North Shore/Ely dive trip

[DetectorGuy]

I am going on a family camping trip from July 25th to August 2nd up north and I was wondering if I can get some input on good shore dives along the way. We will be at the Burlington Bay campsite  from July 25th until July 27th. Here I plan on at least diving at Flood Bay to take some photos the mining artifacts and for sure drive up and dive the Madeira. Then on the 27th I will move up to Tettegouche State Park and stay there until July 30th. From here I want to dive the Hesper and possibly dive the center of Beaver bay "Just for fun" and the "Fishing Tug wreck". I have heard that Beaver Bay is a bear to get to the water if you are shore diving as they messed up the hillside when they re-vamped the Gitchi-Gami Trail. Any input about shore diving here would be great. While at Tettegouche I also plan on diving in Crystal Bay in Illgen City. I understand that there are dock cribs there left over from 3M (Minnesota Mining & Manufacturing) and a short swim from there is the "cave of the winds" site which would be kinda cool. On the 30th we will drive up to Temperance River State Park and stay overnight. I wont have time to dive from Temperance River as we will probably just hike upriver and get some above water photos of the waterfalls. On the 31st We will back track south to Finland and Turn towards Ely and stay at South Kawishiwi River National Forest Campground (10 miles South of Ely). I want to have my wife drop me off at the bridge about a mile upstream and do a drift dive back to the campsite. I might not do the drift dive if it looks like a tangled up mess. I have heard that even snorkeling here can be impressive as the moose and other wildlife hang around the rivers edge. On August 1st we will go through Ely and stay at Bearhead Lake State Park. I want to try a couple dives here if possible in Bearhead lake. On the 2nd we will pack up and head home. This will leave the 3rd to unpack before going to work on the fourth of August.

My wife and daughter are non divers and I am going to need to make sure that this trip is not just a "dive trip". I picked these areas for what I think is a good combination of diving and hiking. The campsites are reserved for these days so small day trips away from the campsites will be the norm. We will be using a tent and packing fairly light as far as camping. I wish I could say we will be packing light as far as the dive gear. I will be bringing eight 80 cf aluminums and my 19 cf bail-out-bottle. Most of the dives will be solo dives except the Madeira and the Hesper. These two are popular enough that I am hoping to bump into a local diver and buddy up with them if they happen to be at the sites. I will be using my new DUI TLS drysuit with the weezle wear for all of these dives and bringing my 7mm wetsuit for backup in case I rip a wrist seal on the first day. I have only used the drysuit twice and I really like it. I will be bringing my new Sea-life camera and strobe to try and get some photos and video. I just bought two 2 GB cards for it and I should be able to take 60 minutes of video on each if the batteries hold up in the cold water. I will bring the metal detector but probably wont get to use it as most of the diving will be in State parks or near protected wrecks. I will have two hard cases of additional dive gear: BCD, fins, flag, mask, snorkel, etc...


My sister is a science teacher and she wants me to take photos of lava formations if I can. I read that there are some at Brighton beach and at Gooseberry river mouth but I don't plan on diving there. Does anyone have any other "must dive" areas that have good underwater photo opportunities along this path that are shore dives? I don't want to bog down and "waste a day" with a boat dive on this trip.

Well that is my itinerary and please let me know about other possibilities.
John

[doogles]

Hello there-

My son and I will be staying at the cabins near Gooseberry State Park from the 26th - 2nd. We do a shore dive from the beach there, just to look at the formations (I would think it's lava flow?).We are also planning to dive the Hesper while there. When will you be at the Hesper?

[DetectorGuy]

I will be diving the Hesper either on the 28th or 29th. Not set in stone yet on which day but one of the two. I will be staying  at the Baptism River campsite of the Tettegouche State park (1.5 miles inland) on the night of the 27th. That evening will be pretty much shot with setting up camp and all. On the 28th We may be getting our bearings at this new to us campsite during the morning hours and the afternoon would probably work. The 29th is open as far as I can tell but we will be folding the tent on the 30th and driving towards the Temperance river. I will shoot you a PM with my Cell phone and maybe we could meet at the Hesper one of the two days. The Gooseberry River mouth dive is supposed to be really neat to see. While there look at the lava flows really close and if you see rocks "embedded" in the lava formations, they more likely than not are agates. My sister told me that agates are formed from lava and are usually found together. If We don't get to dive the Hesper together... Have a great trip.

[doogles]

The 29th would likely work for us. I haven't stayed at Tettagouche but we have stayed at the State Forest on the Baptism several times. Either way you can't go wrong,the hiking is great at Tettagouche.

