From our home base in Silver Bay, we were able to get to some very nice paddling on Lake Superior. We were hoping to be able to meet people as we went and get recommendations for what we should explore and this worked well for us here. We picked a quiet morning to head down to Split Rock Lighthouse State Park to paddle around the bay. We had super calm water when we headed out from Pebble Beach and it stayed calm all morning. We headed up and down the shore, marveling at the clear water and giant rock all around, both below and above the water. So many textures and colors. The only downside to the morning was the presence of biting flies. They were pretty calm and slow when we started out, but as the day warmed up, they became more active. Mike figured out how to tsunami them off his board with a paddle full of water, but that only helped for a brief period. We tried to go ashore, but the flies chased us off pretty quickly. Still, the scenery and experience was worth putting up with some little annoyances.
We also got a recommendation to head down to Black Beach, which is just outside of Silver Bay. We had driven through the area, but were scared off by how busy it was. There was an RV campground and lots of cars parked down by the beach, so we didn’t think it was worth checking out originally. After talking to someone at Bear Lake, though, we decided to head down for an early evening after we got things all squared away after backpacking. A lot of people were heading out of the park when we arrived and we were so glad that we went. We took off from a rocky, pebbly beach and quickly got away from all of the people taking selfies on the shore. There was an island that people could walk out to from the beach, but we headed for the next one over, that required a board or boat to get to. It is hard to find a soft spot to sit anywhere on the north shore, but the rocks and hardy trees and plants make for a beautiful experience. We climbed all around the island covered in orange lichen and took some time to catch up with family as we had a great cell signal. We tried some stand up paddling before heading into shore and got a little more comfortable getting around in waves.
Just gorgeous! It never seems fair when the flies or mosquitoes come and get you out on the water.