LAKE MICHIGAN, DOOR COUNTY WISCONSIN

"Lake Michigan... a colossal diamond—clear, pure, sparkling, lying like a heaven-lighted gem in a bowl of rich greenery."  —Julian Ralph

Heading to the Big Pond  

   "Michi-gami" -the indian word for lake Michigan meaning Great Water. This is OUR big pond -Lake Michigan is the only Great Lake totally within the U.S. border. Wisconsin claims over 400 miles of its shoreline.

     

 

  I'm Seeking My First Visit below the surface of Lake Michigan. Have heard so much about this Great Lakes' water clarity; spots so clear you can see 100ft down! -the clearest inland lakes in wis have only 20-30 ft of clarity.

   Found further motivation after reading the book The Living Great Lakes by Jerry Dennis. He wrote about his journey by ship to all the Great Lakes. Loved his story. He speaks of his growing passion for the Great Lakes & the limitations of staying on the surface: "I wanted to get my arms around it, get to know it, to dive into it."—words that play into my own underwater interests.
   

Two Rivers  

   Friday we arrived at the Lighthouse Inn in Two Rivers. (Cheryl gives the motel a 4 out of 5 star rating). Located on a peninsula tucked into the lake -catching an extra amount of lake effect climate, Two Rivers is called "the coldest town in Wisconsin."  

   Was able to visit a nearby beach that evening. Standing in that shockingly -achingly cold water -endless horizon, waves crashing in like an ocean, a surreal glaze of numbness creeps over me -too much to take in! Besides an overwhelming sense that this supreme natural wonder had a divine overseer, I find that sorting through some basic info helps me get my mind slightly around it & appreciate what Im looking at:                   
   

Rock & Ice  

   In a nutshell these are the two biggest natural factors in the formation of Lake Michigan. Glaciers (ice) from Canada followed river routes that were already there; bulldozing & gouging depressions into rock (the right kind of rock -shale stone) that was soft enough to give way & leave behind tremendous excavated swimming pools waiting to be filled in by all that melting ice & river flow...The Great Lakes!

The Search Is On 

   Explored north into Door county the next  day, looking for the perfect beach spot with clear water & some rocky structure for my underwater interests. The Green Bay -west side of Door county wasnt clear enough. Checked out suggested beach & diving spots all the way to Gills Rock.  Tired from driving, we cooled off at Newport State Park beach on the north east side of Door county. Great beach with beautifully clear water, but lacking bottom features that attracts fish & makes underwater exploring interesting.

Finally Found It! 

   With time running out we decided to skip Washington island & its famous School House -pebble stone beach & focus on the east side of Door county, which typically has better water clarity.  Headed to Cave Point County Park. This was where we spent the rest of the day.                     

     Cave Point County Park is right next to Whitefish Dunes State Park -home of the highest dunes on the west side of Lake Michigan.  Cave Point attracts alot of people  that want to jump from the bluffs into beautifully clear, freezing cold lake michigan water. Heres where I was able to head below the surface. I wasn't dissapointed!
    

Below The Surface 

   Did the shock treatment intro to the lake by jumping off a bluff without my wetsuit. Was like cannon balling into ice water without the ice cubes. Amazingly exhilarating! After the initial shock, a warm, actually hot, sensation flooded my body as I climbed out. Relaxed, I wanted to jump again.
   Even after donning my full wetsuit later, the small amount of exposed skin on my face ached. But after a few minutes, that ache went away & I was very comfortable for the next hr. Another cold water adaptation to keep in mind.
    Noisy above the surface, with the waves & the chatter of the many people gathered along the bluffs, the great silence below the surface is striking. Add the pristine clarity of the water & you feel like you've entered another dimension.
     Didn't spearfish because the water is too cold here for panfish. Saw alot of small fish called Gobies or Darters, many thousands of Zebra mussels carpeting the bottom & a couple small schools of Herring/Shad or Alewives -looked like Sardines to me.
     The water never got much deeper than 20ft within a hundred yds of shore. Some underwater small bluff like rock formations were great fun to glide through. Hated to leave this liquid garden of Eden.
 
     Five words capture most of our Lake Michigan experience above and below the surface: Clear, Cold, Vast, Sand and Seagulls.

