stroll around the harbour. Once a thriving town with the logging,
mining, and fishing industries its main business now comes from visitors and
there are more properties in the town than permanent residents.
22nd July – Apostle Islands National Lakeshore
In the morning we hopped on a boat tour around the Apostle
Islands. There are 22 Islands of which
21 belong to the National Lakeshore and we were able to see all the islands on
the cruise, albeit some in the far distance.
The Islands range in size from over 10,000 to just 175 acres. All, but North Twin Island, were logged, some
as recently as 1950s, and they have now re-grown although it has changed the
distribution of tree species. 
As part of
the Captain’s narration he described how the logs would be floated down the
lake in flotillas 1 mile long and ½ a mile wide. Once it was decided, back in the 1970s, to protect the Islands the Government had to purchase them individually. The logging companies were happy to sell but some people had homes here and hence there are still one or two residents on some of the Islands.
We sailed around Devils Island which not only has a
lighthouse, but also the Sea Caves. The sandstone cliffs, rising 60 feet above
water level, have been undercut by the Lake water to create a honeycomb of
caves. These caves were particularly popular
this year when Gitchi-Gami (Ojibwe name for Lake Superior meaning Big Water)
froze over, allowing people to walk to see the caves with their massive frozen
icicles. The last time it was possible
to walk to the caves was in 2009.
During
the first 2 months of 2014 there were over 138,000 visitors compared to 148,000
during the whole of 2013.
There are bears on the Islands and that evening we learned
from the TV news that one of the Islands was closed to visitors because a
particular bear was causing a problem.
Our Captain had earlier told us a story of one bear that had been
re-located 300 miles west on the mainland many years ago but had still managed
to find his way back to the Islands 6 months later.
In the evening we went back into town for the Concert on the
Lake. We sat on our picnic chairs with a
drink/ice cream in the Waterfront Park and listened to a due called Brave
Cowboy play and sing folk and blues with the Lake as a back drop. Very relaxing!
23rd July
We had hoped to book a kayaking trip to see the Sea Caves up
close, but all tours were fully booked so we had a restful day at the campsite
with a little excursion to one of the many fruit farms in this area. Here we purchased among other things, some
tasty non-alcoholic apple and blueberry cider.
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