Yesterday was Kathie's mother's birthday, and we decided to celebrate by taking her on a 3-1/2 hour cruise of the Apostle Islands. The Apostle Islands National Lakeshore (click here for the National Park Service web site) is a group of islands in the southeast region of Lake Superior near Bayfield, Wisconsin and only about 85 miles east of Duluth, Minnesota. There are 21 islands and 12 miles of mainland shore that make up the entire natural resource. There are actually 22 islands, but one, Madeline Island (biggest and a very popular tourism area), is not part of the National Lakeshore. Camping and hiking on the islands is a popular activity in this region, and all forms of water sports, especially fishing, sailing, kayaking, and canoeing, are available. The lake and the islands make for a beautiful setting.
The cruise ship operates daily out of Bayfield during the spring-to-fall tourism season. The Island Princess can accommodate 149 passengers. You can read about the Apostle Islands Cruises company here, if you like.
Here are Kathie and the birthday girl shortly after we boarded the ship.
Bayfield is a small, pretty community located on the east side of the peninsula that juts up into Lake Superior just east of Duluth. Of course, Bayfield is very dependent on tourism based on the islands and the lake. There appear to be some nice restaurants and accommodations there, though we didn't stay. Our cabin is only about two hours from Bayfield.
The islands are composed of brownstone, which has been quarried from some of the islands in decades gone by. In fact, we saw some huge, abandoned, rectangular blocks of stone still lying near the shore of one island. At the points of many of the islands are free standing pillars of rock, some of which have or had natural bridges to the island. The islands were once also clear cut for their woods, including basswood, hardwoods, and pines. Now that the set of islands is in the National Park System, they are, of course, protected, and new growth has taken over.
Sailing is very popular in and around the islands. Now on my "bucket list" is the wish to go back to Bayfield sometime and sign up for a several hour sailing excursion. I have been sailing once (in New Zealand!) and loved it.
Wind and water have carved interesting features into all of the island shorelines, including lots of caves. Kayakers like to go into these caves, and our ship captain said that when he was aware of their presence, he had to slow so that the ship's wake wouldn't suddenly slam a kayak into the roof or wall of a cave.
There are only a few sandy beaches. Most consist of the brownstone (I think this must be granite and sandstone) that you can sometimes find as the construction material for grand old buildings in cities in Minnesota and Wisconsin. Click here for one such building in Washburn, Wisconsin (just south of Bayfield). Seriously! Go look! I'll wait until you get back here! You'll be glad you peeked at the building.
There are several navigation lights around the Apostle Islands. Here are two that we saw during our cruise. If you go to the respective islands, NPS Rangers will give you tours. There are other areas that can be toured as well, including old commercial fishing camps.
Cormorants now populate the region along with common loons, gulls, and other water fowl. The cormorants are evidently not a native species. Kathie and I have cruised on several of our planet's oceans and seas, as you know, so we were frequently struck by the thought that this huge body of water is fresh water. Lake Superior is the largest fresh water lake in the world by surface area.
We very much enjoyed this outing and can now check this on our list of things to do and places to see in this northern region of Wisconsin with which we are becoming more and more familiar.
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