• Clear -Why so clear? Zebra mussels have made Lake Michigan's water very clear in the last 20 years. Also, water is more clear on the lake Michigan side of Door County vs GreenBay side, especially with a west wind.
• Cold -Why so cold? Water temp depends on lake currents, which depend on wind direction. The lake Michigan side of Door county water gets coldest when a west wind blows warm surface water away, causing the colder deep water to come to shore. Water temps can be 49-60° in august (Most people find 70° too cold for comfort). 
• Vast! -The 5th biggest freshwater lake in the world. At 307 miles long by 118 miles wide, this lake is over 4,000 times bigger than the largest Wisconsin inland lake (Winnebago).
• Sand -So many beautiful beaches! Where'd
  
  all this sand come from? -Rivers sweep tiny quartz pieces from the land into the lake.  Tiny, dense pieces -small enough to be swept to the edge of the lake, but dense enough to resist being washed far into the lake and to the bottom. Continued pounding by waves causes the tiny pieces to constantly bang into each other rounding and smoothing each other even more, becoming...sand.
• Seagulls -Properly just called Gulls, These super survivalists are so common that they often get a bum wrap on the appreciation scale. Yet nothing kicks up "Beach" like crashing waves and the sound of seagulls! Seagulls are great parents and usually mate for life. They are one of the few birds that can drink salt water. They are the beach clean-up crew, doing their job so well they can be annoying.     

Worth A Visit?

  Cave Point County Park made the trip especially worthwhile for us. Because of the rock formations, water clarity & big water wave action this would be a fun place to kayak. There is a kayak outfitter at Whitefish Dunes State Park. Just going there to jump off the bluffs into the lake would be worth the trip. We'll be going back for the amazing underwater experience! 

     50 miles NW of Green Bay, 150 miles north of milwaukeee. Get to this park by putting Cave Point County Park into your GPS. Find access to the lake to the left/north of the popular jump spot.

 

FOUNTAIN LAKE & FLIGHT

  "Underwater, I experienced the freedom I had always dreamed of. I was able to move in three dimensions, and I was weightless." —Sylvia Earle

 Peering into Fountain lake from shore, I catch a wave of giddiness. Beautifully clear water! Had to fight against getting over anxious as I hurried to gear up so I could slip below the surface.
 
    We're in Portage County, continuing our quest to find Wisconsin's clearest lakes, to spearfish a dinner and explore.
  Checked out Bear lake and Spring lake—water too murky. Locals at Bear lake sent us down the road abit to Fountain lake.

   There were a few fishermen around the only spot to access the lake. An audience makes my movements feel even more awkward. Wetsuit, weight belt, mask and snorkel handicap movements enough, add the fins and my clumsiness can look ridiculous. But below the surface all that changes. A couple of easy kicks with my water wings (fins) and I'm soaring effortlessly, neither sinking or rising—neutrally buoyant,  weightless..."flying."
   I found this flight sensation enhanced at Fountain lake because of the unusual amount of seaweed capped ridges and valleys that emphasized weightless soaring over a precipice followed by gliding down into a valley. 

   Part of the appeal of swimming below the surface in any clear water is that it taps into the longing we humans have to experience weightlessness...to fly!
 
You need a few things to best experience  underwater "flight":

•  VERY CLEAR WATER. Need to be able to see at least 10ft. The clearest inland lakes in Wisconsin have up to 35 ft of clear water visibility. I've heard of spots in Lake Michigan that can have 100+ ft of clear water! -rivals many tropical waters.
•  GET BELOW THE SURFACE. Meaning the snorkeler has to breathhold or "freedive" down a bit. Real flight experience occurs when you're not limited to the surface view & can maneuver with the underwater landscape.
• CONSIDER A WETSUIT.  Opens up a level of comfort that is supremely important for getting into the flight zone. Hard to enjoy the experience when you're freezing and can't wait to get out of the water. Also, some of the clearest water is in May, June & early July, when the water is too chilly for just a swimsuit. 
• CHOOSE TO BREATH-HOLD and snorkel over SCUBA. You need the extra freedom of movement & the greater bodily involvement in your environment that is part of the limitations of no tank diving. 
• IMAGINATION.  Have a relaxed, exploring state of mind. This is helped by the somewhat altered state that the underwater world automatically induces. Let your mind soar across species lines —"Be the Bird."

  FOUNTAIN LAKE is a small 16 acre lake (as a visual reference, picture one acre as about the size of a football field, lake Waubesa is 2000 acres, Lake Geneva is  5,400 acres). These smaller lakes that don't have high speed boat traffic are the best for diving.
    If my bearings were true, most of the seaweed capped peaks that I spoke of were on the southwest and west side of Fountain lake.

   Because my mode of lake adventuring hinges on clear water, I've learned the value of having nearby backup lakes when the hoped for clear water of a particular lake lets me down—another strong point for the Fountain lake area; it has several clear lakes within 15 miles of each other. Other favorites in this area are Bear, Emily, Sunset lake, all in Portage County, and aqua colored beauty—Marl lake, near Hartman Creek State Park in waupaca county.

