Evergreen Content Articles

Timeless articles about the Park and Friends of the Apostle Islands National Lakeshore.

Of Sun Dogs and Sunlit Winter Mornings in the Apostle Islands

Of Sun Dogs and Sunlit Winter Mornings in the Apostle Islands

Peppermint. On mornings this cold – minus 8 degrees Fahrenheit with a wind chill dipping even lower – each breath tingles against your teeth like peppermint. Each step in the new snow squeaks beneath my boots. In cold like this, it takes a strength of will to get out so early but there are rewards too, like what lies in the sky just ahead. For many of us, the Apostle Islands are a picture-perfect summer postcard kind of place – the “singing sands” beneath your feet in Julian Bay, the sky-blue waves on the horizons, the echo of water dripping like notes played on a harp deep in the sea caves....

The Day the Sun Stood Still: Winter Solstice

The Day the Sun Stood Still: Winter Solstice

Something important happened in the Apostle Islands National Lakeshore at 9:59 a.m. on Tuesday, December 21, 2021. No trumpets blared, no speeches were given, no fireworks punctuated the occasion. It was a quiet miracle as far as I could tell. Where I walked alone through the scant snow along the lakeshore, just a few notes of chickadee song tinseled the air. No other sound but the waves of my own breathing. But don’t be fooled. Despite the lack of fanfare, this was an event of monumental consequence: in the Apostle Islands National Lakeshore, the sun stood still. Beach ice glistens in the...

Dance of the Birch Trees

Dance of the Birch Trees

A walk in the dancing forest this morning reminded me of another windstorm, this one in December of 1874 and made famous by John Muir. While others ran for shelter, Muir “lost no time in pushing out into the woods to enjoy” the storm. Picking a sturdy-looking tree, he climbed as high as he could into the swaying wind, clinging to the trunk as the tree itself “fairly flapped and swished in the passionate torrent, bending and swirling backward and forward, round and round, tracing indescribable combinations of vertical and horizontal curves, while I clung with muscles firm braced, like a...

Sea Smoke: Winter in the air, and on the lake

Sea Smoke: Winter in the air, and on the lake

One morning, usually in December, the lake wakes with Winter on its breath: sea smoke. Officially, the explanation is "surface fog resulting from masses of frigidly cold air directly over warm bodies of water." The sunrise temperature in the Apostle Islands today was a chilly and still 0 degrees. As cold as that air temperature is, the thick body of Lake Superior cools more slowly than the air, greedily holding on to the slow summer heat. Lake temperature today was 43 degrees F. And the lake wrapped the islands in ribbons of sea smoke. Whatever the official definition of “sea smoke” is, it...

Watch now: Friends receives 2021 Lake Superior Magazine Achievement Award Tuesday in Bayfield

Watch now: Friends receives 2021 Lake Superior Magazine Achievement Award Tuesday in Bayfield

What a beautiful day to celebrate the work of the Friends of the Apostle Islands National Lakeshore. The Lake Superior Achievement Award has honored artists, authors, photographers, government agencies, museums, tribal governments, and now Friends of the Apostle Islands. Konnie LeMay, publisher of Lake Superior Magazine, presented the award on a perfect November afternoon in Bayfield, on Tuesday, November 9th, with the islands and the lake in the background.Earlier coverage (News Release) The Friends of the Apostles Islands National Lakeshore based in Bayfield, Wisconsin, has achieved many...

Friends of the Apostle Islands National Lakeshore honored with 2021 Achievement Award

Friends of the Apostle Islands National Lakeshore honored with 2021 Achievement Award

For “contributing significantly to the well-being of Lake Superior and its peoples,” Lake Superior Magazine awarded its 2021 Achievement Award to Friends of the Apostle Islands National Lakeshore. Magazine Editor Konnie LeMay writes in the November 2021 issue, “The Friends of the Apostle Islands National Lakeshore provides a can-do role model for others, and even more, it has connected a national treasure to its local community in a way that energizes commitments and communication.” The award comes as the Friends wraps up the 50th Anniversary celebration for the National Lakeshore, at a time...

Watch now: Sense of Adventure: Inspire!

Watch now: Sense of Adventure: Inspire!

Once again, Shakespeare had it right. “Nature,” The Bard once wrote, “has music for those who will listen.” Randall Adams has listened. A singer/songwriter from the Chippewa Valley who was once a sea kayaking guide in the Apostle Islands heard that music in the Islands and used that inspiration to write his song “A Day Among the Apostles.”  The summer wind strumming the waves, the slow repeating verse of the surf, the voices in the bogs at sunrise. There is music in these islands – and poetry and art and a beauty that speaks to the artist’s soul, and through them, to all of us. The islands...

Lakeshore Logbook –  Warren Bielenberg

Lakeshore Logbook – Warren Bielenberg

Warren Bielenberg serving as a volunteer-in-park at Great Smoky Mountains National Park As part of our 50th Anniversary celebration, we are collecting and sharing the stories of people connected to the islands, whether they are park guests, former residents or former park employees. This is the 33rd in our series called “Lakeshore Logbook,” a collection of memories provided by former National Park Service employees. Living and working in the park on a day to day basis, they’ve experienced a lot to be sure. We hope you enjoy their perspectives. Warren Bielenberg was the park's first  first...

Park visitors praise Stockton Island amphitheater and ongoing accessibility initiatives

Park visitors praise Stockton Island amphitheater and ongoing accessibility initiatives

Timing is everything. On August 13th, the National Park Service and Friends of the Apostle Islands National Lakeshore conducted a grand opening of the accessible amphitheater at Presque Isle on the Lakeshore’s Stockton Island.  Pandemic protocols required the ceremony to be small and unannounced to the public but some park visitors who just happened to be on the island at the time took in the program and they’ve provided some heartwarming feedback.The new $55,000 amphitheater, with its gently sloping ramps, wide benches, and accessible entrance, is now available to visitors with mobility...

Lakeshore Logbook –  Jim Stowell

Lakeshore Logbook – Jim Stowell

Jim Stowell and a photo of Raspberry Island Keeper Lee Benton As part of our 50th Anniversary celebration, we are collecting and sharing the stories of people connected to the islands, whether they are park guests, former residents or former park employees. This is the 31st in our series called “Lakeshore Logbook,” a collection of memories provided by former National Park Service employees. Living and working in the park on a day to day basis, they’ve experienced a lot to be sure. We hope you enjoy their perspectives. Jimm Stowell worked as Raspberry Island Ranger Interpreter from 2003...