Apostle Islands National Lakeshore

We took a long-awaited boat tour of the Apostle Islands yesterday morning...long awaited because we didn't take the boat tour when we visited the area in 2014. We've always regretted it, and so we made it right with this visit.

Apostle Islands National Lakeshore exists as a coastal park at the northeastern tip of the Bayfield Peninsula, the northernmost mainland point in Wisconsin. It consists of twenty–two separate units (21 islands and a 12-mile mainland unit) dedicated to the preservation and public enjoyment of significant historic, scenic, natural, and recreational resources in Ashland and Bayfield Counties. One other island, Madeline Island, is the largest among the Apostle Islands, and while it is included in the grouping as one of the islands, it is not a part of the national park. Some of the island has been privately owned since well before the establishment of the national park, and so it was not included. This is the boat we took.

It was a full boat, and there was seating both above and below. We had seats on top.

Right away, we spotted a bald eagle.

And then we just settled back for a leisurely narrated cruise.

In this next image, you can see the remnants of a quarry that existed some years back. The names and dates of these places were too numerous for this old brain to remember.

The island scenery was somewhat uniform in a way the cruise through Voyageurs National Park was not.

As we rounded the bend in the image above, more of the red coastline of this island was opened up.

Here's a pano I took. Note the vastness of Lake Superior when seen in contrast to the size of some of the islands.

Looking off in the distance, we could barely make out a lighthouse. There are six operational lighthouses among the islands, and they are all fully automated now.

There were a number of sailboats and other pleasure boats on the lake yesterday.

All the islands had names, but there wasn't always anything of interest to see until we reached Manitou Island. Some of the islands are accessible by private boat, kayak, canoe, or even walking over the ice in winter. 

Here we saw what remained of a commercial fishing village.

These racks were used for drying fish.

In this next image was an ice house structure used by ice fishermen. This was a commercial fishing operation, and so they didn't build the structure over the ice and drill a hole. Instead, they drilled large holes for large catches.

This next island is Devil's Island. Here there were caves. It was supposed that the name came from the sound that was made as storm waves crashed into the caves. The Native Americans who once lived here thought they sounded like "demons."

We'll get to the caves next.

Here they are.

There were kayakers paddling in and around them. 

Eventually, one of the lighthouses came into view.

These two structures were the lighthouse keeper's residence and a residence for his assistant.

On the left of the image below, you can see a radio beacon. It was once used for navigation, but it no longer in use.

In the image below, you can see a structure on the right where a fog horn was once housed. It is no longer in use. On the left is a small structure where fuel was stored.

As we motored away from it, I was able to capture the whole constellation of structures related to the lighthouse.

From there, we moved on to Raspberry Island, where another lighthouse was present.

This next lighthouse is the only one that has been restored. Using photographs from the 1920s, the restoration was completed as historically accurately as possible, even down to asking botanists to identify the plants in the garden so they could be restored as well. It now has a new metal roof, and looks as it would have in the 1920s era.

The large house where the light is was divided up with one half being inhabited by the lighthouse keeper and his family. The other side was further divided into an upstairs and a downstairs for the families of the two assistants.

We were told the ranger waving to us spent most of his working life in education, and now works for the parks system. Our boat captain/narrator told us that the ranger was once his high school principal.

The structure to the right held fuel.

From there, we motored back to Bayfield.

Mike and I walked to the long-term parking lot. Along the way, I took pictures of every blooming thing. We liked these hydrangeas, conical in shape.

This flower looks like a hibiscus, but it isn't.

Here were some blooming succulents.

Back at the RV, the kitties were just waking up from their morning naps.

Sadie was ready for her greet-and-treats to be dispensed. We have our purriorities.

We had the afternoon to relax, and I finished stitching the next section of my quilt block.

There's really nothing on the day's agenda. I want to head into Bayfield for a stroll around. There are a lot of cute galleries and gift shops I'd like to snoop. 

Tomorrow we'll be heading to Lac La Belle, Michigan. I'm a little worried about our next destination. We were heading there to see the Copper Harbor Lighthouse. Last night, as I was reviewing things, I grew concerned about actually getting access to see the lighthouse. It looks as if it requires another boat tour, and tours leave regularly every 30 minutes throughout the day. We have just one night in the area, and so if it turns into a hassle, we may not get a chance to see the lighthouse. I've searched everything I can find, but I still can't figure it out. I guess we'll see when we get there. It is a long drive, however, if we're not able to get to the lighthouse. We'll just anticipate it being an adventure until we get it figured out. Often we can get good information when we check into the RV park. Fingers crossed we can make it work.