Hiking and Horseshoe Island
We awoke to a very clean boat! Thanks to a ton of rain! And may be a few wet towels. The sun was shining though so I hung our towels on the line and settled into a calm morning with our guests. Carl had survived the storm just fine and was bobbing ahead of our bow as a good watch duck. Kona got her walk and as we were making breakfast burritos Claire decided she wanted to take a dip in the lake. She is way braver than I! However, she was unaware that Kona won’t let anyone go overboard so Kona jumped in with her before we had her exit ramp out. Just a little dog wrangling and it was all good. We got Kona’s pup plank set up for the first time this year and she picked up as if she never stopped. We really have to hide the tennis balls because she is non-stop insistent to play if she sees them.
By mid-morning, breakfast was done and cleaned up and other boaters were finally showing up in the bay to enjoy a beautiful Saturday. We watched a few boats anchor around us, thankful for Carl, again, for letting them know where our hook was. Claire and I both pulled out our instruments and played for a little while. We then decided we would all take a nice long hike to Eagle Tower via the Eagle Bluff trail. It has been a few years since I have done that hike. It started off a bit rough as I have a little bit of shin splints going on but I was hopeful the hike would warm them up and help. The hike brings you to the base of the Niagara Escarpment. I love this geological feature that stretches our entire sail grounds from Wisconsin to the North Channel (and then beyond, all the way to, you guessed it, Niagara Falls). From afar they are towing cliffs straight to the lake, but up close you get to see limestone cliffs up close. They are highly unstable and you can see recent rock falls no matter where you look. It is neat to walk among the geometrical caves. It looks like something out of Minecraft. The climb up to the bluff wasn’t as strenuous as I remember and I took Peter and Claire to the top of the fire tower as Captain stayed below with Kona who isn’t allowed. Eagle Tower is amazing and beloved by everyone in Door County. Captain and I were here many years ago and climbed the old tower. The next day they condemned it. After a huge fundraising effort, they rebuilt the tower with an ADA accessible ramp which is just amazing. A gentle ramp takes you for a stroll to the top of the forest canopy and the views over the bluff. We enjoyed the views and all of us decided to take the more direct, easier route home via the road. My shins were feeling better, but I wasn’t the only one who was tuckered out!
As we got back to Ciara a gentleman with a beard and two boys came over in their dinghy. “Don’t I know you? We met in St. Ignace.” Yep! I didn’t catch his name then or yesterday, sigh. But I will next time as he keeps his boat close here in Menominee and knows our friends that keep their sailboats there. He informed us our friend Nuke was over at Horseshoe Island where we had hoped to go for the evening, just across the bay. The winds had picked up quite a bit over our hike and Nicolet Bay was quite busy with recreation so we decided to pull anchor and motor across the bay to Horseshoe Island. I hardly had time to arrange the anchor before we dropped her again.
Once secure our friend Nuke came aboard and we all hung out for a few hours. Claire played violin at the bow while we chatted. I made virgin Bloody Mary’s for our guests which were very well received. We decided on Shepards Pie for dinner so I went down to the gally and got dinner started. Not too hard when your three ingredients are Lamb, Mashed Potatoes and Cheddar cheese are all Freeze-Dried! It turned out amazing and with five people aboard we had no leftovers.
By mid-evening we headed to shore with our new small camping chairs, chainsaw, Smore ingredients and instruments. We made a really lovely fire while trying to find the old homestead that is located on the island. We found the well and what is believed to may be part of an old root cellar. We found a pipe that ran between the two but not much else. It has always been difficult to find these remains. Kona thoroughly enjoyed her off leash time and I put her glow collar on just to make sure I could see her when the sun set. She has grown so much over the years and I am still amazed how chill she is off leash and now I understand why Lassie just hung out with her boy.
I played Taps at 9pm from shore, the echo bounced off Eagle bluff a few miles across the bay. There were so many bugs hovering overhead that they made the sound of a drone. I even got a picture of them! Thankfully, they weren’t bothering us, but super loud and creepy! After the sun set they stopped, and we heard a new sound. We heard a Whip-por-will! I’ll post a video of the call on socials. Never heard that bird before and he was super loud that we all caught off guard! We enjoyed the fire and company. I was pretty beat and had a headache so I asked Captain to take me back to Ciara at ten where I promptly fell asleep. The rest of the crew joined maybe an hour or so later. It was a full, beautiful day.
