Basswood Island

I should have gone to bed earlier last night, so I could have got more sleep. Winds picked back up around 3:30 this morning, and boat started rockin and rollin waking me up around 4. I went out and loosened the dock lines a bit and added one more for safety. The winds were out of the NE and basically pushing the lake water right into the small harbor through the breakwater entrance, causing the usual surging, and then there was the wind whipped chop. See the photo and video. Tried to sleep a few more hours before getting up at 7:30. Met one of my good facebook friends that writes for the Friends of the Apostle Islands and purchased a C-Dory about a year ago. Jon came over at 9am and we chatted about C-Dorys and the Apostle Islands. There was a small craft advisory out again today, but the lake outside the breakwater didn’t look like anything over 2 foot chop. So I decided to head for Basswood Island. Basswood is oblong shaped running north and south, with the dock on the west side. I figured being the leeward side of the island, it would be fairly calm. I was correct. There was already an National Park Service boat on the end of the dock, so I slipped in in front of it. Closer to shore was calmer yet.  Had my lunch, and then decided to hike around the island to the McCloud Farm and Brownstone Quarry. A 6 mile hike that I made into 6.4 miles trying to find the right path! Found that the farm buildings no longer exist and the area has been grown over. (The farm was from the late 1800’s. What was I thinking that there would be buildings…) Half the trail was pretty grown over as well, but I managed to stay on it. During my hike, I came across three Forest Service employees in the vicinity of the farm that were doing some research or land restoration. Then another mile or two I came across two NPS rangers that were checking the trails and using a chain saw to cut some trees that were laying across the trail. I chatted with them for a bit, taking a rest from hiking, and learning about some more old farms (with buildings) on Sand Island, and discussing some general information on the Apostle Islands. Finally got back to the boat. The rangers boat was gone and I believe the forest service also went back with them. (They had a shorter hike back as were going the opposite direction on the trail.) Thank goodness I do have some ice cream on the boat, as I earned it today! Lol. I’m sure I’ll sleep well! And the water has calmed down all around. Winds finally suppose to be light and variable for the next few days.Les mer