Apostle Islands National Lakeshore

One rare opportunity came out of the bitter cold winter we've had.  The intricately carved sea caves along the mainland of Lake Superior and Sand Island and Devils Island within the Apostle Islands National Lakeshore became accessible by foot.  This hasn't happened since 2009.

As ice formed on the lake this winter, waves splashing against the rocks began to freeze on the sandstone cliffs.  In addition, water seeping between sandstone rock layers froze to form a variety of features similar to limestone caves.  There are also large icicles and formations hanging off of the cliffs, curtains and columns of ice and abundant ice crystals.  Some of the ice formations glow blue, while other pink because the reddish sand grains from the sandstone embedded in the ice.  The Pioneer Press described the ice caves as the "cathedral along the shore of Lake Superior" that winter built.

I desperately wanted to go see for myself, but with temperatures hitting the high 40s in St. Paul by mid-March, time was running out.  In a rare moment of spontaneity, I suggested to Chris that we take the kids on a weekend road trip to Bayfield, Wisconsin, the gateway to the Apostle Islands, and a four-hour drive from St. Paul.     

Saturday morning started out well.  We had arrived kind of late the night before, but had managed to quickly settle in for the night at the rental cottage and everyone slept reasonably well.  We woke up to sun and views of the lake from the living room window.  After breakfast, we loaded the van with the sleds, blankets and packs full of extra layers of warm clothing, water and snacks.  It looked like we had packed for an expedition across Antarctica. But with temperatures in the single digits, I thought it was better to be over-prepared. 

Unfortunately, everyone else in the Upper Midwest also wanted to see the ice caves before they melted.   Meyers Beach, which serves as the access point to the sea caves, welcomes about 35,000 visitors in a year, but the draw of the ice caves attracted 120,000 in the last two months.  We ended up having to park along a county road, walk a half a mile to the access road and another half a mile down to the lake. From the beach it was still over a mile walk to the first caves. 

The kids had started whining from the moment we parked the car and after walking a mile just to get to a big frozen lake, they weren't any happier.  We pressed ahead and hauled the kids, the sleds and all our gear down the stairs, across the beach and onto the lake.  Oliver was happy to get in the sled and not have to walk anymore, but Soren was NOT INTERESTED and he screamed and cried and carried on and no reasoning with him that he loves to ride in a sled was going to convince him otherwise.  He started crying for a snack, which we thought would surely cheer him up.  The second fail for the morning after not accounting for the additional mile of walking, was not taking the freezing temps into account regarding eating.  A very disappointed and disgruntle Soren had to take his gloves off to hold his snack and then bit into what we he discovered was a frozen granola bar.  Amidst his wailing I think I heard him scream that his mom and dad made him come to a frozen lake and fed him a frozen snack and now he was in a frozen hell.  I swear this is the kid who was accidentally born in Minnesota instead of Hawaii.

Chris offered to take Soren back to the car so I could hike on with Oliver.  He was happy to have the whole sled to himself and quickly made himself comfortable.  He stretched out on the sled, closed his eyes and enjoyed having me tow him along.  

Most of the pictures above I did not actually take.  Oliver wanted to turn back once we got to the first caves, which I conceded was a good idea since we had a long trek back to the car where Soren and Chris had been waiting the whole time.  After lunch in Bayfield, Chris dropped us off at the cottage so Soren could nap, and he drove back to Meyers Beach.  With more time and no sleds to haul, Chris was able to hike beyond the crowds and explore the more spectacular caves. 

On Sunday morning we checked out of our hotel early and visited Madeline Island before starting the four-hour drive back to St. Paul.  The island is quiet in the winter and on a Sunday morning, nothing was open, oh, and it was eight degrees, so there wasn't really anything to do there and we had no intention of leaving the warmth of the car.  Instead, my main interest in going was to drive on an ice road.  In warmer months, the island is only accessible by ferry, but when the lake freezes, you can drive the two and a half miles across.  Just past the marina where the ferry docks is a beach.  We drove across the beach and onto the ice.  Christmas trees planted in the ice marked the official road, but orange traffic cones marked the route based on actual ice conditions. 

Driving across the ice road towards Madeline Island

A view of Bayfield from Lake Superior

 

A wind sled is the Madeline Island version of a school bus! 

When the ice isn't stable enough for vehicle traffic, but hasn't broken up enough for a ferry to navigate the water, people travel on something called a wind sled.  It's a flat-bottomed airboat that can travel on ice, but will float if the ice isn't thick enough to support it.