Fiore’s Travel Series: Madeline Island, Part 1
Madeline Island, Lake Superior – United States
Madeline Island is the place where we all can be free, or at least more than most places... The island is a tiny island town, known as La Pointe, Wisconsin, and is located just off the mainland city of Bayfield. There is a really cool apple festival in Bayfield in the Fall that all the local's rave about. You should note that this area is probably the busiest it ever is during the apple festival. Many people travel to the area to buy local homemade apple jams, apple butter, and other apple goodies. Here's some info on the apple festival, https://www.travelwisconsin.com/events/fairs-festivals/bayfield-apple-festival-41264.
*Note all photos and information is created by me unless otherwise linked/noted.
[Summer at Madeline Island, Lake Superior Bay]
Also, just a little side note - Lake Superior [you know the lake between Bayfield and Madeline Island?] is the second largest fresh water lake in the world, beat only by Lake Baikal in Russia, and is the largest in the United States. See the link for more info: https://geology.com/records/largest-lake.shtml.
[Summer at Big Bay Town Park, Madeline Island]
Winter at Madeline Island
... Ok back to the island... Before talking about the best parts of this island, which includes visiting Madeline in the summer, I want to talk about the experience of Madeline during the winter...
Madeline Island is actually beautiful all year round, and I am actually grateful to have first experienced it in the snowy months.
In the winter, it is barren, desolate, with an eerie quiet solitude to the fresh snow packed roads and pines all around. It seems to only be visited by locales of the area this time of year... In other words, there are few tourists around ... if any people at all. And really, it's a perfect time of year and place for someone looking to hide away. All the gift shops around the area are mostly shut down during this time. Although, the island does have a post office and grocery store open along with a few bars and restaurants that are able to survive the winter season.
I particularly loved the smell of the fresh pine trees that are abundant on the island... that smell is so unique here. It isn't everywhere in the world and is one to truly be grateful for...
Also, there are some pretty cool ice caves you can walk to when the lake is frozen. Unfortunately, I didn't get a chance to partake in that activity when I was there, but I recommend it if you have the opportunity to do so. You can also kayak to the caves in the summer months. Many people actually snowshoe over to the caves in the winter. Check out Philip Schwarz photography of the ice caves in the area. His photography of the ice caves is stunning. https://philipschwarzphotography.wordpress.com/2010/02/08/winter-photography-at-the-apostle-islands-ice-caves/.
And to think that people actually live here during the winter?
The residents who live here find a way. They live on the island all year round, all throughout the winter... which can be from as early as end of September to May-ish.
Not to worry though, there is a pretty cool ice road in the winter months to travel over the grand ole Lake Superior, back and forth from the mainland to the island.
In fact, I've traveled over the ice road on a winter day trip once to check it out... It was coincidentally after hearing about a family who fatally passed away a few weeks prior due to their vehicle submerging into the lake ... when the weather was all too warm, and the ice road no longer favorable for travel ... It was re-opened for travel the day we went... AND let me tell you that was a fun “first time driving over the ice experience.”
I can't imagine how those residents feel about traveling the ice road every day, and the hesitancy of driving over the ice road during the transitional months of the lake in the Spring and the Fall, before the ice fully freezes or thaws out.
What if you worked on the mainland, and had to drive to work every day? How would you get across in the months of transition? Would you take all vacation time, and stock it up for the year to take it during that time period? Or would you just plan on working a job on the island?
Here is some cool video footage of the ice road experience. I found it on YouTube showing the rather "fun" drive... Can you hear the sarcasm yet? I guess it's fun for someone who likes to take some risks, and hey... everyone should probably experience "taking risks" once in their lifetime... The source is listed below the video.
Source: Katy Hansen, YouTube
...Don't let winter and that story scare you off though. Madeline Island is truly a great place to visit all year round. It's great for someone who likes to hide away from people and experience rest in a society that doesn't favor rest over work.
UP NEXT
...Come back tomorrow to see my second part to this post about Madeline Island in the Summertime! It will include some tips and specific places to visit with some more bad ass photography of the summer months there. Visiting Madeline is fun in the winter, but if you love summer as much as I do, it's really the best time to go. Every shop and restaurant is open, more tourists, more people, and the sun is nice and warm. What can really go wrong there?
...On a really random side note... I won first place in the recent travelpine contest. Our 
https://steemit.com/travelpine/@fiorebird/fiorebird-s-travel-series-oregon
Until next time my friends....
Coming Soon: Other Travel Post Topics
Madeline Island in the Summer - PART II
The Grand Canyon, Arizona
Duluth/Superior, Wisconsin Point, The North Shore
The Blue Dragonfly Inn - Cimarron, New Mexico
Totagatac Flowage - Minong, Wisconsin
Sliding Rock National Park - Sedona, Arizona
Long Beach, California
Venice, California
Santa Monica, California
Cozumel, Mexico
P. S. Don't forget to follow my account if you're interested in seeing more travel tips, and/or art, and photography series 