So here goes. Our first blog post.
After several weekends of pushing, our friend Lynn finally convinced us to get back into our boats and paddle a bit. We weren’t exactly excited to do any more paddling after the this summer but we reluctantly agreed. We have been seriously lacking quality outdoor time since the end of our paddle and this seemed like a good way to buck our responsibilities for a few hours.
Lynn and a friend, as well as mutual friend Greg Maino, of www.juskuz.com, and his wife met us at our house in Calumet and we all headed up the Keweenaw. We unloaded on the beach in Eagle Harbor, a great little town on the shores of Superior with a well protected harbor, and shuttled some cars ahead to Esrey Park. The launch was really easy with a short carry across a nice sand beach. The lake was on it’s best behavior with a really light wind, 5 knots, out of the south and almost unnoticeable waves.
The shoreline in this area is classic Keweenaw with large basalt outcropping sloping away from the lake and many exposed rocky islands jutting from the water. It is a great easy day paddle covering about 6 miles with some pretty cool scenery along the way. One of the small islands is made up of a large sea arch, which stands 8 feet over the water and is about 35 feet in span .
We saw a handful of other paddlers, one group of five people and another pair, who were also out enjoying the beautiful day. It was a little more crowded than I expected but definitely not enough to detract from the experience. After covering the six miles in a little over two hours we headed back on shore at Esrey Park. Greg and Mari turned around and headed back to Eagle Harbor so they could explore the islands a bit more. The landing was mostly cobble but in the calm water it wasn’t an issue. We discussed paddling more but Hannah had a meeting for one of her classes so we had to call it a day. The take out was easy with a short up hill carry and we loaded up and headed home.
It was weird calling it a day after only six miles and getting into the truck and heading home to our house instead of putting up the tent. It was kind of nice. I didn’t think I would like paddling for a long while after our circumnavigation. I was wrong. It was really nice to be out, enjoying the lake with some great company and not have the pressure to keep moving. I think I could get used to this.
View Eagle Harbor Paddle in a larger map
We want to make this blog as good as possible. If there is anything you would like to see or can think of that would make posts like this better or more interesting please tell us. We are new at this.
3 Responses
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Mimi Lytle Says:
Great site! I love the stories and photos too! Mimi
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Greg Says:
The site looks great. Also, we had a great time paddling with you guys. We should go more often. Anyway, just wanted to make a correction… my website is http://www.juskuz.com.
Later
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A Superior Adventure » Winter Kayaking On Lake Superior Says:
[...] first headed to Esrey Park to continue the paddle we did back in September but the water was a bit tempestuous and Sam had never really been in a kayak before. The two to [...]
