Leslie and David's Wanderings: 18-19 August 2023 Apostle Islands National Lakeshore

When we researched the Apostle Islands, we found that the majority of activates center around having a boat to be able to get out to the islands. But we found that the lower shoreline, outside the Red Cliff Reservation, had some trails that led to overlooks from the tops of cliffs above various sea caves. We considered getting out our kayaks and following the lake shore, but the previous two days there were gale warnings on this part of Lake Superior, so we figured it might be a bit rough on the big lake in our little kayaks. We drove over to the parking are for Meyers Beach Sea Caves and hiked the trail all the way to the far side of the Bowl (5.22 miles, 318 feet of elevation gain, 1676 calories burned). The first mile of the trail is on board walk through the forest. Once you reached the cliffs above the sea caves, there were peeks at the cliff faces and caves undercutting the shoreline. But there were a lot of trees along the cliff edge that limited the views of the beautiful cliffs. We saw a lot of people on guided kayak tours using sea kayaks that are made to handle the bigger waves of the big lake. But today the lake was pretty quiet. After our hike, we drove north to the visitor center and Sand Bay. There we learned about boat tours around the islands that leave from Bayfield. So we drove over to Bayfield to check out the little harbor town and have dinner on the waterfront. We decided to take one of the tours the next day. The ranger had recommended the late tour for the better light. So we took the 4:30 tour and got there a couple hours of early to explore the shops and get an early dinner. The tour took us out on Lake Superior on a route that would allow us to see all the islands. Unfortunately there was a lot of smoke from Canadian wild fires that have been burning all summer. So, some of the islands were blurry smudges. But we did go out to the furthest island, Devil’s Island, to see the incredible sea caves on the outer most shore and the light house on the island. It wasn’t the greatest boat tour we have had, but we can say we have seen all the Apostle Islands.