Hello Everyone! It’s hard to believe that September has come and gone so quickly. We’re still a solid week or two from peak fall foliage here thanks to the lakes, but the weather has cooled and it definitely feels like fall. I’ve had a wonderful week on the road as I wound up my time here in Wisconsin with a visit to the Apostle Islands, spent a day with the Red Cliff Band of the Lake Superior Chippewa and a quiet night on Madeline Island before following Lake Superior to the Minnesota border. It’s been great to be back on the banks of this greatest of the Great Lakes. As much as I’ve loved my time in Wisconsin, I missed sitting on the shores of one or another Great Lake as I went. I did get two sad messages this week that I wanted to share with you. Way back when I had just begun this blog, I visited McDowell County in southern West Virginia and met a wonderful lady named Orbie Campbell who ran a tiny coffee shop in the town of War. Ms. Orbie passed away this week at the age of 76. She will be greatly missed in War for her kind spirit and welcoming demeanor. I also got word this week that Nancy, who ran the bar and kitchen at Teddy’s Juke Joint in Zachary, Louisiana (and was married to Teddy for over 40 years) passed away this month as well. Nancy was a kind soul who always had a cold beer and a good story waiting for me when I walked in the door. She will also be truly missed. May Ms. Orbie and Ms. Nancy both rest in peace.
After I finished this post last Wednesday, my new friend Russ and I did indeed do some kayaking. We loaded up his kayaks and headed out to Black River Lake and had the whole place to ourselves. It was a great time and a beautiful day to be there. We had one bald eagle and two swans for company and spent a couple of hours paddling around the lake under sunny skies with a pleasant breeze. Afterwards we went and shot some pool at the American Legion before calling it a night.
Thursday I took off from Bessemer and headed deeper into Michigan’s Upper Peninsula to spend the day in the Porcupine Mountains. I decided to skip this far corner of the U.P. when I was up there last month, knowing I would be much closer when I came north through Wisconsin and imagining it would be more beautiful in the fall. It really was a beautiful day and the park didn’t disappoint. I spent the morning in the Presque Island side of the park, wandering the coast and then up the Presque River to a couple of waterfalls. Then I headed around the park to the other side to visit the stunning Lake of the Clouds. Lake of the Clouds is one of Michigan’s most well-known natural features, and its reputation is well deserved. The lake is nestled in a hilly basin just up from the shores of Lake Superior, but it feels much more isolated when you are there. The best views were from the overlook, but I enjoyed a hike down to lake level as well. Fall colors aren’t quite at their peak, but I definitely think what color was there added to the scenery. It was a beautiful stop. From there I headed back to Wakefield where I stopped at the Randall Bakery for a delicious pasty (when in Rome, right?) before boogying back to Wisconsin. I pretty much made a beeline for Ashland as the day was wearing on and I wanted to get there before dark. Russ had gone kayaking in the Apostle Island sea caves that day, so he met me for a beer at the brewery before he headed back to Bessemer. I really enjoyed hanging out with him for a few days – we had a really good time.
Friday morning I headed to the Ashland Historical Museum. It was a typical small town collection of bric-a-brac, but I enjoyed poking around and the people there were nice. I took a stroll around downtown to check out Ashland’s beautiful murals and then ducked into the library right as it started to rain. I wanted to start to wind up my time in Wisconsin and look ahead towards Minnesota. When the rain started to let up, I made my way out to the beach for a while. It was a little chilly for a swim, but I enjoyed my dinner with a view out over Lake Superior. That night I enjoyed listening to the local high school team, the Ashland Oredockers, play Friday night football on the radio. I had a couple of beers in a few different places, but they were all pretty quiet so I called it a night.
I cooked myself up a nice breakfast in my van on Saturday, something I haven’t been able to do all summer because it’s been so hot and firing up my stove never seemed like a good option. I enjoyed a nice view out over the lake with my breakfast and then headed back to the library for a while. I had intended on doing the afternoon cruise around the Apostle Islands, but I booked it too late and they were all out of space. Looking at the Ashland calendar of events (which was much better than most towns are able to compile) I found that the Red Cliff Band of the Lake Superior Chippewa were holding their 5th annual Cultural Days just north of Bayfield and I decided to go spend the afternoon with them. I was so happy that I did as it was one of the best experiences I’ve had all summer.
