Apostle Island Campground Bayfield, Wisconsin

 Apostle Island Campground Bayfield, Wisconsin

Bayfield, Wisconsin is the main entrance to the Apostle Islands.  Apostle Islands are a group of 22 islands that make up the National Park.  The original settlers of the area were the Ojibwe Indians.  They settled much of Northern Wisconsin, the Upper Peninsula of Michigan and Northern Minnesota.

We hiked Meyers Beach.  This hike round trip is approximately 5 miles and took us out to what is referred to as “the Bowl”.  This is the only part of the mainland that the lake’s wave action has washed away parts of the cliffs creating Sea Caves.  Lake Superior is very much like an ocean except it is fresh water.  An interesting bit of trivia is that Lake Superior holds 10% of the world’s fresh water.

A fungus that is common on the dead trees in the woods-it is firm and rubbery to the touch. 

 

You can see the caves cut out underneath the bluffs.  There are many caves in this area. Reportedly, some extend up to 60 feet in depth.  Kayaking along the bluffs and the caves is a favorite past time here. We have seen literally hundreds of kayaks, both privately owned and rentals. 

 

A walk way across one of the fissures. Neither of us were brave enough to attempt to cross it. Cliff diving obviously won’t be one of Lisa’s favorite hobbies. 

 

Lisa clearing the path for Karma and I as we make our way along the trail.

 Overlooking Lake Superior-this is as close to the edge as Lisa gets.

Madeline Island is the only full-time inhabited island in the area. During the summer months, it is reachable by a ferry.  In the winter months, the ferry path is used as an ice road for residents and visitors to commute from the Island to Bayfield.  Madeline Island was originally settled by the Ojibwe Indians.  When the French Canadians moved into the area, they took the settlement over and it was renamed La Pointe.  We took the Ferry out to the island with plans to ride around the island on our electric bicycles. The ferry was pricey- it was $49 for us and our bikes. Ironically, several of the businesses were closed.  Wednesday is apparently a slow day on the island. 

 This was our view looking from the ferry back towards Bayfield.

 

Pictures from our lunch spot in Big Bay State Park.  Luckily, we had packed a picnic lunch and drinks. Otherwise, we would have been out of luck. We had already ridden about 20 miles by this stop and had not passed any places to get anything since we left the harbor. We were astounded by how clear the water in Lake Superior is.  We could see rocks in the water probably 100 feet from the shoreline.   The water in this cove was amazingly calm and clear. It was truly a beautiful spot.

 

Lisa overlooking the lake from Big Bay State Park where we had our lunch. 

We stopped at a beautiful inlet at Big Bay town park. This area was a hotspot for kayakers. A few brave souls were even swimming in the frigid waters. We both agreed they were nuts. Lisa is wearing her biking gear since she crashed her bike earlier in the week. 

 

Karma would have loved this Big Bay Town Park beach front. He would have gone straight for a swim despite the cold water. We had to leave him back in the RV since we were biking. 

 

Our return to the ferry landing at La Pointe was a pleasant ride.  The advertised bike path was 18 miles.  An island employee suggested we would see some interesting sites if we made a right turn instead of a left turn outside the park.   Little did we know that this would add 12 miles to our trip. So, our nice easy pleasant ride on Madeline Island became a 30-mile ride. We were very thankful we have that much range on our e bikes. This is the furthest we have ridden our bikes in one trip.  It was an enjoyable trip with the exception of the cold temperatures. The wind was brutal and we were not expecting it to be so cold in late June. 

 

We saw a Viking River Cruise ship that is touring the Great Lakes.

We took the tour of the Apostle Islands on a much smaller Cruise ship.  This boat tours around many of the islands, including Devils Island.  Devil’s Island is the most northern Island and takes a large brunt of the harsh weather that Lake Superior can dish out.

 One of the many Bald Eagles we saw while on the boat.

 

We saw a bald eagle nest with a baby eagle standing in the nest.  There was another one that we could just make out to the left of the one on the edge.  Bald Eagles routinely reuse their nests from year to year.  They can reach up to 12 feet in diameter and weigh as much as 1 ton. 

 

After the Great Fire of 1871 in Chicago, it was determined that Chicago buildings needed to be built out of material other than wood.  The Apostle Islands became the main source of the large granite materials to build the new buildings in Chicago.  They mined these blocks until construction of buildings shifted to steel and concrete.  These blocks were ready to ship and left on the shoreline when not needed.

 

Another main occupation other than mining in the Apostle Islands was fishing.  This is a restored fish camp that is maintained by the National Park Service.

 

We were able to see many shorelines as we approached Devils Island. You can see many of the sea caves along the base of the bluffs. 

This is the Lighthouse and the Lighthouse keepers’ quarters on the island. The grounds keepers lived out here full time with their families. Resources are very limited to them on the island. Winters were brutal. It was definitely a rough and lonely life for them.

  

These are great views of the caves along the bluffs.

 

 More views of the many caves

 

 

 

 

 

 

We were mesmerized by the beauty God created. 

 

These were all pictures of the North shore of Devils Island. These are sea caves that are created by Lake Superior as it crashes into the North Shore of the Island.

This is the Raspberry Island Light House.  The lighthouses were manned 24 hours a day. The families that manned these light houses were provided housing. Due to their location from the mainland, their diet consisted of wild game and fish from the Lake.  They grew vegetable gardens. Their diets were fairly limited without much variety. They lived very isolated lives. Not everyone is cut out for this lifestyle. 

 

 

This was the entry sign to Frog Bay Tribal National Park.  This was the first Tribal national park in the United States.

       

Various signs within the park with the Ojibwe name along with the English name of the plant.  Obviously, there was no English equivalent to moose so the Ojibwe name was adopted.

This ends our time in Bayfield.  We were unable to get reservations at the campground for more than 4 days, so we will continue down the South Shore to Saxon Bay (50 miles). We will tour that area over the next 4 days. We had a good visit, chatted with some locals, ate some local foods, and saw the sites. We have really learned a lot so far in our adventures. Every day has been different. Every day is a new adventure. Some days are planned adventures and some days we just improvise as we go. The joy of our lifestyle is each day can be anything we want it to be. The rules are up to us and are subject to changing on a dime. We seem to be adapting well. We are also getting much more fit now than when we set out. We are definitely getting much more exercise these days. We still manage to squeeze in an occasional nap and an ice cream treat.