The lake from above

Last weekend the VoiceOfReason's youngest brother, BeepBeep, was married on the shores of, you guessed it, Lake Superior. Even though he and his bride are from Colorado he was drawn back to Gitchee Gumee like so many of us are. The wedding was at the top of Moose Mountain at the Lutsen ski resort on the north shore of Minnesota. It was a first for many because we had to travel to the wedding and reception via four person gondola cars rather than the usual modes of transportation. It was also the first time in a long time that we kayakers had viewed the lake from a vantage point high above it rather than having our butts in our kayak seats, watching from 36" above its surface.

It was a very nice outdoor wedding and the weather cooperated quite nicely despite the forecast. The 30 knot north winds with the accompanying 6-8'waves and scattered showers didn't quite materialize and we actually got a paddle in before the ceremony at Grand Marais on Saturday morning. My paddling companion was JeremiahJohnstone, who had taken a break from chopping down invasive species in Canyon de Chelly National Monument to watch her brother get hitched. As I mentioned, we had some swells, chop, and maybe a 2 footer now and then but surfing the 6-8 footers was not in the cards Saturday morning. It was that on the water perspective that made looking at the same location from the lodge on top of Moose Mountain all that much more impressive.

We all took the gondola up to the top of the mountain, four at a time, and the wedding went off without a hitch. The skies even cooperated by clearing nicely at the end of the ceremony to coincide with the Beatles Here Comes the Sun playing on the sound system. Good food, an adult beverage or three, and some fine dance tunes made for a great night. The skies had cleared and the half moon rose over Lake Superior and at any one time there were a dozen people out on the deck gazing at the lake. At one point in the evening I was grabbed by TheMayor, who I believe had talked to everyone at the wedding at least 5 times by then. She dragged me out to the deck and told a couple from Kansas City, "This guy can tell you what those lights are" and headed back to the dance floor. I had my little 6x monocular in the camera bag and I'll be damned if we couldn't see the Devils and Outer Island lights from our vantage point, roughly 45 miles away. The red light on Devils is unmistakable. We could also see Grand Marais harbor, the little populated point, in the image at the top of the page.

On the way home we continued our elevated view of the lake theme and drove up to Palisade Head. From there we could see a number of the Apostles but other than Oak, the unique shape of Bear, and Sand it was tough to tell which was which. Next time I'll be smart enough to bring map and compass so we can take some bearings. This trip we were content to just 'hit the high points' on Lake Superior and next weekend will have our butts back in the water at lake level.

Lead Banana Inc., LLC

RonO experienced a trying weekend up in the Apostles a couple days back. There was an inadvertent stabbing, not one but two broken paddles, a broken finger, seasickness, and an unconscionable amount of towing, an estimated 12 miles worth. Even so it was worth the trip because he retrieved our latest collective boat purchase, a Valley Aleut II tandem, the legendary Lead Banana.

If you will recall in an earlier post, RangerMark and the GreenThumbChef upgraded to exactly the same boat in the carbon fiber/kevlar layup. The upgrade was prompted by both the realization that they weren't getting any younger or stronger, and fact that the Aleut attacked a side mirror on the car when they were loading it up last year. They really love the boat. I christened the craft the Lead Banana after paddling with it on at least 8 fall trips over the past few years. The lowlight of any launch or landing always seemed to be getting the Banana into or out of the water, an effort that would be much easier with a pallbearer sized crew of eight. On the upside, its probably the most rough water worthy double made, and it holds a tremendous amount of gear. A double is always good on a trip because then you have a fall back if someone becomes injured or sick. They can be stuffed into in the front seat, which makes for a much easier tow assist if one person is actually paddling. It also has room for the 14" dutch oven, a vessel that addresses both quantity and quality when cooking outdoors.

