Day 218 of Year Long Road Trip Along America’s Scenic Byways
Wow…I think I have had two “do-over” days in one week! The second half of my Wisconsin North Woods drive, from the Apostle Islands to Lac de Flambeau, I believe was more suited for kayakers or canoers. It certainly wasn’t a bad day, but there are ways I could have enjoyed it better.
Madeline Island
As usual I started my morning with a cup of coffee. I have to say the local coffee shop sold awesome raspberry scones. This prompted me to buy a container, twice the size of what is customary, of local raspberries at the small grocery store for three bucks or so…a bargain and good! I wanted to have some food on hand for a morning at Madeline Island, the only inhabited island in the Apostle Islands and the only island which is not part of the National Park.
The rest of the Apostle Islands, remnants of sedimentary rocks deposited in the Lake Superior Basin over 600 million years ago that have survived the crushing action of four glaciers over the past 100,000 years, are a National Park and a popular kayaker destination. Getting to those islands was an all day excursion and less than accommodating to Petey which is why I ended up choosing Madeline Island.
Big Bay State Park
I took a car ferry to the island. They charge by vehicle and person, so it cost $37 for the roundtrip passage that was available every thirty minutes or so. Once on Madeline Island, VANilla carted us around as we explored the general layout before we finally stopped at Big Bay State Park. After paying the state park entry fee, Petey and I took a hike around the Point Trail Loop. The first half of the loop led us along the shore of Lake Superior with lovely views of sandstone cliffs before the second
half of the loop led us through a dense forest, home to tons of dragonflies!
After our walk around the point, we visited another area of the park. Petey waited in VANilla while I took a boardwalk past a beach and toward a lagoon. He didn’t have to wait long. The biting flies were relentless. If anyone ever wanted to be a runner, but was having a rough time getting started, these flies would be an incentive to pick up the pace.
With my personal Off device in one hand waving around my head and with my camera being held steady by my other, I basically jogged to the lagoon trying to keep the flies off of me. I was like Bill Murray in the movie What About Bob. Flies bit me on my ear, landed in between my eye and sunglasses, and got trapped in my hair which was pulled back into a ponytail. I don’t know how people were just resting on the beach. I couldn’t get out of there fast enough. I’m certain Petey was thankful he wasn’t allowed to join me!
Iron County Historical Museum
Around lunchtime we returned to the mainland to continue our journey southeasterly along the border of Wisconsin and the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. In Hurley, an old mining and logger town, we attempted to visit the Iron County Historical Museum which maintains a model 19th-century saloon, but its hours of operations were limited. I suppose I could have visited a real saloon on Silver Street, but it was the middle of the day.
Lac Du Flambeau
We made another roadside stop at Lac Du Flambeau, which means Lake of Torches. It has been a permanent settlement of the Chippewa Indian Nation since about 1745. The tribe lived on wild rice and fish found by torchlight in the numerous area lakes. The tribe was loyal to the American colonies, never siding with the English or French and fought with the Union Forces in the Civil War. Forts and posts used to pepper the shores of the lake as the Northwest Fur Trading Co. established a department for area trade here in 1792.
We ended the night in Escanaba, Michigan, part of the Upper Peninsula (or UP as the locals like to call it). I’m looking forward to some good exploring tomorrow. ETB.
Map of My Road Trip Across the USA
Learn more about my road trip across the USA, or click the link below for the interactive map.
Interactive Map of Road Trip Across the USA
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Those biting flies HURT! We had lots of them at Estabrook while we were there.
Back Woods Off should be your new perfume!
xo’s M
nice dragonfly photo