Lake Superior’s Apostle Islands – Have you been there?

Because my little trip/ vacation ideas have been popular with many in the past, I’ll be so bold as to pass on another suggestion. This past week Betsy and I more or less stumbled upon what turned out to be a great vacation destination that was relatively inexpensive, reasonably close to home, and not too demanding time wise. I’m talking about Lake Superior’s Apostle Islands National Lakeshore. It’s an easy one day’s drive – 537 miles from Mitchell to the Apostle Island area.

One of our granddaughters is currently involved in a University of Wisconsin research project on northern Wisconsin’s Trout Lake, and we decided to pay her a brief visit and take in the Apostle Islands on the same trip. Trout Lake, the largest in Vilas County, covers 6.2 square miles with over 16 miles of mostly undeveloped shoreline. Its pristine deep waters hold lake trout, muskies, northern pike, walleyes, smallmouth bass, and perch. Among their projects, they are attempting to replace smelt as a forage base with ciscoes. Smelt are early spawners, and the smelt fry deplete the micro-organisms and plankton before the fry of desirable game fish get a chance.

To get to the Bayfield, Wisconsin access to the Apostle Islands, take I-90 & I-35 to the Twin Cities and continue on I-35 to Duluth-Superior. Then take Hwy 13 east along Lake Superior’s south shore to Bayfield. We took Apostle Islands Cruises’ three hour “Sea Caves & Lighthouse Tour” and thoroughly enjoyed it. The only downside was the smoke from the western fires. I’d advise booking their tours in advance. (Ph: 800-323-7619 or info@ apostleisland.com). As always, I am in no way connected to the cruise line. If you have never been to Duluth, it also has a number of attractions including the Glensheen Mansion.

Following our Apostle Island tour at Bayfield, we took Hwy 13 south to Hwy 2, and then Hwy 2 east to Hwy 51. We then headed south on Hwy 51 to Wisconsin “M” and took a hard left turn north to Boulder Junction, Wisconsin, our granddaughter’s research area. This part of Vilas County is literally strewn with countless more or less undeveloped pristine lakes. “Lettered” well-paved Wisconsin roads offer access to these lakes, and these roads are generally bordered with biking trails. Vilas County is a biker mecca, for bikers were everywhere including our motel. Most vehicles were either loaded down with bicycles, kayaks, or pulling a boat. This north woods area cast a captivating spell on me in particular.

Betsy, who is apprehensive by nature, wondered about bikers confronting the many deer and black bears in particular. It didn’t appear to be a problem.

Second only to bikers were kayak enthusiasts. Like the bikers, kayak people were everywhere including the sometimes perilous Lake Superior where they paddled not only open water, but also paddled in and out of the many cave formations that were part of the islands. These caves, seen close-up from our tour boat, were absolutely awesome - as were the lighthouses.

I mentioned vehicles pulling boats. This was not my first trip to Boulder Junction. In 2011, fishing partner Jerry Hnetynka and I hired a Boulder Junction musky fishing guide to take us out. He took us to Big Lake, an 827 acre body whose waters lie in both Wisconsin and Michigan. We didn’t see or catch a musky that day, but I did catch some nice northern pike. Our guide did tell us that the lake was overrun with small walleyes. Musky fishing in these clear, pristine Vilas County waters is popular, and I look forward to pulling my boat to the area for another try at muskies….. perhaps this fall.

While in Boulder Junction, I wanted to see if I could find the Big Lake access our guide took us to ten years ago. After many futile attempts, I inquired at a lodge. I needed to take the Palmer Lake Road to the Big Lake public access boat ramp. I thoroughly enjoyed this little adventure. I can’t say the same for Betsy who needlessly feared getting lost……not to mention the black bears.

There was a gentleman at our motel who was wheelchair bound. He had a mechanical apparatus for unloading both himself and his wheelchair from his vehicle, and he also had a special rigged threewheel cycle for touring the many biking trails. I found his attitude to be inspirational.

While traveling through Washburn and Ashland on our way to Boulder Junction from Bayfield, I noted that the towns appeared to be economically depressed with many closed businesses. While I assumed that the shutdowns might be virus related, I inquired. It related to not being able to hire help. Perhaps our government should quit paying people not to work.

See you next week.