Around the Great Lakes

Leg One Finished Grand Marais to Bayfield

I’m huddled under my sleeping bag in the Apostle Island waiting as the temperatures drop below 30F with an accompanying storm front that the NOAA Near Shore Marine Forecast tells me is going to bring snow and 2 to 4 foot waves. In the background I can hear the sound of calming waves and around me the chirps of birds and hardly a breath of wind — a relief from the last six days of wind.

The last seven days have been a whirlwind of travel, adapting my habits and learning new systems of camping to deal with new equipment and responsibilities, and have served a bit of a trip shakedown and training segment. It’s a relief to have made it to the point where I’m at right now, and things seems just to click last night on day 6.

Everything kicked in last Friday. I took the day off of work at Lutsen Resort , packed up my gear, and got ready for a going away party. Ilena and I meet up with a group of friends at Hugie’s Tacos in Grand Marias, MN, one of my favorite restaurants, and then had a fire in my front yard. My friends Holly and Todd whipped up wicked strong Mojitos. I consumed two of these minty summer Cuban drinks and knew I was in trouble for day one. At 10pm, we all came into the house to watch Kevin Jacobson’s news story on me. It ran four times on Friday. Everyone liked it. Then Todd and Susan broke open the bottle of champagne and the toasting began. Everyone toasted. John Amren, owner of Superior Coastal Sports, toasted, “Here Here Wow..” In my tipsy state, that toast seemed like a good idea to tweet. Remember what they tell you about not tweeting when you’re drinking.

The next day turned out even more people when you count the number of people watching on the harbor webcam. I paddled away, but first paddled towards the breakwall just below the lighthouse, so I know I’ll cross my path when I return. I made good time to Cascade Lodge where I was to meet up with Ilena for lunch at noon. Carin, a friend and work associate, her husband Luke, and their daughter Ruby just happened to be driving by heading for Duluth when they saw me pulling off the water. They ran down to say hi. What a great chance meeting. Ilena got there shortly after and we ate. I had a big breakfast burrito. Then the wind started and it was a haul to Lutsen Resort, the official, because I told everyone I was going to camp there, first campsite. I pulled in about four and short after, my friend and photographer, Jeff Scott showed up to celebrate the start of the trip. We got our tents set up just as Ilena showed up, and then shortly after Scott Harrison and Nancy Burns of Lutsen Resort brought beers down. Adam and Mica Harju showed up and despite their and our Mojito hangovers, between 7 of us we did manage to gulp down the beer.

Scott and Nancy are veterans of many long canoe trips up in the barren lands, and Scott reminisced about some of the trips they had up there including one where they had to haul 600 pounds of food. And one where the met a solo man rowing a Gruman canoe with a rearview mirror set-up, who was confused about his compass readings. He thought he was going crazy, but it turned out the be a local magnetic disturbance.

On day 2, I made it to Sugarloaf Cove. Jeff spent the day out photographing waterfalls, which were ranging. I had earlier in the day gone through the Temperance River which had 4 foot standing waves in it as the mingled with the 1 to 2′ waves on the lake. I lost site of land and everything around me for a bit as I paddled through the current. At the campsite that night, Jeff made us two big pizzas in his backpacker oven. When we woke up in the morning, there was frost over everything. We moved our tents to the beach to let them dry off in the sunrise, and Jeff made pancakes.

Day 2 also involved one of the prettiest hidden gems on the northshore of Lake Superior in MN. From the Onion River to Tofte the lake is characterized by cliffs, small caves, pocket beaches and a few coves. In one location, a waterfall plunged directly into the sea.

Day 3 is a blur. I’ve paddled much of the day before, so I just wanted to put it behind me. I went all the way to Split Rock Lighthouse and stayed in the run down watertrail campsite. I spent about 45 minutes working on the site to make it camp-ready and then walked down to the backpacking site which was pristine. I should have check it first. I developed a few muscle aches and most of the 19 plus blisters on my hands this day. Luckily at the end of the day, I had a strong tailwind which developed 2′ seas to help push me along. The boat felt a little wonky though.

