“Doing” Madeline Island in an Hour – a Photo Story

Say you have an awful terrible job like mine (smile) that requires travel to a picturesque lakeside (as in Lake Superior) town (as in Bayfield, Wis.) for a meeting. Let’s say that after the Bayfield meeting your coworker has another meeting that requires travel by car ferry to a nearby island. He invites you to use the car while he’s in his meeting so you can tool around the island and take scenic photos for the various publications produced by your organization.

Bayfield, Wis.

Let’s say you only have an hour to spend on the island before your coworker’s meeting is done and you have to ferry back to the mainland. Where would you go on the island? Why, you would go where the ferry worker recommends, that’s where!

I recently meandered over to Madeline Island on the south shore of Lake Superior under such circumstances. Without prompting, the lady selling ferry tickets pointed to a sand spit in Big Bay State Park on a map and said, “If I was going to Madeline Island today, that’s where I’d head.”

I figured she knew what she was talking about. While my coworker was in his meeting in the quaint town of LaPointe on the island, I drove to the park which, like any good cheap hotel, included an option to just pay for an hour. I located the trail to the sandspit and enjoyed a short hike through a verdant ferny forest…

…that gave way to a grove of white pines just before the beach.

Dozens of swimmers enjoyed the cool waters of Lake Superior.

I had just enough time to take off my sandals and wade in.

Then I departed and looked for a scenic overlook I noticed near the park entrance. The view was all right, but the beach was better.

By now, I had fifteen minutes left to drive back to LaPointe. Once in town, I had time to snap photos of a few local landmarks before rejoining my coworker and heading for the ferry back to Bayfield.

I think I’m in love. Seriously. I will return someday when I have enough time to do Madeline Island justice. Much more awaits.