Exploring Madeline Island

Friday 1 September
Today, we took the ferry to Madeline Island, the largest of the Apostle Islands. Whilst part of the Apostle islands, it is not part of the National Lakeshore, being the only island open to commercial development and private ownership. The community of La Pointe, located on the western edge of the island and established by French colonists as a fur trading post, was one of the earliest European settlements in the area. The island is 14 miles long and three miles long. We spent most of our time at Big Bay State Park, hiking the very scenic Barrier Beach boardwalk trail which runs between Lake Superior and a lagoon, through stands of tall White Pines or Norway Pines, and returning via the Lagoon Ridge trail, on the far side of the lagoon, a total of about 6 miles. On the first stretch of our hike, I was thrilled to see a couple of Sandhill cranes, close enough to get a slightly fuzzy picture of them among the long grasses. We also heard loons calling from the lagoon, but unfortunately never saw them. The Lagoon ridge trail was less well maintained, and less scenic, being mainly through the forest, but a great hike for mushroom/fungus spotting - see extra collage. The weather is heating up, and I was quite tired when we got back, so we headed to the pebble beach to relax for a while - Roger even went for a swim in the cold water. I would have been tempted to have a paddle but unfortunately had left my water shoes back at the camper. As you can see from my lower right photo, the water was crystal clear. We then took a drive around the rest of the island, ending up with an ice cream back in town, before catching the ferry back.
Step count: 21,890