When visiting the Apostle Islands, it’s important to understand that these islands are wild places and to be bear aware. Oak and Outer Islands are currently closed to camping and day-use because bears have been escalating their encounters with humans and have caused property damage. The current National Park Service advisory (as of September 5, 2024) says,”These closures are necessary to ensure visitor safety and bear well-being.”

As background, the park service adds, “Black bears are an important component of the native wildlife community within Apostle Islands National Lakeshore, and park staff must prioritize visitor safety while balancing the natural distribution, density, and behavior of the park’s bear population. A bear’s natural curiosity will bring them in contact with people. Those experiences, and what they learn from them, shape their future behavior. They may have learned that people have novel rewards, like food. Past experience may have shown them that people aren’t to be feared. Bears frequenting places with people is a learned behavior. An island closures interrupts this learning.”

In an effort to help park users understand the best way to deal with potential interactions with bears, we share the story of a group of kayak campers who visited Oak Island prior to the current closure. The author of this story, John Frank, is also the author of the book, Apostle Islands Water Trips: An Explorer’s Guide, which is available on this website.

For the last 32 years I frequently have been part of an irregular group of paddlers who have made an annual kayak/camping trip to the Apostle Islands around the 4th of July. This year’s trip started in February when Karen, our group leader, registered for the National Park Service’s lottery for group (8 to 21 persons) campsites. In the lottery, she drew the Oak Island dock Group Campsite B for three nights – from June 30 to the morning of July 4.

Oak Island, one of the 21 islands in the Apostle Islands National Lakeshore, has at least two features that distinguish it from the rest of the Apostle Islands. It is the tallest island, and it has the highest concentration of black bears, higher than any other island in the archipelago and perhaps higher than any other place in Wisconsin or the world. The story of this year’s trip isn’t about how tall Oak Island is.

Rather, this year’s trip story could be summarized succinctly in a limerick which is “…a form of verse that appeared in England in the early years of the 18th century” (Wikipedia) with rhyming first, second, and last lines and a particular meter. Here’s the limerick:

As with all of our trips, we spent well over an hour packing our kayaks before launching, and it took us even longer to paddle about 7 miles out to the Oak Island dock. Perhaps the trip to Oak Island took us longer this year because our paddling cadence has started to slow down. The median age for the 12 members in this year’s group was over 70, and our oldest member (me) will turn 80 later this year. But we have been joined recently by a twenty something who can lift as much weight as the rest of us can lift only in our memories. We love to have him along on our trips. Besides being stronger than the rest of us, sometimes he also “fixes” our electronic devices.

We made our open water crossing from the mainland to the Oak Island sandspit in calm water, then worked our way up the southwesterly shore of Oak a bit over a mile to the dock. The significant evaporation over a nearly iceless 2023-2024 Lake Superior winter left the water level lower than the norm, leaving us with somewhat less space on the “beach” to unload our kayaks next to the Oak Island dock.

Oak Island’s Group Campsite B is located near the ranger station in the midst of a thick tangle of thimbleberries. The thimbleberry itself looks a lot like a red raspberry, although these thimbleberries were still green. As we entered the campsite, we noted that the thimbleberries could be a possible bear attractor when they ripened. We remembered that the last time our group camped on Oak B was in 2015, and we did see at least one bear on that trip. That camp visitor was rather shy.

Lugging our heavier equipment a couple of hundred yards up the path from the dock to Group Campsite B made some of us regret our careful kayak packing skills. The air felt warm while we were setting up our tents and after the exertion some of us returned to the dock area to take a (short) dip in the cold Lake Superior water.

Les, the volunteer ranger at Oak Island stopped by our campsite to say hello and informed us that there had been some bear activity recently at the group campsite at the sandspit. He reminded us that we should follow protocol and keep all of our food, cooking equipment, and other things with a strong and interesting odor, like toiletries, in the bear locker at all times when they were not in use.

Soon after lunch we sat around the picnic tables and, in good Midwestern fashion, discussed the weather. Overnight it was likely to rain, and the forecast for the next two days promised a stronger than normal westerly wind that might keep us off the water. The 2024 trip seemed likely to emphasize hiking and sitting in camp having long discussions about politics, paddling trips and life histories. A few members of our group hung tarps over the picnic tables in anticipation of the overnight rain.

Some of us spent the afternoon hiking the trail to the sandspit for a cooling swim on the beautiful beach. A few others hiked a short distance to look at the individual (1 to 7 campers) campsite #3 just north of Group Campsite B, and still others snoozed in the warm afternoon sun. Oak Island has over 11 miles of hiking trails with a variety of distances and terrain, and along with Stockton Island, is a good destination island for Lakeshore visitors interested in hiking.

The hikers in our group returned to camp just before we started preparation of the evening meal. Returning from their (2 ½ mile round trip) trek to the sandspit, they passed our kayaks pulled up on shore near the dock on their way back to our campsite.

“I saw you left your kayak hatch open, so I put the cover back on,” Don said to Sue as he came into camp from the hike. “But I didn’t leave it open,” Sue responded.

