Apostle Islands National Lakeshore Mainland Trail - Finding Meyers Beach

I'm not done showing you some views of the sea caves from above.  I especially liked all the plant life growing on the rocky shelves, but getting a photo was kind of tricky while trying not fall off the cliffs.

On the advice of others at the sea caves overlook we continued on a  little farther to see some more formations.

We stuck close to the shoreline where the trail got a little thin.  At one point I swear we were following a game trail and I was having to flail my arms through the tree branches which was kind of hard with all that equipment on my tiny back.  Believe it or not it was Wayne who led us down that trail.  If I would have done that I'd have never heard the end of it!

It was a little cooler out by Lake Superior, slogging through the woods was making us hot and sweaty.  It was one of those days where I actually missed the usual Wisconsin breeze.  

Living on the Edge?

The forecast for the whole week shows the wind not getting above 10 mph so maybe it's just not as windy in this part of Wisconsin or else we just got lucky.  I know that will be great for getting out there in the kayak!

As nice as the sea caves were to look at, the temperature was hovering around 80F and we still had two miles to go on our return trip so we turned around.

Another flower we saw quite a bit of was the cheery Buttercup.  No asters though which was a surprise with all the sand.

Common Buttercup

Bunchberry wasn't the only plant with showy beads to boast. Bluebead Lily was plentiful and its tall "beads" were lovely against the White Birch.

Bluebead Lily

As we were making our way back we ran into a trio that we had talked to in the parking lot.  Rob, Annie and their daughter Hope were hiking the trail with their Golden Retriever, Boomer.  Yes, this trail is dog friendly as long as your four legged friend has on his leash.  We invited them to tag along with us as we searched for the staircase to the beach and Boomer thought that was a great idea.

Around the halfway point on the trail there is a service road crossing, just turn toward the lake and at the end of the path you'll find the stairway.  It was short and easy, but Sherry was right about it being hard to see from the beach.

All five of us shucked off our shoes and waded in the very cold water.  I wouldn't want to swim in it though, those wetsuits for kayaking suddenly made a lot of sense!

Sea caves in the distance

Wayne made a friend for life when he picked up a stick for Boomer and gave it to him.  Turns out Boomer is more about retrieving and then keeping his stick.  We had a lab like that once, she gave you that look when you went to take anything away from her.  She gave it up if you could get her close enough to lay your hand on it.  Sometimes I miss owning a dog....but it doesn't take long to remember all the work involved and we're enjoying our freedom.

Boomer got sticks thrown by Rob, Hope looked for rocks out in the water, and mom Annie and I chatted a bit when she wasn't rock hounding with Hope.  Annie and I both thought the Pearly Everlasting that popped up here and there along the beach was beautiful.

Pearly Everlasting

While I was shooting photos of the Pearly Everlasting Wayne was giving rock skipping lessons.

We all made our way together to the parking lot at Meyers Beach and agreed the beach return was just the right thing after a hot hike.  Parking at Meyers Beach for this hike costs $3, by the way, $5 if your vehicle is over 20 feet.  Our new friends are probably home in Grayslake, Illinois by now gearing up for back-to-school which starts soon in that state.  Maybe we'll run into them again sometime just out running errands, stranger things have happened!