The Apostle Islands are a group of 22 islands on the western shore of Lake Superior. The 12 largest Islands were named in honor of the 12 apostles by a French missionary.
Evedince of human habitation has dates to 100 BC. The Ojibwa people had permanent settelments on the islands from 930 CE.
The islands are now part of the National Lake shore park system.
John and I traveled to visit the six light houses on the islands. We took a day tour, traveling by boat between islands.
We were able to visit several of the lighthouses and climb their towers. The park service recruits couples to stay at the keepers homes and inform tourists of the history of each light house.
My personal memories of the visit was to see a garden on sand island that was typical of a garden from the early 1900’s. The keeper had a large family. The evdience of this was the outhouse that had four holes of different sizes.
We were encouraged to explore the terrain of each island . At one, we decided to take a walk in the drizzle. It was pleasent until, we heard walking nearby on the other side of the bushes. We called out a greeting with no response. Later we found large bear tracks parallel to our path. We hurried to the boat, glad we didn’t have our lunch with us for the bear to smell.
As we traveled we were told that the islands are home to one of the largest populations of black bear in the country. We were wittness to several bears swimming from one island to another. The bears can be found on any of the islands.
After exploring and sightseeing, we waited for the boat to return. Our feet were sore and tired. Deciding to remove our shoes and socks to soak our feet in the lake. In less than a minute, our feet were frozen from the chilly lake water. I wondered how the bears were able to swimm for long treks from island to island?
If you desire to trace the migration of native people from the east, following the waterways, you will be delighted with the history and the different islands that form the archipelago at the weastern shore of Lake Superior.
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Lake Superior
Dark waters,
cold and deep in it’s depths.
Bordered by two countries.
Large waves slap the shores.
Depositing bits of the past on It’s beaches.
Could be a fresh water sea.
Source for Indian lore.
One travels it with apprehension.
The largest of the Great Lakes.
Carolaspot @aol.com
copyright 7-13-2021
traveling up and down the blind highway 