None of us thought too much about the open hatch until later when we started preparing the evening meal. One of our group members on the trail between the campsite and the latrine yelled “Bear” loud enough for all of us to hear. Several of us went down the trail in the direction of the bear call, clapping our hands and yelling. Others of us stayed behind at the campsite to begin to put the few items of food and cooking equipment that had been removed from the bear locker for the evening meal. 

Our intruder ambled indifferently through the yard next to the ranger’s cabin and did not increase his slow walking gait until one photo by Barb Nagel member of our group found a kettle and a large spoon and came down the path from the campsite, banging away. The bear didn’t like the sound and put a bit more hustle into its step. The pot banging sound was annoying enough that some of us also considered running into the woods. Joy’s effective beating on the pot caused our group members to honor her with the designation, “Bear Chaser.” We kept the park service volunteer informed about the bear encounters throughout our stay.

So, did our group do the right thing by making noise and confronting the bear? In the event of a campsite bear visit, the Apostle Islands National Lakeshore website recommends:

In a Visitor Area (campsite, dock, or picnic area)

• Show that You are in Charge: Use a loud voice tone and upright body posture. Try to look as large as possible.
• Make Noise: Bang pots, yell, and make loud noises until the bear leaves the area.
• Report the Encounter: Report the encounter to park staff as soon as possible.
• If Bear Acts Aggressively: Leave the area immediately, do not run, and report the encounter.
• Trash should be stored in a bear box or hung before it is packed out.
• Pets should be on leash to prevent wildlife interactions.

How you deal with a bear at a campsite differs from the actions you should take if you encounter a bear on the trail outside a camping area. In the back country, think of yourself as being an unwelcome intruder in the bear’s home and act more like an unwelcome guest. The Park Service suggests:

In the Backcountry

• Walk Away While Facing the Bear: Slowly move away and avoid direct eye contact.
• Speak Quietly and Act Passively: Remain calm and avoid sudden movements.
• If the Bear Approaches: Wave your arms and speak louder to identify yourself as a human.

The bear (or perhaps another bear) visited our campsite area five times during the three days we were at the campsite. Each time we responded by yelling, clapping our hands and when a pot was available, beating a spoon against the pot. Each time the bear ambled away but did not immediately break into a run. We diligently kept our food and other odoriferous things in the bear locker. There’s one at every campsite in the Apostle Islands National Lakeshore.

We became accustomed to the bear visits, and in a blatant anthropomorphizing whim, named the bear, Acorn. (Sorry if that seems trite, but isn’t an acorn obviously a product of Oak Island?) But attributing human characteristics to a bear may not be the correct approach. Bears are wild, and it is in the interest of both the bear and the Lakeshore visitors that they remain wild and afraid of humans. “Problem bears” (some say there are no problem bears, only problem humans) mean campsites may be closed to humans (the park service closed Oak Island campsites shortly after our camping trip) while the park service takes actions to try to restore fear of humans in the bear. Following the rules makes it more likely that other humans who want to use the campsite will not have their plans disrupted, and some day you may be one of those subsequent human visitors. Anthropomorphizing again, the bears will also ultimately appreciate your following the rules. Although the bear would initially enjoy the high-calorie human food, later the bear risks harassment or worse.

It probably was a good thing that the two intervening days of our 2024 trips were windy. That meant we went for a few more hikes and stayed in camp rather than paddling to neighboring islands from our Oak Island base camp.

In prior years we have ventured to Raspberry Island from our Oak Island base camp to visit the lighthouse grounds and take a tour of the light house. Some years we have circumnavigated Oak Island itself, and in other years we have paddled to Manitou Island to visit the historic fish camp.

On the morning of the 4th of July, it was time to return to the mainland. As if on schedule the wind quieted, and we carried our gear back to the dock to again try to make it fit in the holds of our kayaks – an easier task for the paddle back because we had eaten most of the food we had taken with us.

Only then did I notice that Sue’s kayak was not the only one that the bear had probably visited. My front hatch cover came off far too easily when I began to reload my kayak for the trip back to the mainland. Although I never have carried food in the front hold of my kayak, the bear apparently still found something of interest and left a split front hatch cover as a reminder of its visit to our kayaks. But beyond the split hatch cover, the bear had provided an idea for the last line of the limerick summarizing our trip. Thank you, bear. Thank you duct tape.

Shipwreck – John Frank photo

Exploring the mainland shoreline on the leisurely paddle back from Oak Island left us all with a feeling of slight sadness that our annual Apostle Islands paddle trip was once again over, but the melancholy was also mixed with the memories of experiencing a reality different and perhaps with a deeper meaning than what we experience in our “normal” world.

Thanks to author and paddler John Frank for sharing his experience. You can get updates on current closings and other current advisories on the park website. The park service website also has a section devoted to helping you plan your next camping trip to the islands. You can also vist the Discover the Park section of this website to learn more about about the islands, lighthouses and other wonderful features in the park.