Sunday September 3, 2017

Apostle Islands Museum

We wake up and enjoy the motels continental breakfast before starting todays drive. We cross the Michigan state line and enter Wisconsin for the 90-minute drive to Bayfield and the headquarters of Apostles Island National Lakeshore. We check out their small museum and then cruise around the small town of Bayfield. It is a jumping off point for boat cruises, ferries, kayak rentals and the town itself is pretty busy. We check out the shore and the Ferry to Madeline Island.

Ininiwag Room

I use the Ininiwag room and then we get on our way to Meyers Beach where we plan on hiking along the lake shore. We had thought about doing a cruise around the islands but the day is pretty cloudy so we decided to just hike. When we arrive at Meyers Beach the parking lot is pretty full. As we are pulling in a ranger stops us to tell us that if we are staying there is a 6-dollar fee. I tell her we have a National Park Pass but apparently, they have an ex airline employee in charge. There are fees within the fees and here this is just a parking fee in addition to the Park fee. I feel that since my park pass has the word park in it that parking should be free. She does not agree so I begrudgingly pay the 6 dollars. There are picnic tables here so assuming that they are included with the parking fee, we eat lunch before setting out on our hike. It spittles a little rain on us as we finish but we are determined to hike so we load up and head down the trail.

Awesome Lake Cliffs

The trail starts out in the woods and the first mile or so is on a wooden walkway that helps keep our feet dry from the somewhat marshy terrain below us. The wooden planks end when we cross a small dirt road and enter the woods on the other side. After about .75 more miles, we come to the lake shore. Well, actually, we are above the lake shore on the cliff tops looking down over Lake Superior. The ground has broken away and there is a crack which is filled with water down below. We continue on and see kayakers paddling on the lake. The sun is showing its face and provides great contrast with the red cliff sides and the blue green lake water. The color of the cliffs reminds me of the red sandstone in Utah. We continue on and spot a sea arch below. There are several sea caves as well. The earth we are walking on juts out against the lake and is quite a jagged coast in spots. We really enjoy the variety of the shoreline that we are experiencing from above. There are subtle shades of color everywhere from the moss on the cliffside to the sun filtering through the tress and the roots hanging on to the edge of earth on the cliff sides. It is a visual feast from nature.

A Rare Mosssquatch Sighting

We reach a good turnaround point and soak it all in as we return. Then back to the wooden planks and the parking lot full of people, most who do not venture past Meyers Beach steps from the lot. Too bad for them. This was a great hike. Back at the RAV, we now hit the road again and head northwest. We follow the shore of Lake Superior and cross it on a bridge from Superior Wisconsin to Duluth, Minnesota. We are in our third state today and headed to the small town of Virginia, Minnesota. This stages us for tomorrow, when we will be going back into Canada for the final leg of our journey. 

Bloody Mary Sunday!!

A few hours later, we enter the town of Virginia and head for the Sawmill Saloon. It is a pretty big place, that we had read about. We were originally thinking a beer and a burger but hey, it is Bloody Mary Sunday and half price pizzas. There is nothing to do but order two Ultimate Bloody Mary’s and a pizza. The Mary’s arrive in a pint glass complete with a pickle and a separate small glass of beer that we were not expecting. Very Tasty! Our barbecue chicken pizza arrives cut in small squares for easy eating. We must have been hungry from our hike and drive as it slowly disappears. Thirsty too, as the drinks disappear as well. We finish up and then go check in to our local motel for the night. Another great day in the northern United States.