Manitou Island
Dan packing up the kayaks at Bete Gris…
Friday after work we met up with some people at the KBC. While there we hatched a plan to paddle out to Manitou Island. The next day I arranged for someone to take my shift on Monday and on Sunday morning we met Danimal a little before 11:00 at Bete Gris, packed our boats and got our paddle on. This is a great paddle if you don’t have a ton of time or a ton of money and are looking to get away. The south side from Bete Gris out to Keweenaw Point is generally quite protected and even if the weather isn’t good enough to make the crossing out to Manitou, you can still get in a good 10-12 miles of paddling, camp, and then return to your car.
However, if the weather cooperates, you get to make the 3-5 mile crossing over to Manitou (depends on where you leave from) and can then camp in this beautiful little cove on the east side called Fisherman’s Cove. From there you can paddle back to your vehicle at Bete Gris, or you can continue around the Keweenaw to Copper Harbor where you can grab a bite to eat at the Mariner and then get one of the nice guys from The Keweenaw Adventure Company to give you a ride back to your car. Or maybe you already stashed a bike up in Copper Harbor and now all you have to do is ride back to your car… Lots of options.
Our route…
Mari paddling along the Keweenaw…
Taking a break at Montreal Falls…
Making the crossing to Gull Rock on our way to Manitou Island…
Our campsite for the evening…
The Danimal hunting for agates…
Out our front door…
Hunting for the path to Perch Lake…
Still hunting…
Dragging the row boat we found out to Perch Lake…
When you gotta go… you gotta go…
Some evening frisbee action with Dan’s LED powered toy…
Moon over superior
A little bit of fog in the morning…
Rounding the far east side of Manitou Island…
I am planning on doing a camping trip this summer to manitou island and was wondering how was the fishing on perch lake?
Not sure… I’ve only ever hiked into Perch the one time and we didn’t catch anything… sorry
launched from Bete gris can you keep your car off the road in front of the beach overnight?