31 Jul 2022 - Visit to Little Sand Bay Recreation Area

 31 Jul

This morning we drove about 20 miles north near the town of Russell WI to the Little Sand Bay Recreation Area.  This area is part of the Apostle Islands National Lakeshore (National Park).  We primarily wanted to look over the campground but also the sandy beach area.  There is also a huge boat dock and a picnic area with gazebo.  We took the back way there which included an unpaved road for part of the route.

The National Park Service folks there in the visitor center were very friendly and  helpful.  Doreen was curious where she could get her lighthouse passport book stamped for the lighthouses we will be seeing in the next couple days, and they pointed us to a gift shop in La Pointe.

Outside the visitor center was a historic display featuring a couple fishing boats which is the history of the area.  Commercial fishing has been the mainstay in the Sand Bay area for many years, but back in the 1920's, the Hokenson brothers began a commercial fishing operation here.  During the fall herring season, the brothers would fish at night as it was cooler and would be easier to preserve their catch. The wat the story goes, their friends noted this habit and said, "There go the twilight fishermen."  The Hokenson's therefore named their fishing boat the "Twilite".    

The winch mechanism inside and this chute are part of the net lifting system.  The nets were very heavy when loaded with fish

The Twilite was equipped with a housing that enclosed the fishermen and protected them from the severe elements of Lake Superior

 

Many fishermen in the early 1900's used open boats like this one.  

The crates were used to transport the fish 

We then headed for the boat dock which is really nice and huge, protected by a breakwater.  The National Park Service has three boats there, but as we walked out the dock, another boat arrived to pick up the passengers (shown on the dock with their cargo) and take them to one of the nearby islands for a vacation.  The area to the left of the dock is a launch for kayaks.

We then strolled the beach where Doreen looked for interesting rocks.  No "seashells" here, but lots of granite!  The water is crystal clear.

The water is very cold!

Beautiful sand beaches all along the shore

One of the reasons for our visit was to have a look at the campground, and it was nearly full!  This is another very popular area for kayakers.  We will keep this on out list for future camping in this area.

When we got back to the campground I cleaned our front cap as we had acquired some bugs on the trip up here from Antigo.  That is about it for today.  Tomorrow we head for the dock here in La Pointe for the Grand Boat Cruise which will take us on a 3 hour boat ride around the Apostle Islands.