I arrived in time for the Grand Entry onto the Pow-Wow grounds which begins the ceremonial and dance part of the program. Military veterans led the procession with a Native American eagle staff in front, followed by the American flag, the Red Cliff flag and the Wisconsin state flag. Behind the flag-bearers came the Head Male and Head Female dancers with the rest of the dancers behind them. There were many dancers of all ages, all dressed in beautiful regalia. The whole procession was accompanied by a steady drumbeat and chants provided by the different drum-circle groups which came from all over the region. After the Grand Entry, the dancing began. After watching the beginning of the program, I started making my way around to the different cultural stations they had set up to help non-Native people like myself better understand their culture. I drank cedar and wintergreen tea, helped render down bear fat (and scored a jar for my effort), watched traditional gambling games, learned about winter walleye spearfishing, marveled at birch bark basket making and ate some smoked whitefish. Perhaps my favorite station gave me the opportunity to throw a spear using an atlatl. An atlatl is essentially a rigid sling which hooks to the tail end of the spear to help it travel faster and more forcefully. I have seen atlatls in dozens of museums and understand them in an academic sense, but had never actually tried one before or seen one used. When I did, I really understood it so much better and saw how they really improved the hunting capabilities of those who could use them. The people were wonderful and welcoming and not as shy as many of the Native Americans I’ve met in my travels (they are also Midwesterners after all). I learned so much and had a truly special and memorable afternoon. After all of that excitement, I settled in to watch more of the dancing and eat a fry-bread taco (which seems pretty ubiquitous in modern Native culture). During the evening program, I even joined in for a couple of the “spot dances” during which they encouraged non-Natives to join the circle. It was great and I even won $10 in the dance competition (I think I may have been the only non-Native out there though, for which the prize was intended, but it still made me smile). All around I had a great day and am very grateful to the Red Cliff Band for sharing their culture with me during such a fantastic event.
I stayed the night at the casino on their Reservation and was up early the next morning to head back to Bayfield. I spent the morning wandering around this cute little lakefront community and taking photos of the shops and buildings. At 10 I hopped on the boat with Apostle Island Cruises for their morning Grand Tour. The lake was pretty calm and while it was cloudy it was still a nice morning to be out there. We travelled around a good number of the 21 islands that make up the National Lakeshore with special attention paid to the lighthouse and sea caves on Devil’s Island, the historic fish camp on Manitou Island and the beautifully restored lighthouse on Raspberry Island. Unfortunately the ferries aren’t running to the campgrounds on these islands due to Covid, so this boat tour was as close as I was going to get to them. It was a great tour, though, and the captain did an exceptional job with his narration, combining the history of the islands with his own personal recollections. After the tour I wandered around town for a while and stopped in at the Manypenny Bistro for lunch. The local delicacy in this part of the state is whitefish livers and they turned out to be really delicious – one of the best dishes I’ve eaten in quite some time. I also had a trout sandwich which also couldn’t have been much better. Full of wonderful food, I headed out to one of the local apple orchards to pick up a bag of honeycrisps and then hopped on the ferry to Madeline Island.
Madeline Island is the only one of the Apostles that isn’t a part of the National Lakeshore and still has a community living on it and I spent the afternoon exploring some of what it had to offer. La Pointe is the small town where the ferry pulls in and the only town on the island. It has some cool old buildings, a couple of bars and restaurants and great views of the sunset. I spent a little time wandering around town and then headed out to secure my campsite at Big Bay State Park on the far side of the island. I grabbed a shower and a quick nap before returning to town for the evening. I enjoyed a nice long wander as the sun went down, taking photos and enjoying the changing color of the sky and clouds. After the last ferry left for the evening, I headed over to Tom’s Burned Down Café – one of a few bars in town. Tom’s was great – a weird mix of old signs, modern art, sails and assorted bric-a-brac around a mostly outdoor bar. There was a fire going in one of the fire pits and plenty of Christmas lights to keep the place cheery and bright. I enjoyed a few beers and a chat with some visitors from Duluth before heading back to camp for the night. When I got out of my van, the stars overhead were amazing. It’s been a while since I’ve seen that many stars, but there was almost no light pollution out there and on a clear, crisp night, they were spectacular.
