As fall is upon us and will soon fade into winter I reflect back on our summer spent in the wild and remote places of the UP.

While the sun was shining and warming my face we were reminded of the other seasons in this beautiful place.

Summer in the UP reveals evidence of the harsh and cold winter. Downed trees to navigate around, broken bridges to dodge, and this abandoned piece of snow removal equipment complete with tire chains and a huge snow plow on the front.

Copper Harbor

A return to another favorite place of ours, Copper Harbor. I refer to this as the upper peninsula of the upper peninsula. This is as far north as you can go in the UP. Highway 41 starts or ends here depending on your perspective. This year we explored familiar favorites along with some new adventures.

Our beloved Trails End campground is no longer first come first serve but I was able to secure reservations for us before arriving. A return trip out to High Rock Bay revealed a new culvert in place of the old creek crossing from years passed.

For this year’s adventure we brought along the Sea Eagle Paddle Ski to explore via boat.

Gull Rock Lighthouse has been on our list to visit. With the lake conditions looking good we set out from High Rock Bay for the 2.5 mile crossing on Lake Superior to reach the lighthouse. All was calm when we left shore but as we neared the lighthouse the lake became more raucous. With life jackets on we continued with some trepidation. When our boat touched land we were both relieved. It was a bit treacherous. At that moment we decided against trying to make it to the Manitou Island, which was not all that far away but we were not willing to risk any more out on the big water of Lake Superior. To reach the lighthouse you have to cross a main shipping channel and I would not suggest doing it in a small vessel like ours. We both agreed this would be a one time visit.

After returning from the island we decided to play it safe and tour up the coast. A much more comfortable and less trepidatious adventure. Revisited a beach with parts of a shipwreck we found a couple of years ago while out driving the back roads, and not another soul around. Continued up the coastline to Horseshoe Bay, another spot previously visited via a hike. Loved the new vantage point from the boat.

After arriving back from our coastal tour we relaxed on the shore of Lake Superior and enjoyed some wine. This was the spot we tent camped over night a few years back with Josie. We toasted to her and spread some of her ashes here.

Calumet Air Force Station

Last year we found this quite by accident while driving around and exploring. Tours are by online appointment only and we were unable to secure a spot last year as we were leaving soon. This year, we put this at the top of the list. I scheduled a tour for us before arriving in Copper Harbor and the tour did not disappoint.

Old base housing was being reclaimed by nature. Radar towers towered over the old homes.

A cold war era Air Force Station would not be complete without a fallout shelter.

Note: unsure why it is displaying gaps in the photos for this set.

A building within a building that housed the ready room. The tour ended with an option to climb a ladder up to the top for some of the best views around.

For more information regarding the restoration of this Air Force Station, check out their website.

https://www.openskiesproject.org

The Apostle Islands, Wisconsin

This was our big one of the summer. A brand new place to explore and one that has been on the list since last year. The Apostle Islands are amazing. We enjoyed two full weeks here to really explore and take it all in. There will be a return trip in the future. Our campsite was in Chaquamegon-Nicolet National Forest on the Bayfield Peninsula, halfway between the towns of Washburn and Cornucopia.

My hydroponics garden continues to do well, check out my fresh oregano grown right in the RV.

Upon arrival, we went out for a drive to do some exploring and collect information for various spots we wished to check out. When we returned home I drew up an Apostle Islands Bingo on our chalkboard. The game was on. Stay tuned until the end of this post to see how many we checked off.

One cool feature we found was the Wave Watch. This allowed us to check the level of the waves in real time before setting out on a boating adventure at the Apostle Islands. It proved to be an invaluable tool.

The Mainland Sea Caves

This was our first boating adventure and wow we were blown away by the beauty of the Mainland Sea Caves. The day we went out the water was like glass and we considered ourselves lucky to get such a nice day on the water. The Mainland Sea Caves are a nice coastal tour by boat and there is a hike as well to see them from another vantage point. We also did the hike (later in this post).

Raspberry Island & Lighthouse

Our biggest adventure and target was to make it out to Devil’s Island with our Sea Eagle Paddle Ski, to see the most intricate sea caves. This is no small feat, as the sea caves are on the north side of Devil’s Island approximately 12 miles off shore as the crow flies. We of course decided to play it safe and island hop our way along and see how far we could get. We also monitored the Wave Watch and chose a day when the waves were low.

We launched from Sand Bay and made our trek along the northern coast before crossing to our first stop, Raspberry island, just under 2 miles to cross. And to our surprise there were lighthouse tours available. We did not bring cash (who thought we would need money on an island). But a nice gentleman paid for our tour. The views from the island were spectacular.

