Jody Island

 

Today I paddled with a group of master naturalists. We started out at the Munger Landing off Clyde Avenue. We listened to a woman named Jody. Jody had a neighbor and good friend who owned Raspberry Island in the Saint Louis River. When he died he deeded his island to her. I had never met someone who owned an entire island before. She tried to give it to the Nature Conservancy but they couldn't afford the resources to take care of it. She donated it to the local Ojibway band and now they own Raspberry Island. I decided to call it Jody Island. We followed Jody out of the landing and past Rat Island before we came to Jody Island. A big cottonwood tree help a gigantic bald eagle nest. Eagles were calling back and forth. We saw an adult and some juvenile eagles. We saw a 3 year old eagle who was just coming into the white feathers. We saw belted Kingfisher, Canadian geese and mergansers. I want to own an island now!

The Whiteside family used to own the island. They built cabins for their family and their employees. Whiteside was a lumber and railroad baron. When a fire destroyed most of their buildings and one of the children in the family almost drowned in the current, they moved the remaining buildings to a different spot in the city of Duluth near Normanna road. We got out of our boats at a beach and explored for a few minutes. The sign above, installed by the local Ojibway, has an error in it. I guess one of the islands is not named correctly. After going around Jody Island we paddled to Clough Island which is bigger. A wind came up and was blowing off Lake Superior toward us. Jeeves (my kayak) and I were getting wet. The other four boats were canoes and had two paddlers in each one so I was starting to lag behind a little. Luckily we found a creek running right through Clough Island so we had a short cut. If I were alone I would have turned around by now. After the creek it was a long, hard paddle straight into the wind to get to the other side of Clough Island. My sunglasses were too low on my nose and I couldn't even stop to push them up because the wind was so strong. Someone asked how I was doing. I, in jest, said I needed a tow. He, in jest, said he would give me a tow once we got around the corner. Once around the corner we had to paddle away from the island to cut the waves at a safe angle. That was difficult. The wind made it hard to hear each other. Once past the island the wind pushed us back to the landing which was nice. I had the wind at my back and the sun shining through my big hat. I asked for a tow again and this time I got it. I didn't drag the canoe that was towing me back but I paddled close enough that we could talk. Once we got close to the landing I asked them if I could pretend to tow them in. We tried to do it but the wind brought us back too quickly to pull it off right. We helped each other disembark and load up the boats. We all agreed it was a hard paddle. I have the blisters on my palm under my rings to prove it. The plan after that was to visit a local brewery on our way home. I would have gone to Ursa Minor (or Major? I don't know) Brewery but I knew if I did that I would never get anything else done tonight. My arms have had a good work out two days in a row. I drove right past the brewery on my way home, satisfied after paddling with a good group of people.