Wednesday, October 10, 2018

Our Cruise Around the Apostle Islands

The evening of August 10th when Scott finished work, we headed out for our 5:30 p.m. pre-paid Grand Evening Tour Cruise of the Apostle Islands with Apostle Islands Cruises.  We learned from our last cruise to get their early for the best seats so we got there at 4:15 p.m. and were 2nd in line.  I knew the route of the ship (that's always a good idea so you know where to sit for the optimal views) and we sat in the 3rd row (rows 1-2 are only partial seats more inside the center of the boat so those aren't good ones) where we had unobstructed views of the Apostles.
We sat right under the lighthouse sign under where the large man in blue is.
The dock was fun to walk down and there is also a little marina.  Bayfield is such a cute town with all the Victorian charm of yesteryear.
I LOVE the houses here!
Many of the Apostle Islands have hiking opportunities and many people boat or kayak to these islands to explore and make discoveries.  Here's a GREAT You Tube Video by Back County TV on all the Apostles have to offer.
Here are some stunning views of our cruise.  Basswood Island (1,917 acres, 3.5 miles long and 1.5 miles wide) was our first destination and the island has steep rocky shores, hardwood trees that are about 50 years old.  Off the shore is a pretty standing rock called Honeymoon Rock shared by weather-beaten pines.  This rock was on the right side of the boat, but I've attached a web photo so you can see it.  Basswood Island does have 6 campgrounds and 1 group campsite.
Web Photo
The next stop was to Hermit Island (788 acres, 2 miles long, 3/4 mile wide).  Frederick Prentice owned the Excelsior Brownstone Quarry here during the late 1800s.  But, Hermit Island has a fun story to it.  There are a good many stories about the islands.  You can find them here.
by the National Park Service

     Shunning human contact, the brooding, bearded man retreated to the woods, hiding himself away in a tiny cabin devoid of comforts. No one knew for sure what private demons pursued him- some said that he nursed a wounded heart, others hinted that he hoarded an ill-gotten treasure. Many thought him uncouth, but others described him as a gentleman, well educated. Just about everyone agreed it was best to keep far away from him, though. "He was sullen and ugly," one writer recalls, "and on several occasions it is said that he used his gun to drive away unwelcome meddlers." He refused to pay taxes, and once greeted a visiting sheriff with a loaded rifle.
     A character from today's headlines? No, the long-ago hermit of Hermit Island. The tale of the Hermit is a story filled with violence, romance, and wealth. Or maybe not-it's hard to say. You see, since there was nothing written about the Hermit during his lifetime, writers and tale spinners over the ensuing century-and-a-half have felt free to make things up as they went along. As one writer confessed, "There are a number of different versions to this tale.  The author has chosen the one which most appealed to him."
     The Hermit's name was William Wilson… or maybe it wasn't. Some accounts claim that his name was anything but Wilson, and that the pseudonym concealed a dark past.
     "Nothing is known of his early life," says one writer, "He came from no one knew where." Not so, says another: "He was born in Canada of Scottish parents," confidently adding that the year was 1792, and the place was Sault Ste. Marie.
     Most sources agree that Wilson was a fur trader in his youth, and roamed the mountains as far as the Pacific Ocean. Tiring of the wandering life, one account tells how he walked cross-country, hoping to return to the land of his birth. Arriving there, he found his parents dead, his former sweetheart married.   It seems that few writers could resist the temptation to place a woman at the center of the Hermit's story. An 1890's account describes a mysterious moment:One day a friend found him sleeping beside the cabin. He did not disturb him. But out of his dreams he awoke, and in an agonizing cry he uttered one word…"Estelle!"
     Hmmm… who might this mysterious lady have been? Perhaps she was a woman wronged: one source says that at the age of 18, "he ran away from home, deserting a young French girl he was to have married." Not true, says another account:  He had a wife and daughter at L'Anse, in upper Michigan, who he took out to the Columbia River and there deserted. Later, repenting of this cruelty, he sought to reclaim them and found they had been murdered."
     Perhaps there was no wife, no French girl, no "Estelle." Who can be certain?  But surely we must know more about his life once he appeared in the Apostle Islands country! Indeed, the stories do grow more detailed, the tellers more confident. He came to LaPointe in 1841, we are told, and worked as a cooper, or barrel maker. His employer, John Bell, was every bit as fierce as Wilson, and just a bit tougher, it seems. The two men came to blows one day in 1847, and we hear that Bell laid Wilson out with one punch. Humiliated, Wilson vowed he would never stay on an island where he was not the best man, and so loaded a canoe with provisions and set off to an island where no man would ever be his better.
     There, on what is now called Hermit Island, Wilson built a log cabin, planted a garden, and raised chickens. To earn a few dollars, he kept up his work as a cooper.  Fishermen would stop by to purchase barrels for their catch, but the Hermit did not encourage them to linger. Yet some writers say he had no need to raise cash. They say that on his rare trips to town, he attracted attention by paying for supplies from a purse filled with silver Mexican coins. Others whispered of a store of gold, buried somewhere near his cabin.
     Perhaps this rumor of hidden wealth led to the Hermit's death. In 1861, he was found dead in his cabin, where he had undoubtedly been murdered… evidently by parties in search of his wealth." There was "evidence of a violent death struggle, crude furniture broken, the trunk empty, money bags missing."
     "Not exactly," says another story: it was whiskey that laid him low.  Wilson had died of delirium tremens… as misshapen monsters appeared against the mud-lined walls of his lonely cabin, he forced his trembling old body to go after them until life wrenched from it in a final, violent convulsion."
     Oh, my! Amid all this embellishment, what do we really know about Wilson the hermit? We can be confident that he did exist- that in the decade before the Civil War, a tormented man spent his declining years all but shut-off from human society on a lonely island in Lake Superior. Beyond that, it seems that the Hermit will forever remain a man of mystery.
     One suspect she would have preferred it that way.
Here's another story called The Ghost of Hermit Island.  These are fun stories! 