    Motels can be found within 30 min of all these lakes in the town of Plover to the west and Waupaca to the east. Camping at Hartman Creek State Park would be a great option —we've never camped there, just toured it. Beautiful state park!

    FOR THE FISHERMEN: I saw none of my usual target fish -crappie, but I did see more and bigger perch than any other lake I've been to. Also a decent amount of largemouth bass and bluegill.

  FOR THE PADDLER: This would be a fun lake to paddle. Being small, it lacks much shoreline to explore -you've circled around the lake before you know it -yet big enough & undeveloped enough to feel removed from civilization. With polarized glasses, gazing below the surface opens up another dimension of scenery.
 
GETTING TO FOUNTAIN LAKE
  Located 100 miles/1 hr 45 min north of Madison. Get right to the lake by putting Fountain lake, Belmont Wisconsin into the GPS

My Favorite Lake

"The more isolated we are from nature, the more isolated we will feel from God. When I am in nature, surrounded by God's fingerprints, I find comfort."                                                                    -Sally Clarkson

  Our search for Wisconsin's clearest waters has taken us to Hartman Creek State Park near Waupaca, in Waupaca County. 

  Park rangers at the state park suggested  Manomin and Knight lakes—part of a chain of 20+ lakes very near the state park. 

MY GUIDE

  The water looked clear from shore. Soon found out different. It's often hard to know the full extent of water clarity untill you're actually in the water. 

  Discouraged by the cloudy water, I decide to head in. Nearing the channel that leads to the boat put in—my starting point, a kayaker named Judy (she looks like Jane Goodall) pulls up beside me and asks what I'm up to. 

  After a brief talk she said, "Follow me." 

 I can't imagine a lake much different than the one I was in that would be within swimming distance, but I follow her, doing my best to keep up.

   Back across Manomin lake, up a short channel, into and across another small lake called Pope. As she leads the way up another channel. There is a change—the water looks and even seems to feel different.

GRAND ENTRANCE

  Exiting the channel into Marl Lake, I enter a beautiful, white bottomed, turquoise tinted, suprisingly clear lake. 

  Not a big lake. Looks to be about 200 yards across. Around the whole lake —about 10 yards from shore is a plummeting drop off that I found both creepy and alluring. The clarity adds to the intimidating feel, as you can see a good ways into that abyss. At 60 ft deep and only 14 acres, Marl is a deep lake for its size.

  Along a shoreline edged with bulrush and water lilies, I immediately see and shoot a couple of crappie with my speargun for our fish fry.

 I would have loved this lake even without seeing any fish. Fighting daylight, I swim back with plans to come back the next day. Which I did, and have been back a few times since.

 To this day Marl lake is my favorite lake. 

I think that build up—the long swim and suprise discovery, deepened my appreciation of it. It's become a sweet spot my mind often goes to when I need a happy place. 

   We all need places to go to when we feel the soul numbing effect of too much civilization. Visit once and the memories provide ongoing therapuetic value—a lingering divine fingerprint.

  I struggle to find that balance between a hermits seclusion on one hand and a total acceptance of a life dominated by civilization on the other. 

FOR THE FISHERMAN 

  Not loaded with panfish, but I did see plenty of Largemouth Bass—a couple in the 4-6 lb range, and probably more Northern Pike than any lake I've been in. Named after a fish, I would call this lake Pike Lake.

FOR THE PADDLER 

  The Waupaca Chain of lakes is divided into the Upper and Lower Chain. The best lakes for paddling are in the Upper Chain. These so called "slow"—No Wake—lakes are only accessed by small boats. The most popular kayak trips include Orlando, Knight, Manomin, Pope and Marl.  

  Everytime I come here I see kayakers. Marl lakes' connection with other lakes in this chain makes it a popular prize in an overall paddle trip. Wear polarized glasses—being a clear lake makes underwater sightseeing awesome. 

  

GETTING TO MARL LAKE

   I later found a MUCH easier access to Marl lake. GPS to Kayak Launch N2283 Whispering Pines Road, Waupaca Wisconsin. Takes you right  to the lake.

  If you are planning a trip to the best lakes to paddle on the Upper Chain, that includes Marl, GPS to Knight Lane Landing N2417 Knight Lane, Waupaca Wisconsin

DISTANCE TO MARL LAKE

• From Milwaukee  2 hrs  (138 miles)
• From Madison  1 hr 53 min  (110 miles)
• From Green Bay  1 hr 15 min  (78 miles)
• From Chicago  3 hrs 20 min (222 miles)
• From Rockford Illinois  2 hrs 45 min  (182 miles)

P.S. Thank you Judy, and other open hearted guides in this world, willing to say "Follow me"—to point out some natural wonder or hidden gem. Our lives are much richer thanks to you.