The 13th (and 14th-22nd) Apostle: My Time in Northern Wisconsin
This post's title takes its inspiration from the classic Wood Brothers song.
In Wisconsin, I dismounted in the town of Bayfield for a boat tour of the Apostle Islands. I had wanted to kayak out and camp them, but the logistics proved difficult and the boat tour was actually cheaper than renting a kayak. Another thing to save for next time.
The Apostle Islands are an archipelago of 22 islands in Lake Superior on the northern tip of Wisconsin. 21 of the islands are part of the Apostle Islands National Lakeshore. Per the boat captain on the tour, the origins of the name “Apostle Islands” has been lost to history - we know the name came from the French Voyageurs who were the first Europeans in the area, but there are 22 rather than 12 islands and none of them bear the names of apostles (or anything biblical for that matter) so who knows what those explorers were thinking (or smoking).
Different islands have different degrees of development: some have a year round population that lives on the island, some have a few small rental properties, some have just campsites, and some allow virtually no human access. I believe we caught glimpse of all 22 on the boat tour but didn’t step foot on a single one.
.jpg)
.jpg)
My favorite of the islands was Devils Island, which is one of the furthest ones out (approximately 10 miles as the crow flies from the mainland). It derives its name from the name the indigenous people gave it, which roughly translates to “evil spirit”. They called it this due to the howling sounds produced by the wind blowing through the sea caves.
Some other fun facts from the tour:
- In the winter, Lake Superior develops enough surface ice in the archipelago that they plow roads on the ice to the inhabited islands. Every few years, someone pushes their luck in early spring and a car ends up in the lake.
- A number of years ago, a man bought a house on the mainland that he intended to move to one of the inhabited islands. He figured it’d be cheaper to tow it across the ice by truck in the winter than it would be to float it by barge in the summer. Unfortunately, delays meant the truck didn’t get moving until early spring when the ice was already thinning, and about 3/4 of the way to the island, the ice started to crack and the truck ground to a halt. Over the next couple weeks multiple rescue attempts were made, but to no avail. The ice continued to thin and eventually the truck, trailer, and house all fell through and sank to the bottom of the lake. A local realtor couldn’t resist the opportunity and placed an add for a house with a sunken living room, sunken kitchen, and sunken bedroom at a rock bottom price. Later, a diver swam down to the house and did the courtesy of switching the (no longer running) truck engine off. Eventually, the NPS required the man to pay for a floating crane to remove the house, trailer, and truck from the lake. As expected, the house was utterly destroyed and came up in pieces, but the cold waters of Lake Superior preserved the truck in pristine shape, and after having its fluids replaced, it ran again.
On the tour, I sat next to Bumpy, his wife, and their in laws, who had made the trip up from a small town in central Wisconsin. His wife had won tickets for the boat tour and a weekend stay at the nearby casino at a charity raffle for an organization that takes disabled people hunting. Bumpy and his wife were kind enough to share a couple of the Miller Lite’s they had packed for the boat ride with me.
Bumpy’s had a number of careers in the past (metal factory, wood factory, electrical company, commercial truck driving) but now works for the highway department: painting lines, plowing roads, etc. He said painting the lines is a two man job and is more difficult than it looks but is getting easier with modern tech advancements. He noted a couple funny line painting mistakes he saw on the drive up.
Outside of work, Bumpy has gutted and rebuilt a few houses from the bones up (currently working on his own). He’s also working to rebuild a ‘67 Dodge Charger. Before getting married a few years back, he pretty much just lived to work: when he wasn’t at his primary job, he was working a side job, like renovating houses or doing mechanical work on cars. Since getting married though, he’s begun traveling some with his wife and been impressed with how much cool stuff is out there in Wisconsin alone.
After the boat tour concluded, I headed into downtown Bayfield to try a local specialty, Lake Superior whitefish livers, per the captain’s suggestion. Mannypenny Bistro was one of the top rated spots for whitefish livers, so I took in some college football at the bar while fueling up on this local delicacy before my drive to Duluth.
Trying weird stuff since '96,
Kevin
As your mother, I’m going to debate that very last comment on trying weird stuff since ‘96. You wouldn’t even try ketchup until you were probably 15. However you did wear your shoes to bed for 3 weeks in your crib. So correct on that point.
ReplyDeleteThese are valid points.
Delete