The next island was Manitou Island (1.363 acres, 2.5 miles long, 1 mile wide) which is home to several fishing camps beginning in the late 1800's.  Today, only about 6 cabins and sheds remain at the southwest corner of the island.  Manitou has had other names including New Jersey Island and Tait's Island.  5 restored cabins stocked with tools once used by Great Lakes commercial fishermen in the 1930-50s and a public used dock are at the fish camp.
The fourth island was Otter Island (1,322 acres, 2 miles long, 1.25 miles wide) is forested with hardwoods about 20-30 years old.  In June 1960, 1500 Boy Scouts and 180 leaders came to this island on a Boy Scout Camporee.  There is also only 1 campsite here.  Wondering why some photos are darker?  Well, the sun was getting lower and made for some lovely shots when turned that direction...
Rocky Island (1,099 acres, 2 miles long) has shoreline that is lined with rocks.  There are several buildings including private cabins are on this island as well as NPS buildings.
Photo by Hans Sponberg
Devil's Island (318 acres, 1.25 miles long, .5 mile wide) is the most beautiful of the islands with stunning sea caves which undercut the shoreline located on the northern most tip on Lake Superior.  In some places, the sandstone cliffs on the north part of the island look honeycombed in shape.  This was absolutely my favorite island!  The photos are interesting here.  The first few are darker as I'm facing the sun and when we go around the island, they become golden because the sun is lighting them up.  So pretty!  I would have LOVED to have been in my kayak exploring all the caves, but here's a YouTube Video showing you how cool they are!
There is also a lighthouse here on Devil's Island with a 3rd order Fresnel lens.
Isn't the scenery gorgeous?!  This island is at the tip of the chain and so it really gets beat up by the wind and sea.
And now, this is the point where I have to interject.  We're at the most beautiful of all the islands and what is Scott doing?  READING!  He didn't even notice me taking photos of him for a long time!  Ahhhh.  What will I do with him?  Everyone is looking around but one couple checking their photos on their phone and Scott is just ignoring everything.
Opps!  Caught!  What...can't I read?
Here one more photos of Devil's Island.
Next came Bear Island (1,824 acres).  It is the second tallest island in the chain nearly 250 feet above lake level.  There is an old beach near the top of the island where the lake was 200 feet taller than it's present level and when Bear and Oak Islands were the only islands above water.
Raspberry Island (296 acres, 1 mile long, .5 miles wide) is the site of the 2nd lighthouse built in the islands.  The first lighthouse operated in 1864 later included a duplex for the lighthouse keeper and his assistant and their families.  Do you see the man up in the cupola and people on the deck?  You can boat to this island for tours.  Originally, Henry Rice asked President Buchanan in 1859 for a lighthouse here since it's right at the top of the chain to guide boats heading for Bayfield giving them safe passage.  The shipping industry concurred and they helped Rice push to get a lighthouse installed there and in 1863, the first light beacon occurred.  Here are before and now photos.  The current lighthouse was remodeled in 2006.  There's an interesting history of the lighthouse here.
Oak Island (5,078 acres, 4 miles long, 3.5 miles wide) was our last stop and is the tallest of the islands and a landmark for boaters approaching Bayfield.  There are beaches are on this island and hikers loved to take advantage of the 11.5 miles of trails.  The sun was setting so I didn't take any photos.  The island had 5 campsites and 2 group campsites.
While there are more islands in the archipelago, these were the highlights of this cruise.  It was very relaxing and fun to see all the different islands.  We arrived just before dark to Bayfield.  What a fun tour.
A thing to note is that Madeleine Island is not part of the Apostle Islands.  Here's a YouTube Video to enjoy about Madeleine Island by Craig Heinen.

We had a great time at the Apostles.  It's a beautiful part of the county and so much to do here if you love boating, hiking, fishing, kayaking, camping, hunting, scuba and tours.

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