Madeline Island - Lake Superior

[Dave S]

My Wife and I recently did a trip from St Paul, MN to Madeline Island out from the Wisconsin south shore of lake superior for some under wing camping. On the way back we followed the South Shore to the west to Duluth MN, where there is a neat little airport on a sand bar where you can land, meander through the poison ivy over the ridge and be immediately on a wonderful sandy beach just 5 miles from downtown Duluth.

I'll reference the photos attached by number as I am not real sure how to organize this stuff.....

2458 - A beautiful day in Northern Wisconsin approaching the south shore of Lake Superior

2460 - Crossing the bay out to Madeline

2462 - The Apostle islands are an archipelago of a number of islands of which Madeline is the only one occupied by a small settlement and a fantastic little airport. Lots of sea-kayaking and sailing in this area

2466 - A sand bar about 6 miles out from the south shore

2471 - A good view of the whole island with the airport to the left of the photo

2478 - Closeup of the airport - very good setup with excellent tiedowns, facilities (BTW - they ask for $10 per night which covers your camping, tiedowns and a 24/7 bathroom/flight planning room)

2480 - Wisconsin city of Bayfield west of the island from which most people arrive via a ferry to get to Madeline

2482 - Settlement of La Pointe a little to the south of the island's airport

2488 - our underwing (sort of underwing) camping setup

2495 - A little predicted light rain must fall on the way back to St Paul

2497 - the sprinkles thin and the St Croix river dividing part of Wisconsin from MN shows up in the foreground

Mosquito were few, a short walk to La Pointe (1.5 miles - or a person can get a ride) a large gaggle of sky carp (Canadian Geese) were around interfering with aircraft operations on the ground - but that gave us something to throw rocks at to help other pilots out trying to taxi off the runway after landing.

Overall - great place for a laid back kitfox camping trip.

Sincerely,

Dave S
KF7 Trigear

[Dick B in KY]

Nice pics, looks like a great outing. Good to see a Kitfox can fly in the rain.

Dick B

[Av8r_Sed]

Dave,

Nice trip report and pics. I've wondered if Madeline Is. would be a worthy destination once I get past my phase I test period. Sounds like it is.

I'm having a little trouble picturing the combined bathroom/ flight planning room. Sectional on the wall of the stall and a telephone handy by?

-- Paul S

[Dvanlanen]

Dave,

Looks like a great trip. Beautiful scenery. Thanks for sharing with the list.

Dave V.

[WWhunter]

My son and I took the 172 to Madelin Island last summer for a 'last time together' trip. It was his last summer home before heading off into the Air Force for pilot training. Spent several days there hiking around and camping. Sent a couple days at the Park there and just happened to bump into the Redbull Grunman seaplane. They were filming a documentry on fresh water surfing.
Anyone looking for a place to get away from the hustle of the city should definitely take a trip to the Island. Nice little museum and very friendly people.