Tag: Lake Superior
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Apostle Islands / Bayfield Peninsula Index
Index of Pages from the Visit to Wisconsin’s Apostle Islands (2007) Few areas can rival the natural beauty of the Apostle Island and the Bayfield Peninsula. The state of Wisconsin borders Lake Superior only briefly but this mighty wedge takes full advantage of its limited coastline. The islands are a national treasure full of rocky…
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Mawikwe Sea Caves
Apostle Islands National Lakeshore; Bayfield County, Wisconsin, USA (August 2007) Sea caves adorn several points along the Apostle Islands and the nearby mainland shore of Lake Superior. Sailors, sea kayakers and other adventurers flock to northern Devils Island, Swallow Point on Sand Island, and Mawikwe Bay along the Bayfield Peninsula, to explore these natural wonders…
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Madeline Island Historical Museum
La Pointe, Ashland County, Wisconsin, USA (August 2007) We rolled off the ferry and nearly onto to the doorstop of the Madeline Island Historical Museum (map). Flags from each era of European-American settlement fluttered in the wind, high above the stockade corner. The modern 50-star United States flag claimed its rightful prominence atop the pole.…
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Big Bay on Madeline Island
Ashland County, Wisconsin, USA (August 2007) With the exception of the immediate boundaries of La Pointe, the most popular spots on Madeline Island were the adjacent state and town park along Big Bay’s sandy hook. “Popular” was a relative term however. We never felt crowded anywhere on the island. We found Big Bay State Park…
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Little Sand Bay & Hokenson Brothers Fishery
Apostle Islands National Lakeshore, Bayfield County, Wisconsin, USA (August 2007) Little Sand Bay hugged the northern edge of the Bayfield Peninsula. It fell between Point Detour and Sand Point, a gateway to the westernmost Apostle Islands. A National Park Service visitors center could be found there. It included a campground, a marina, and the historic…
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Miscellaneous Bayfield Locations
Apostle Islands & Bayfield Peninsula, Wisconsin (August 2007) Stunningly clear views of the Apostle Islands and the mainland led the way to the Mawikwe Sea Caves. Now on our return trip, passengers jostled railings for viewing space as we sailed away from the northwestern tip of the peninsula towards the Bayfield marina. We completed our…
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Sand Island and Eagle Island
Apostle Islands National Lakeshore, Bayfield County, Wisconsin (August 2007) We cruised past Sand Island and spied its famous lighthouse in the distance, a tan notch along a forested cliff. The Sand Island Lighthouse first shined in 1881 as a companion to the nearby Raspberry Island light. Ships heading east to Ashland couldn’t see Raspberry Island…
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Raspberry Island
Apostle Islands National Lakeshore; Bayfield County, Wisconsin (August 2007) Mariners navigated through the Apostle Islands with the Raspberry Island Light as their companion since its 1863 activation. This “Showplace of the Apostles” took its present form in 1906 when the U.S. Lighthouse Service expanded the keeper’s quarters to accommodate additional workers to operate a new…
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Canal Park
Duluth, Minnesota (August 2007) Our journey through the upper Midwest brought us as far north as Duluth. Here a city rises along the westernmost deep-water port with access to the Atlantic Ocean. This is all the more surprising because it’s a good third of the way across the continent. Even so, ships — massively large…
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Highpoint to Lowpoint
Twelve Mile Circle received an intriguing question from reader “Cary” a few days ago. Cary, a professional mapmaker, noticed something interesting while conducting research: the amazing proximity of Minnesota’s highest point of elevation to its lowest. This led to a natural question. Was this the shortest distance between a state highpoint and a lowpoint? I’d…