After being denied in our racing attempt at Two Harbors a couple weeks back, we decided that a paddle around the Split Rock light with a take out at Silver Bay would be just the perfect alternative to racing. We managed to find some South Shore Nut Brown Ale on tap at the Cove Point Lodge and began to break down the weekend. I suggested that someone was going to get a hell of a deal when they bought the Lead Banana and the ManFromSnowyLegs suggested that SKOAC purchase the boat. RonO reminded him that the club basically has no money so that would be difficult at best. The MFSL then blurted out that the four of us should buy it. After five seconds of serious reflection, RonO, BDahlieOfMahtomedi, and I said hell yes, lets do it. I realize that many of you believe that no decision of this nature should be made without at least one female present (can you say Voice Of Reason?), but I think we did fine. Cash was anted up and the Lead Banana Corp was formed with 4 equal shares, right of first refusal for the other shareholders if someone wants out, and a solemn promise to carry the extra gear and beer supply on any and all trips.

This weekend the VOR's youngest brother, BeepBeep, will get married up at Lutsen. The Lead Banana will be on hand to introduce folks, especially the Colorado visitors, to Lake Superior. Even with their 'divorce boat' reputation,we feel that a double will be a nice addition to the respective fleets. After all, it worked for RangerMark and the GreenThumbChef all these years and they even got another one. Should be a piece of cake for we veteran paddlers.

The Mother Ship

A weekend visit to my sister and bro in law's cabin in Wisconsin's lake country would not be complete without a sunset cocktail cruise on the early '60 vintage homemade houseboat, the Windsor Castle. It was not named for the British royal family but rather the light Canadian whiskey that was named for the British royal family. Its an appropriate name given that the signature drink on the vessel for most people except me, is an Island Laker, a concoction involving Windsor, Coke, and a splash of cherry juice.

The Windsor Castle was built on the lake and has not left the lake since it was launched. UncleRick,my bro in law, bought it from its original owner and builder, Pete, a few years back. One of the reasons it hasn't left the lake is that its weight, according to a displacement test done by a qualified engineering graduate of Michigan Technological University in Houghton, MI, is just under 10,000#'s. Five tons of fun. It is an extremely versatile and useful craft. In addition to a fine patio section on the bow for cocktailing, it has a refrigerator, sleeping quarters, and a ladder to the roof for additional seating and/or jumping off into the lake. I know that jumping off high places into a body of water is an activity frowned upon my certain elements of the NPS in a river unit near me, but if done safely it is indeed a cheap thrill. At any time you might see attractive women on the roof, the Queen of Island Lake on her throne, a subservient dock boy offering Her Majesty toilet facilities, or even Captain Dick manning the helm. What we had not seen up until this weekend was the Windsor Castle used as a kayaking mother ship.

After a long bike ride, the decision was made to cool off externally and internally with some swimming and either Bells Oberon or Surly Bitter Brewer. I really wanted to paddle a bit more but the lure of jumping off the roof of the Castle after a couple of beers was just too inviting. Then the light bulb came on in UncleRicks head and he suggested that we just set the Q boat on the Windsor Castle and launch out in the lake. Dilemma solved! A beer or two, soaking up essential Vitamin D from their sun, some rolling practice, and a visit by the neighbors in the pontoon boat made for a perfect northern Wisconsin afternoon. I explained the mother ship concept to UncleRick, where they charge big bucks in British Columbia and Alaska to take kayakers out, but he felt that Glacier Bay might be a bit more inviting and command a slightly higher price than the Island Lake chain. I had to agree but it was still an exceptional summer afternoon.

Time for a plan

This is the first weekend in I can't remember how long when I woke up in my own bed and we're not paddling somewhere. But don't worry folks, in about an hour we're leaving for my sister and bro in law's cabin over in northwestern Wisconsin, kayaks and bikes strapped on the trusty VW wagon. This unaccustomed home life gives me a chance to enjoy a cup of coffee and catch up on some reading. One of the things I need to read, study actually, showed up in the mail yesterday. The Apostle Islands National Lakeshore Draft General Management Plan - Wilderness Management Plan - Environmental Impact Statement is now plopped in a prominent spot next to the LazyBoy for some serious study.

