More Stories and Sea Cave Pictures Too

I told you I had a few more stories to tell and pictures to show, and I do.  The first story is about me and how I get so caught up in what I'm doing that sometimes I forget to double check all my gear that I drop on the ground before I pick it up and move on.

We're going through that hole, right?

I've gotten a lot of sand in my bag and lost a few lens caps, but when we took our hike along the sea caves I lost not only the cap for my new 10-22mm lens, but also the polarizer that's only been used a few times.  The good news is that it wasn't an expensive loss, the bad news that we had that kayak trip coming up where I really needed it.  So I strapped on my hiking boots and hit the trail...running.  Well, running where it was mostly flat, anyway.  Surprisingly the bottom of my feet didn't hurt the next morning.  Not surprisingly the missing items remained missing. 

Ship ahoy!

Of course as I was almost done with my return leg of the "run" I realized I had the polarizer on the lens when I took that long beach shot.  Wayne had parked on the dirt road that bisected the trail, so when I got back to the truck I had to tell him I had to check by the Pearly Everlasting too.  Still no luck, and since I checked the beach that means I ended up doing the whole 4 miles.  The exercise was nice, but I've been better about where I stow my lens caps and polarizers since then, trust me.

Splish splash

Of course this necessitated a trip to Duluth to get a new 77mm polarizer.  All they had was the Promaster brand which I paid (gulp!) $70 to get.  I did some lens tests comparing the polarization effect to that of my polarizer for my 58mm lens which was half the cost and did not see any difference.  I did my testing out on the shore of Lake Superior, but maybe there is some nuance I'm missing.  We'll talk more about that topic perhaps when I do my post about what little we saw in Duluth on our daytrip.

I know I've already mentioned the logging efforts in the area, but after the Great Chicago Fire quarrying for sandstone was a big deal in this area also.  From 1871 to 1893 the stone was in great demand in the major Midwest cities, until the World's Columbian Exposition when the "White City" set the new trend for lighter stone.  Slabs of stone that were already cut sit in piles on some of the islands, growing lichens and bearing witness to all that has transpired in the area since the quarries were abandoned before the turn of the century.

Many of the towns in northern Wisconsin used this stone for the city halls and prominent downtown businesses, once you look for it you'll see it everywhere.

Elegant Sunburst Lichen with graffiti at bottom center

I found a GREAT write-up on the topic of the abandoned quarries with some excellent research and photos to back it up here.  Hop on over if the topic interests you.  It interests me so much I'm sure I'll be back to search out one of those quarries myself.  If architecture in general, turn-of-the-century Chicago history or the 1893 World's Columbian Exposition interest you make sure to read "The Devil in the White City" by Erik Larson.  As a "novel" it's a bit on the slower side, but the research he put into it is truly top notch and I really enjoyed all the architectural behind-the-scenes involved in getting the "World Fair" built in record time on a piece of swamp land.

In 1854, the Commissioner of Indian Affairs arranged a treaty council in an attempt to get the Chippewa (Ojibwe) Indians to give up their titles to certain pieces of land on Lake Superior. Several Ojibwe chiefs responded to the call, and they convened in the town of La Pointe on Madeline Island, one of the 22 Apostle Islands.  Information regarding the Red Cliff Band's history was difficult for me to find online, which of course only sharpened my curiosity.  I did learn that they signed more treaties with the United States than any other tribe and never fought with Americans after 1815, but have a long history of fighting other tribes such as the Iroquois and Sioux (Lakota).

Due to their location in the far northern part of the Midwest the Ojibwe lived mostly apart from settlers, besides the white men coming to harvest the land's natural resources, and they were able to maintain much of their culture.  They were hunter-gatherers who harvested wild rice and maple syrup and were skilled trappers and fishermen.  Want to know more?  I found a pretty good link here, but I'm keeping my eyes out for a really good book that includes some personal histories to bring their story alive.

One more personal story of our own, we were in such a hurry to pack up and leave yesterday that we left behind our wooden "Nomadic Newfies" sign at the campground.  I don't know what we'll do about this since when I called the campground owner he had no suggestions.  Another camper already warned us he doesn't take credit cards so getting him to ship it for us might be a special kind of nightmare.  For the moment I'm leaving the decision on the back burner...maybe I'll take a quick solo trip up there before we go on our October trip.  I don't tend to like trips that far by myself, but who knows?  I know I wouldn't complain about a few more days on Lake Superior in some early fall weather!  Any RV'ers planning to head up there in September let me know and that would give me an additional reason to make an effort for a trip back.

Well, that's it for our sea cave tour, thanks again to Tim and Elena from Living Adventure, they did a fabulous job!  All that's left is the movie, so get your snack out and enjoy!  (Click on the YouTube symbol at bottom of movie insert to view in full screen at best quality)