Again this year, my dear friend Phil helps us celebrate Lake Superior Day. I've learned more about the Superior region from Phil than anyone I've ever met, and am pleased to have his contribution.
Images & text by Philip J. Kucera, except as noted...
Drive Wisconsin Highway 13 north. It's seventy miles of wonder
along the state's "North Coast" and was recently designated a National
Scenic Byway for good reason.
Start your journey at the Northern Great Lakes Visitor Center near Ashland, a proper intro to
the history and culture of the entire Lake Superior basin. It's just beyond a
US-2 roundabout guiding you to 13 north.
With twenty-one islands, twelve miles of mainland shoreline, nine historic
lighthouses and sea caves to explore, the Apostle Islands National Lakeshore is the highlight
of the Peninsula. Lakeshore activities are headquartered in Bayfield, population 463.
Inland, this vintage fishing village turned modern tourist town is
surrounded by apple orchards and dotted with berry, while fish tugs and
yachts nose each other lakeside. During early October well over 30,000 people might gather
at the little hillside community to celebrate its annual Apple Fest.
Among America's national parks there's a uniqueness to the
Apostles. Here the goal is
to preserve not only the natural history of the region, but the cultural
history as well. Boats take you on tours of old fishing encampments,
lighthouses, to camp on an island, or for a grand tour through the island
chain.
Even a family picnic…
Elizabeth Abernathy Hull, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons
On Basswood, visitors can camp overnight, search for the remains of the
McLeod-Brigham homestead (farmed from 1865 to 1923) and explore the rust
and bust of the former Bass Island Brownstone Company quarry - in 1868, the first to open in
the Bayfield region.
During the 1800's, tough Apostle brownstone built untold numbers of architectural
masterpieces both public and private around the Great Lakes.
Many of those still stand proud today.
Back in town it's spring and "Bayfield in Bloom." Nature's
painted leaves are on display in autumn, retired Christmas trees mark an ice
road to Madeline Island come mid winter.
A short ferry ride over shimmering crystalline waters to La Pointe
on Madeline Island, brings
you to where the first fur trade rendezvous' on the big lake took place in the
late 1600s. A state park and two museums, shops and restaurants welcome you.
Consider driving the remaining miles of #13. At Frog Bay on the Red Cliff Reservation, the first tribal national park
in America protects nearly a mile of sandy Lake Superior shoreline amid the
tribal forest.
Cornucopia is
a horn of plenty from where fish tugs once more search for lake trout,
whitefish and herring on the open lake. Small farms feed the region.
Kayakers cast off to view sea caves. Shops built in old fish
houses display the work of regional artists and crafters.
Six seamen from a crew of
twenty-nine on the ill-fated SS Edmund Fitzgerald called the Bayfield region home.
At Port Wing on the
Flag River, near the northern terminus of Wisconsin Highway 13, a monument
stands in a field of Marram or beach grass,
backed by masses of wild red roses at a lakeshore park. Here a sculpted sailor
peers out over the waters of Superior, on watch day and night.
On Wisconsin's north
coast, it's always about the lake.
There is no better or more enthusiastic guide to northern Wisconsin and dah UP than Phil Kucera. We are so fortunate to be living at the same time as he. Thanks for posting this, Mr. Hutton.
ReplyDeleteYes, Phil's a genuine treasure. I'm pretty good at the cultural history of the region, but his knowledge and insight crosses all disciplines and it runs really deep. I've always counted myself lucky that he's my friend. Thanks so much Lynne, for stopping by to give Phil credit where it's certainly due.
ReplyDeleteClearly your friend Phil knows his way around the north coast of Wisconsin, and a camera as well. An splendid offering of facts and lore.
ReplyDelete