The next day, I left Split Rock and paddled down to Gooseberry. I wanted a picture of the waterfalls and I wanted a break from the steep Lake Superior 2′ to 3′ foot seas, strong wind, cold water and air. The first of that size I’d been in this year (except for the brief time in the Temperance River current). I made my wave up to the office and meet Carla (?), a kayaker who just bought a fiberglass kayak. Then I walked around the park and read up on the CCC history there. There are many stone buildings and picnic tables at the park that the “CCC guys” built. They’re in good shape too. I ended up spending much of the day in one working on computer stuff. I turned the day into a short day to work out my computer systems.

Just after dinner time, a strong thunderstorm blew through the area. I coward in my tent remembering what my WFR instructor said. He said the number one cause of death among outdoor education professionals is lightning. The storm brought endless lighting, echoing thunder. The tent shook from the wind.

In the morning Paul Sundberg, park manager and nature photographer, visited with me and got a picture for park records.

From Gooseberry, I paddled to Duluth. The 38 mile day was non-stop travel. I went from the remote part of the shore to a busy shipping area. The first ship of the trip was the blue research vessel that has shown up in some of my pictures previously. And according to guide book author, Andrew Slade, who let me stay at his place on Park Point, the vessel is the sister ship to the one that went down in the book, A Perfect Storm.

Andrew and Sally Slade showed me a little trail magic and made me breakfast the next morning. It was a welcome reprieve from the business of the first few days of the trip. The extra calories and coffee they feed me are still kicking me along to Bayfield.

They saw me off and I paddled into Wisconsin, and chocolate red waters. The shoreline between Duluth and the Brule River is completely different from the northshore. On the northshore, you have stone beaches, cliffs, and crystal clear water. On this section, you have red clay cliffs slumping in the the lake, dark water, and shallow waters. At the base of each clay cliff there’s a sand beach. Did I mention shallow water? I had to travel off of shore a bit to stay out of the weird breaks that the 1 to 3′ waves would break over. The boat handled better when I moved weight from the front to the stern hatch. The Explorer is a nice kayak, but it’s no Romany.

I camped on a nice beach past the Brule, and I tried to get out of the wind somewhat, but it was blowing hard enough for NOAA to issue a small craft advisory, so it was hard to do. I spent time reorganizing, deciding what I really don’t need to send home, and I dried out everything that was wet from the rain of the last three days. I also took a three Action Wipe bath, which felt great. Too bad it does de-stink clothing. The sunset was fantastic.
By Herbster, the shoreline transformed again, to less red clay cliffs, lots of red sandstone, beaches, and crystal clear water. It’s hypnotising to watch the patterns in the sand under the clear water. I paddled a good distance today to get from the Brule to the Apostle Islands, but the best part was at the end when I paddled the sea caves. I’ve been wanting to paddle this section for years, but just didn’t motivate this way. There are caves, arches of all sizes and you can paddle through many of them. If you’re a sea kayaker, this must be on your to-do list. Fly here this summer and do it. I wish I had time to paddle out to Devil’s Island to see the caves out there. They’re suppose to be better.

In the morning I head over the Bayfield or Little Sand Bay in 4′ waves. I’ll have to cross a shallow section between Sand Island and the mainland, which looks interesting on the chart. There will probably be breaking waves in there if the 4′ waves show up.

Then it’s a day off to rest, resupply, and see Ilena. The first leg of the trip that served as a trip shakedown is almost over, and I’m starting to have energy at the end of the days and not hurt so much and just want to crawl into bed. Still, I can’t wait for a day off just to hang tight and explore Bayfield.

Waves were only 2′ this morning. Messed up Trip Tracker and trying to fix it.

Tags: Journal, leg one, trip report, update