At this point we had already decided Devil’s Island would probably not happen. The crossing to Raspberry Island was pretty choppy. Both of us had agreed we would explore around to the north side of Raspberry Island and decide if we wanted to go any further.

Bear Island

After making it just fine to the north side of Raspberry we decided to continue on to Bear Island, another 2 mile crossing and roughly 2 more miles up the east side of Bear Island. However, the east/northeastern side of Bear Island turned out to be a real Bear. Very choppy water. We found a nice cove to stop, explore, gather our bearings while gazing across the water at Devil’s Island. At this point we had aborted the mission of making it out there.

The bottom left photo is of Devil’s Island, 2.5 miles or so away. So close yet….

Devils Island & Lighthouse

We continued our trek along the northern coast of Bear Island and then considered for a moment. The water seems pretty calm do we try? We decided to go for it (life jackets on of course). Halfway across to the island, the water was still calm. We were going for it. I could feel the emotion and excitement building, thinking “I cannot believe we are going to make it to Devil’s Island”.

We made it with no problems and wow! What a treat it was. Absolutely gorgeous. I can see why you don’t want to visit when the water is rough and waves are up. You would find you and your vessel slammed up against rocks. But Lake Superior treated us to nice calm waters. And to top it off, when we arrived there were two separate kayak tours going on. But we timed it just right, they were wrapping up and we ended up having the Devil Island sea caves almost completely to ourselves.

Our trek back to the mainland was smooth sailing. The water was relatively calm out by the islands.

Note: I would not recommend attempting to do this if you are an inexperienced mariner and certainly not without a motor (unless doing one of the kayak tours). Having a motor on our little Sea Eagle Paddle ski has truly opened up our territory of exploration. Although I would not consider ourselves extremely experienced we have logged well over 1000 miles on this little boat with a variety of experiences during that time. While making our way out to Devil’s Island we always approached with caution and were willing to abort if conditions proved too rough. We were lucky that day in that Lake Superior played nice. She would not be so nice for the rest of our stay.

Bad River Reservation

This was an unexpected side trip. We had planned to boat out to Long Island but Lake Superior had other plans that day. She was raging when we pulled in at the boat ramp so we found this river. However, upon arriving I noticed the No Trespassing sign. But as luck would have it a gentleman and his daughter pulled up to the boat ramp right after we got there. I talked to the daughter and she said you had to have a tribal member with you to access the river. I thanked her and we turned to leave. But her dad overheard us talking and said “they can go”. He said if anyone asked tell them he gave us permission. We were free to explore and to enjoy ourselves.

We felt immense gratitude for the the opportunity to explore tribal lands, with permission from an elder from the tribe.

The river made it’s way out to Lake Superior. We were able to see the lake was still raging.

Long Island

Our second attempt at Long Island and its lighthouse started out wonderful. The lake was like glass and we glided along smoothly. However, off in the distance it looked like the waves were picking up so we decided to head toward shore and shore crawl. It quickly became apparent that the lake was not playing nice today. We went to shore and explored an abandoned boat on the coast before getting ourselves together for the choppy ride back.

Bayfield Maritime Museum

When the lake wasn’t calm enough for boating, we spent a day exploring the town of Bayfield. The Maritime Museum had a lot of interesting displays.

Frog Bay Tribal National Park

A day hike at Frog Bay Tribal National Park gave us beautiful views of the Apostle Islands from shore. We found an old abandoned cabin that looked like it was being reclaimed by the elements.

Lakeshore Trail at Myers Beach

The Lakeshore Trail follows along the mainland sea caves with beautiful expansive views of Lake Superior and the sea caves below.

Note: unsure of why it’s adding gaps in some of the photo sets.

Sunset along the shore in the town of Cornucopia.

A roadside stand, a beautiful sunset at our campsite, beautiful lake views, wild berries at our site, an artesian well in town, a funny bar sign, and some beverages to round out the photos from our stay in Wisconsin.

Our final Bingo card – we won a few different ways. We never expected to cross off so many!

And the quote sums up Lake Superior perfectly. Some days calm like glass and other days raging. But ultimately she is the boss always.

Bewabic State Park

After leaving the Apostle Islands we stayed over night at a Michigan state park (a new one for us). The sites were very spacious and we arrived with enough time to take our boat out on the chain of small lakes. This is one to return to, the price was very reasonable with plenty of space to spread out between sites.

Cheers and a final farewell to the greatest of the great lakes, Lake Superior. Until next summer!