Late on the Water

I arrive at the paddleboard shop on Barker’s Island in Superior just before noon. Because I learned to paddleboard last spring, and because winters are long, I need a refresher on how to attach the folding seat and ankle strap to the board. (I don’t need a crash course on how to tie my shoes—they have Velcro straps.) Last year after I connected the seat and strap to my board, they stayed put until I deflated it in the fall. Heather, co-owner of North Shore SUP, helps me. (She’s friendly and supportive and would show me how to tie my shoes, if needed. It took me a long time to learn to tie them when I was a kid.)

It’s July 16, and I will paddleboard for the first time this summer. I’ve lost a month because a long, cold spring latched onto the heels of a long, cold winter. Toss in stormy weather plus the three days a week I provide daycare for my grandkids, and getting out on my board slid to the bottom of my list. …

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Wild rice on the St. Louis River, piping plover habitat on Wisconsin Point, beach restoration at Barker’s Island — three videos from the Wisconsin DNR

The Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources has released three new videos about the St. Louis River Area of Concern, including project highlights for wild rice restoration, piping plover habitat restoration and Barker’s Island swimming beach restoration. …

Wild rice on the St. Louis River, piping plover habitat on Wisconsin Point, beach restoration at Barker’s Island — three videos from the Wisconsin DNRRead more

Almanac North: The Wall that Heals

The traveling “Wall that Heals” was set up on Barkers Island in Superior July 20-23. It features a half-scale replica of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington, D.C., together with a mobile education center. WDSE-TV cameras captured the arrival of the wall, the opening ceremony and local reaction.

Park Point Ferry

You might have seen the news story on a University of Wisconsin-Superior feasibility study of a water taxi between Barkers Island and Park Point. In what’s old is new again, I remember hearing of a ferry that used to run between Superior and the end of Park Point, when a community of summer cabins existed out there. But I can’t find any information on it, such as when it operated and where it docked on either the Superior or Park Point sides. Does anybody know where I can find any information on that?