| Kind of Adventure | Kilometers | Difficulty |
| Kayak | Moderate |
Since we have picked up flights to Minneapolis, I had wanted to go to Lake Superior and the Apostle Islands National Park. My first layover was just a single day, so no chance to drive up the 4 hours to Bayfield. On my second layover I got two full free days so I immediately booked a rental car and packed my hammock and camping gear. For further preparation I had not enough time, however I wanted to rent a kayak and head out to one of the islands to stay overnight.
So far the plan. I soon realised however, that it was difficult to find an outfitter, willing to rent me a kayak. Many just told me, to do a tour with them but they did not rent out any kayaks. Others were fine renting, but I needed to complete a safety training first.
This situation was unresolved till the day, I headed out to Minneapolis and I was not in a mood to contemplate any alternatives on short notice. I decided to just go ahead, drive up there and then talk to the outfitters directly.
So I started early to be at Lake Superior at 8 am in the morning to have the day ahead of me and to be able to check-out a few outfitters along the way.
It did not help, they would not let me out alone on the water without the safety training and to do the training, I needed to get an appointment. Also it would take half day and include theory and practical training. So doing it straightaway was out of question. So here I was on my own, having driven up all the way from Minneapolis. It was 8 am in the morning and I was in the need of a plan B.
I headed to the National Lake Shore Visitor Center to get a few ideas and suggestions, found myself a rustic camping place and booked a full day guided Kayak tour to at least see the sea caves. It was not the adventure I hade hoped for, but it was a feasible plan B.
The Apostle Islands are one of the few places of wilderness in the Midwest. They are well known for their large population of black bears and home to many smaller animals and seabirds.
Some of the islands still have patches of old forest, even though most of the original forest had been cut down and is now slowly growing back. The most interesting feature of the islands are the sandstone sea caves found on the northern side of most of the islands and the shore. All of them including 12 miles of shoreline have been protected as Apostle Islands National Lake Shore in 1970. In 2024 it became a proper national park.
As I had a half day to kill before I was scheduled to head out on the water, I decided to go hiking. Close to my camping place was the Frog Bay Tribal National Park which beckoned me with a beach and a few forest hiking trails. It would at least give me a nice view of Oak Island and I hoped for a nice, lazy afternoon at the beach. First I had a glimpse of a black bear on the way to the parking lot of the park. The bear had been swimming or drinking from a small pond and I obviously disturbed him as I just saw him or her quickly beating a retreat into the bushes. It was definitely a highlight of my trip and afterwards I probably sat in the car for about five minutes with my heart beating fast.
You can imagine, that I was hopeful to see another during my hike to the lake shore. Unfortunately I did not see another living being except a couple of chipmunks in the forest and a few people down at the lake. I was hot and the mosquitos had been really bad, so I looked forward to a nice dip in Lake Superior. I strip down to my bikini and jumped in the water. But what to say, Lake Superior is the coldest of the Great Lakes and the water felt like just above freezing. I spent about two minutes in the water before I decided, it was too cold.
Afterwards I spent an hour laying in the warm sand reading my book. But I am not a person who can spend a whole afternoon in the same place, so I decided to pay a visit to the town of Bayfield.
Bayfield ist the smaller town in Wisconsin with exactly 584 inhabitants. That is less people than living in my village, yet it is a proper little town with cafes, shops and quaint little wooden houses. I explored the harbor, had some ice cream and decided to attend a concert of Irish music in the town’s church.
The concert was really nice but I got tired and headed back to my camping as soon as it was over. Back at my hammock, I enjoyed sunset over the lake before the mosquitos chased me into my hammock and I quickly fell into a deep sleep.
The following day, I got up early and rolled up my hammock. Before reaching Cornucopia, I went down to the beach and enjoyed half an hour of morning sun with my feet in the warm sand. Then I got some breakfast in a local cafe.
At ten my kayak trip was about to start, so I arrived early at the outfitter. It turned out, we were only three people on the trip. A couple from Chicago and me plus a guide, Abby, a young university student from Utah.
We got wet suites and life vests and then she took us down to Meyers Beach were we did a short safety training. The water temperature that morning was 12 degrees Celsius. No wonder, it had felt freezing the other day. We then dragged our two double kayaks down the stairs to the beach and launched them into the waters of the lake. A strong wind was in our face and we had to paddle hard to reach the sea caves. But it was really worthwhile. The caves are amazing. They are formed by wind and water which easily moulded the red sandstone into caves, arches and pillars. With our kayaks we could easily enter the caves and paddle through holes and gates. In the beginning there were a couple of other tours, but they soon returned while we paddled on to a secluded beach.
Here we drove the kayaks onto the sand and got down. Abby had brought some picnic and we enjoyed laying in the warm sand and eating sandwiches and biscuits. I could have spent the whole afternoon there, enjoying the warm sun on my skin and the wind in my face. But of course we had to go back eventually.
The return journey took us once more through the sea caves and we could again marvel at their shapes and sheer size. We got into a deep one, which basically is like a long crack in the rock. It is a strange feeling getting in there by holding to the walls and pulling the kayak forward and then getting out the same way.
On the way back to Meyers Beach we had the wind in our back, which was nice, as it pushed us forward and we reached much faster than we had expected. We landed and had to drag the kayaks back up the stairs and onto the trailer. We went back to the outfitter and changed back into our clothes. It had been a wonderful day on the water. Plan B had worked out well. Even though I am still keen on doing my original plan of paddling to one of the islands and staying overnight, all by myself. But I realised, the distances are much greater than I thought and I still need to do the safety training. Next time I will!
I still had some stroll through Cornucopia and visited the General Store which also has a lot of stuff for tourists. I went down to the harbour, but then decided to head back to Minneapolis. Instead of going via the highway, google maps took me through the back country of Wisconsin. I never realised how little people live here. I drove for hours without ever passing a petrol pump, a town or a shop. As my fuel ran low, I was very relieved, when I came back to the highway and civilisation.
Pack List / Important things to consider
- Safety training required to rent a kayak
- there are only two towns close to the Apostel National Lake Shore: Cornucopia and Bayfield
- Network coverage is not very good
- Mosquito repellent is a must!
