Quick Wisconsin Pass

By Jen.

Dates: 07/15/2021 to 07/18/2021

Driving out Duluth, MN, puts you directly in Superior, WI. I mean, really? I feel like they should have just kept it as Duluth, WI, but they had to go and do the pun on the lake’s name for a town’s name…

Anyways, Wisconsin has Apostle Islands National Lakeshore, 1 of only 3 such designated sites in the US (2 are on Lake Superior, 1 on Lake Michigan). It is really poorly advertised, in my opinion. But, after some research and driving around, we ended up launching our kayak from Meyers Beach to see the “sea” caves. This was an awesome trip! I loved it! The water gave a Caribbean vibe, and some of the sea caves were able to be kayaked.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The next day, we checked out around Bayfield. They have a ravine there with a couple of hiking trails, which were recommended to us. 

The old iron bridge.

The old jailhouse.

 

Then we checked out Houghton Falls Nature Preserve. The falls were pitiful (non-existent), but it did have a lovely sandstone gorge, called Echo Dells, but also known as Lover’s Glen. 

Too many mosquitos to work as a lover’s glen for me, but it was charming.

The trail ends at the lake, where many northerners were trying to sunbathe and swim, despite the high of only 76F.

 

That night, Jonathan tried walking the cat. She promptly ran to this rock where a fat chipmunk sat eating raspberries. It didn’t even flinch when Sasha came into view. Jonathan had a firm hold on her, though, so no fresh meat for dinner.

 

The next day, we scoped out Morgan Falls. It was a visually interesting waterfall, but there were too many mosquitos to enjoy it. 

 

 

From there, we tried to visit more Wisconsin sites, but we were in need of water. They had potable water available for a fee, but most were listed as $15 or $20, which seems pretty excessive for 40 gallons of fresh water, even when combined with dumping our ~4-gallon toilet. And, since I have a principle against not paying excessive fees for such things, the only place we could find it was in Michigan. Rather than backtrack to get back to those sites, we decided to move on.

Intermission

Dates: 01-01-2021 through 03-03-2021

We arrived back in Northern Arkansas to take care of some maintenance and feature changes.   First up was testing out our new inflatable kayak.  With drop-stitched high pressure construction, it was a significant upgrade over our old model.

 

 

Jen made up a digital controller for the fridge which gave us more control over the freezer temperatures.

 

 

 

 

Winter is the best time for hiking in the Ozarks, so we took a break to visit the area Buffalo National River.  Lots of fun limestone topography.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The mild winter gave way to brutal cold and snow with a giant wave of polar air that descended for a week.  (Thanks, climate change!)  It was warmer at the north pole than at 45 degrees north latitude!  The winter mods got a good test at 10F. They worked great, and nothing froze.  Though we had some condensation issues in a few spots, which will need to be remedied at some point.