I've just skimmed the document so far but it would appear that four alternative plans are being proposed, with plan #2 being the 'preferred plan'. You can read all about them here. Public comment is open until October 23 and there will be public hearings around the area including Bayfield, Red Cliff, Superior, the Twin Cities, and Madison. I'm glad that I'm on the public comment end rather than the policy formulation end. My guess is that every advocacy group in the area will be crawling out of the woodwork. The Cigarette Boat Racing Association will be battling with the Wilderness Society, the ADA activists will want elevator shafts cobbled on to the lighthouses, sustainability advocates will want the entire park operation conveted to solar-wind-granola power, and I'm sure we kayakers will be able to come up with an off the wall idea or two as well. And its not just the public, its the Feds themselves, with their dizzying maze of often conflicting acts and regulations. The Wilderness Act, NPS Management Policies, The Organic Act, the Endangered Species Act, the Clean Water Act, Invasive Species Act, National Historic Preservation Act, Americans with Disabilities Act, American Indian Religious Freedom Act, Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act...........OK, I'll stop now.......all need to be taken into account. It will be a very interesting and likely contentious process.


Right now my requests are modest. A couple of picnic tables at York, an outhouse at Lighthouse Bay, and self service underwater beer vending stations near each island campsite. As I read the document I'm sure I'll come up with a couple more. It will be an interesting process and I hope that there is productive commentary. The old saying, 'if you enjoy law and sausage, its best not to watch how either is made' might apply here but I trust, like sausage and at least a couple of laws, that the result will be a good one.

Busted flat in Baton Rou......er, Calumet

Fridays drive up to Copper Harbor involved a stop at the Michigan House Cafe & Brewpub for lunch and an attempt to drink a glass of their beer. Its a great joint in a stone building built during the copper boom of the 1890's, and the mural above is over the antique bar. I've stopped there a number of times but the brew house is so small that they always seemed to be out of their own beer when I was there. Being a goal oriented individual, I've managed to hit all 8 brewpubs/microbreweries in Michigan's UP. What I had not done was have a house brewed beer at all of them. Fortunately, this time the Michigan House was out of their pale ale but had their stout on tap. Mission accomplished! I was so excited about the beer and home cut french fries however, that I forgot to plug the parking meter. When we walked out both cars had bright yellow tickets under the windshield wipers.

In Minneapolis that means major bucks and I cringed a bit. The meter rate in a lot of areas is $1.50 an hour and if the meter expires its a $34 fine. The enforce the damn things until 10pm in most of the areas that you want to park in and I even got a ticket at 7pm on a Sunday night in a Park Board area. The spot I had parked in was near the University so I could have received my ticket from the university cops, the City of Minneapolis, the Park Police, and probably the sheriff, State Patrol, FBI, and Secret Service as well. With all those agencies to support, no wonder the fine is $34. We got to our cars and checked out the 'damages' on the ticket. Note the fine schedule below:

Three bucks! Now that's reasonable. We never even noticed the meters, which were tucked back against the buildings. That makes complete sense in an area that gets 300" of snow a year and needs to quickly and efficiently clear the sidewalks. The parking rate in downtown Calumet is 5 cents per half hour. One dime to park for a nice beer and sandwich at the brewpub. Since it was about 1pm and we wanted to hit the water, we tossed the tickets in our respective glove compartments and headed for the put in at Copper Harbor.

Fast forward to Sunday. We were driving back when I remembered the ticket. We looked for the Police Department but then noticed that the ticket could be inserted into a convenient Fine-O-Meter, in various locations. GalwayGuy jumped out at the first available Fine-O-Meter and we were on our way, free of any possible parking warrants that might be issued by the Village of Calumet. Just another of many reasons why the Keweenaw Peninsula is on the short list of my favorite places to visit.