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From: Chuck Holst <cholst_at_bitstream.net> subject: [Paddlewise] Apostle Islands Fly-In Date: Tue, 2 Jul 2002 10:24:36 -0500 · This archive was generated by hypermail 2.4.0 : Thu Aug 21 2025 - 16:33:30 PDT

Anyone planning to kayak camp in Lake Superior's Apostle Islands July 4 
weekend should check with locals (National Park Service office, Trek & 
Trail, etc.) about the insect population before heading there. It is the 
worst I have seen in 14 years of paddling the Apostles. Linda and I were up 
there last weekend, and abandoned our plans for a four-night trip after one 
night on Manitou Island.

The fly population was horrendous. These were big black flies about twice 
the size of a house fly. They swarmed all around us, settling in thick 
clusters on sweat-dampened clothing. Linda at one point must have had three 
or four dozen on her back. My white Tilley hat is covered with fly spots. 
Fortunately, they were slow to bite, but they made it just about impossible 
to cook. (We ate our emergency freeze-dried meal the first night -- zip 
open, pour in boiling water after fishing out dead fly, stir, zip closed, 
wait 10 minutes, zip open and serve). Preparing an elaborate meal would 
have been hellish. We had a great site on the sandspit on Ironwood Island 
reserved for the next two days, but instead paddled back to Little Sand Bay 
on Sunday.

There also were tent caterpillars all over -- even climbing up our tent 
pitched on the sand -- and mosquitoes, though the mosquitoes were 
relatively innocuous.

Fly game: Standing in the lake in my drysuit, I found it was possible, by 
swinging my cupped hand through the air over my head and downward, to 
sometimes scoop up several flies at once and throw them in the lake. They 
have no flotation, and sink rapidly. They don't even struggle once 
submerged --probably cold shock. And there are always more to play with.

Other observations: The lake is warming up. I measured surface temperatures 
of 56-60 degrees in various locations, the warmest being in shallow bays. 
It was hot, with forecast temperatures of 90 degrees -- too hot to get away 
from the flies by staying inside our tent. Wearing our drysuits was 
comfortable only as long as the wind blew across the cold water. Downwind 
of an island the air was several degrees hotter, almost stifling, with a 
distinct odor of hot vegetation. On our return trip the wind was out of the 
southeast veering to southwest, always coming at us from over land. 
Ultimately, our drysuits proved too hot -- though great fly protection -- 
and, taking a calculated risk, we removed them on Oak Island for much of 
the return journey, paddling only in our midweight Capilene insulation and 
the usual PFDs and spray skirts. For such hot conditions on moderately cold 
water, in the future I would wear a long-sleeved Second Skin or Capilene 
shirt and a Fuzzy Rubber vest, with a breathable waterproof paddling jacket 
in reserve.

Risk calculation: When calculating the risk of capsizing in light clothing, 
we took into account the possibility of heat exhaustion versus the current 
and forecast weather, the lake temperature, which was not so cold as to 
cause cold shock or extremely rapid debilitation, our paddling skills, 
which include reliable rolls and braces, and the stability of our Romanys 
when loaded with camping gear. Wind was 5-15 knots and waves were rarely as 
high as a foot.

Note also that if you return to Bayfield so late the restaurants are all 
closed (it took us five hours to paddle out to Manitou, nine hours to 
return), as we did Sunday night, the Holiday service station 14 miles south 
in Washburn has a microwave food area. The beef, bean, and green chili 
burrito is actually quite tasty compared to a lot of microwave sandwiches.

Chuck Holst

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