I headed straight for the beach when I got up on Monday morning and had a wonderful walk along the State Park boardwalk, through the boreal forest and to the lagoon. There were great views out over Big Bay and Lake Superior and some really informative signs along the way about the plants in the park. I worked up a good appetite on my walk so when I got back to camp I fried up the rest of my bacon and some eggs and enjoyed a nice hot, hearty breakfast and a cup of coffee while I read my book (Charles Kuralt’s America which I am loving every page of). I grabbed another shower for the road and then set off to explore the rest of the island. Madeline Island is mostly residential and there wasn’t as much to see as the other islands I’ve visited this summer, but I enjoyed the dirt roads of the north shore and a stop at the Art School which is a beautiful collection of buildings featuring classes and seminars. I drove around a bit more before hopping on the ferry back to Bayfield. I had enough daylight left to venture out to Little Sand Bay, one of the mainland sections of Apostle Islands National Lakeshore. There were some great displays about the fishermen in the area and even an old fishing boat to see. I watched the sun go down and then headed back to the casino for the night.
Yesterday was a busy one and I got an early jump on the day. My first stop was Frog Bay National Tribal Park, which the Red Cliff Band calls the first of its kind in the country. I’ve spent a lot of time on the Navajo Reservation in my life and they have both National Park Units (Canyon de Chelly and Navajo National Monument) and Tribal Parks (Monument Valley and others), but neither is called a National Tribal Park, so maybe they are right. Either way, it’s just semantics, and it was a beautiful place to spend the morning. I hiked the Ravine Trail which brought me through some beautiful forest scenery and dropped down to the beach at Frog Bay itself, which was quiet and very pretty and I’m glad the tribe has set this land aside for protection. From Frog Bay, I made my way further west to Myers Beach, the last section of the National Lakeshore which is open right now for exploration. I did a wonderful 5 mile hike out to The Bowl and back, which took me to some fantastic overlooks of the cliffs, the “sea” caves and Lake Superior. There were also some really great mushrooms along the way which made me think of my little buddy, Mason, who would have absolutely loved it there. My final hike of the day took me to Lost Creek Falls, a perfect little waterfall in a cool and quiet glen near the town of Cornucopia. Three hikes in one day made me feel really great and it was a nice day for it as well. From there I headed straight for Superior, the last town in Wisconsin’s far northwest corner, right on the Minnesota border. I stopped for a quick swim at Barker Island and then had a beer at the Earth Rider Brewery. I was on my way to my night stop when I saw a neon Soo Lines sign on top of an old train station and I had to stop and check it out. It turned out to be Thirsty Pagan Brewing Company, which was also a restaurant and live music venue. They have maintained much of the historic character of the inside of the old station, and the whole place made me happy. The beers were good and it looked like they had good pizza as well. It was a fun last stop for the night and I called it an early one as all that hiking really wore me out.
It’s cloudy out today, so I’m starting the day at the library. I want to finish up this post and keep working through the rest of what I have to share from my time in Wisconsin. I also want to get a podcast done this week and of course make plans for my time in Minnesota. I can see Minnesota from here, and will be crossing the border either tomorrow or Friday, but will stay right there in Duluth for a couple more days before starting off north along the west shore of Lake Superior. I’m really looking forward to my time in the Land of 10,000 Lakes as I’ve spent very little time there and almost none outside of the Twin Cities. I’ve gotten some great recommendations from my many Minnesotan friends and am definitely open to more if you have any to share. By this time next week, I hope to be well on my way up the Superior coastline and hope I’ve got some great stories to share. It’ll be tough to top this week, but I’m sure going to try. October is probably my favorite month and it’s going to be a good one this year. I hope you are all doing well out there and are getting ready for a fun fall season. Please take care and stay safe and I’ll see you right back here, same time next week.
-Mike
Madeline Island Sunset