Northern Wisconsin is a land of its own. There is nothing like the great waters of Lake Superior to invoke respect for the depth and force of water. The largest of the great lakes, it is also the coldest and deepest. However, the power it holds is of a totally different nature in the winter months. This hardly slows down the northern at heart, for winter brings ice fishing, dog sledding, snow mobiling, skiing, hiking, snowshoeing, running, you name it!
http://www.wisconsinstories.org/2001season/cold/cotherman_essay.html
A bit of Bayfield, population 611, above.
In fact, this area is anything but dead and quiet, though the sail boats are hibernating and the town appears smothered with snow!
Below is the first ice fisherman we saw on the lake.
Necessary traits of an ice fisherman: patience, patience, patience. This fellow is on his third day and...
...his first fish. What person would be better to explain fishing than a retired Bayfield school teacher? His hands looked numb, but he gladly explained the technique to us. Using an auger, he drills a small hole through the 18" of ice. With his wire line, he lowers the bait to the bottom of the lake, which was 130 feet in that place. That's where he is most likely to find the lake trout. Other Lake Superior catches include salmon and whitefish. The flashlight looking instrument actually tells the lake depth and the presence and depth of a fish.
We figured it was worth the risk to drive the 2.5 miles from Bayfield to Madeline Island on the well established ice road that was opened about a month ago.
On Saturday the Bayfield Chamber of Commerce hosted the Apostle Islands Run on Water
http://www.bayfield.org/pdf/2008ROW_RegistrationForm.pdf, a five mile run to and from Madeline Island.
Below is Ice Angel IV, a windsled used for transportation to and from Madeline Island and Bayfield when the ferry can no longer run but the ice is not thick enough to drive.
http://www.windsled.com/lpw.htm
For Madeline Island 8th-12th graders, this is the form of transporation for a while to school in Bayfield. The Husky is the handy rescue sled.
We debated as to whether it would be worth making the trip to Bayfield yet again simply on the hopes that the sea caves would be half as spectacular as the few pictures I had seen. Wow! It was well worth the time!
The picture above is a personal favorite. Fairyland? Is this real?
Erin taking a picture, gloves and ski pole aside.
No, Erin is NOT suspended, and no photo editing was done!
While there appear to be pools of water in some of these photos, its all ice, except in the photo below, where a stream did run into the lake.
