I just got back Friday night from the Apostle Islands in Northern Wisconsin. We spent four days paddling the islands on Lake Superior and put over forty miles under our keels. You can see the complete route that we took on the map below.
Day 1:
After checking in at the Apostle Island's Visitor's Center in Bayfield, Wisconsin, to pick up our camping permits, we drove up to Sand Point, where we broke out the tools in the parking lot and finished the deck rigging on Mark K.'s kayak.
We finally put in between 3:30 and 4pm for the long paddle to Rocky Island, which was our first campsite for the week. Here are Mark H. and Mark K. on Sand Pt. Beach getting ready to leave.
Mark H. paddles out of Sand Bay, rounding Sand Point. Since he wasn't able to get his kayak skinned in time for the trip, he borrowed a fiberglass Pintail kayak from Don G. The fit was a bit tight and, as a result made for a little unsteady ride for most of the trip. He handled some rough water, though, and never capsized.
An immature bald eagle on the rocks on Sand Point. This was one of six that we saw total for the trip.
Mark and Mark on the crossing to Bear Island, where we took our rest stop on the way to Rocky Island.
The famous Raspberry Island Lighthouse. Had we left in th emorning as planned, this would have been our first rest stop. This is the closest we came to it.
Is that a ghost ship? No, it's the Pride of Baltimore, a tall ship that was sailing the area.
During the corssing, Mark H. began to cramp up and became nauseous due to dehydration. We rafted up and I gave him the last of my water and he was able to make it to Bear Island, where we pumped some water through the water filter and rehydrated.
Here, the sun beams shine down on Mark as he closes in on his rest stop.
Our rest stop on the southern tip of Bear Island. Originally we had wanted to camp here, but when we called for reservations the week before, there was no room for us there.
Rested up, we made the crossing from Bear Island to Rocky Island. We had also planned to visit Devil's Island, but this was as close as we came to it.
This is me with Devil's Island in the background.
The sun sets behind Mark H. as we draw closer to Rocky Island. We arrived at the island just at dusk, with very little idea of where to go to find our campsite. As you can see from the map, we went up and down th ebeach a couple of times looking for Campsite #7. We finally found it, right next to #6.
After paddling up and down the beach a couple of times, we finally left two of the kayaks at the dock. After we found our site, I hiked back to the kayaks and hooked the towline to Mark K.'s and paddled back with both kayaks, while he stayed at camp and started a campfire.
Mark H. cooked up the first of a number of great, hot meals for us. He gets my vote for permanent camp cook.
I'll post more pics tomorrow.
Day 1:
After checking in at the Apostle Island's Visitor's Center in Bayfield, Wisconsin, to pick up our camping permits, we drove up to Sand Point, where we broke out the tools in the parking lot and finished the deck rigging on Mark K.'s kayak.
We finally put in between 3:30 and 4pm for the long paddle to Rocky Island, which was our first campsite for the week. Here are Mark H. and Mark K. on Sand Pt. Beach getting ready to leave.
Mark H. paddles out of Sand Bay, rounding Sand Point. Since he wasn't able to get his kayak skinned in time for the trip, he borrowed a fiberglass Pintail kayak from Don G. The fit was a bit tight and, as a result made for a little unsteady ride for most of the trip. He handled some rough water, though, and never capsized.
An immature bald eagle on the rocks on Sand Point. This was one of six that we saw total for the trip.
Mark and Mark on the crossing to Bear Island, where we took our rest stop on the way to Rocky Island.
The famous Raspberry Island Lighthouse. Had we left in th emorning as planned, this would have been our first rest stop. This is the closest we came to it.
Is that a ghost ship? No, it's the Pride of Baltimore, a tall ship that was sailing the area.
During the corssing, Mark H. began to cramp up and became nauseous due to dehydration. We rafted up and I gave him the last of my water and he was able to make it to Bear Island, where we pumped some water through the water filter and rehydrated.
Here, the sun beams shine down on Mark as he closes in on his rest stop.
Our rest stop on the southern tip of Bear Island. Originally we had wanted to camp here, but when we called for reservations the week before, there was no room for us there.
Rested up, we made the crossing from Bear Island to Rocky Island. We had also planned to visit Devil's Island, but this was as close as we came to it.
This is me with Devil's Island in the background.
The sun sets behind Mark H. as we draw closer to Rocky Island. We arrived at the island just at dusk, with very little idea of where to go to find our campsite. As you can see from the map, we went up and down th ebeach a couple of times looking for Campsite #7. We finally found it, right next to #6.
After paddling up and down the beach a couple of times, we finally left two of the kayaks at the dock. After we found our site, I hiked back to the kayaks and hooked the towline to Mark K.'s and paddled back with both kayaks, while he stayed at camp and started a campfire.
Mark H. cooked up the first of a number of great, hot meals for us. He gets my vote for permanent camp cook.
I'll post more pics tomorrow.