[PJK]

Detector Guy,

I see you all are in need of information about diving the North Shore of Lake Superior.  If you haven't heard, their is a new book out and it was introduced into the book stores back in May 2008.  It gives you ALL the information you need and more to dive along the North Shore.  The book is called the "A Divers Guide Along Lake Superior's Northshore".  The book was written by Author Stephen Daniel, and in collaboration with the Great Lakes Shipwreck Preservation Society, (GLSPS).  Stephen Daniel is the current President of the GLSPS.  

The book has 180 pages and is amazing!  It has all the Shipwrecks along the North Shore listed and most likely shipwrecks you probably didn't know existed.  It also has many other dive sites of interest along the way.  Such as the bolder field under Split Rock Light House and the Gooseberry River outlet, you were talking about.  It has some neat railroad artifacts for you to see!  However, you can't take any of the artifacts, or you will be facing a fine and possibly some jail time!  

The book was published by the Minnesota Historical Society and the book can only be purchased from a few book stores and retailers around the Twin Cities, such as Barns and Noble Book Stores.  Some dive shops are selling the book as well.  Check with your LDS to see who has it.  I believe the price is around $22.00 to $24.00.  I purchased a book from the Author already, being I'm on the Board of Directors, and he personally signed it for me.  I have a few of my pictures displayed in the book as well.

Check it out and if you like it, TELL YOUR FRIENDS!  The GLSPS will be selling the books at the Gales of November at the GLSPS booth.  The GLSPS will also be selling the books at the Dive Into The Past Show the last Saturday of February 2009 and, the Ghostships Festival.  If your not able to buy one at the book stores or your local LDS.  Please come to one or all of the shows to purchase a great book at the GLSPS Booth.

Need more info?  Log onto the GLSPS website at, and it can give you further information on where you can pickup a copy of the book.

Safe travels and diving,

PJK

[DetectorGuy]

Thanks for the response, I have the book and I think its is an essential piece of my dive gear. It is very detailed and it has what I assume are accurate GPS coords. One side comment- that the author should have fired the editor as it tends to repeat it self often throughout the book... did I mention it repeats itself? I would reccomend this book to anyone who wants to know more about diving this area. I have about 20 other dive books on the Great Lakes but they are too broad. This one focuses on this relatively narrow strip of realestate. My Grandfather used to work in the shipyards in Duluth back in the day. A good portion of his craftsmanship now lies on the bottom of this lake. He passed away when I was a little kid so I never got a chance to find out what ships he worked on. I am now in the research mode to find out more about his past. The GLSPS is a great organization and is to be commended for their efforts to preserve these time capsules for future generations.

[usediver]

if you are in two harbors and STILL need to blow a tank, dive the lighthouse breakwall for easy fun, you can walk out to the end, drop in on the outside edge at 75 ft and follow it back around the elbow to the shore , bolders, fish gear , maybe some tools, debris ,  just take a compass heading toward shore first , then go  ...
have a great week!

[DetectorGuy]

Thats exactly the kind of info that I'm looking for. I really enjoy diving less popular areas more than the heavily dived areas. I know that thousands and thousands of people have dove Superior but I want to find that little corner that might have never been seen with human eyes. Or if it had, maybe that one or two people have overlooked something. The not knowing what may or may not be there is one of my biggest thrills in life. Just think that 70 % of Earth is covered with water and yet we know more about the surface of the moon than we know about whats on the bottom of our own water. Astounding...

[DetectorGuy]

Well, we got back last night and we had a great time. I only got in 3 dives. This was my first time diving in Superior, and I thought it would be colder. I dove the Madeira first. When We got there there were about 25 divers out on the wreck and they had a compressor filling tanks in the parking lot. By the time I got all geared up, all of the divers were coming in from the wreck. They were all saying how cold it was. About one third  were diving it in wetsuits and the others dove dry. I was using a 80 CF Aluminum and a 19 CF bottle. I went out solo and surface swam to the stern buoy. I dropped down the line and took a bunch of pictures of the stern. When I tried to swim to the bow, I could not as my dive flag was tangled up on the mooring buoy. I finished my dive just looking at the stern. It was kind of a good thing as when I came up the line at the end of the dive, I realized that I could not stop for my 3 minute safety stop if I did not have the line to hold onto. This was my mistake as I did not compensate for a lighter tank when it emptied along with the extra air that would not rapidly escape my exhaust valve with the weezle wear on. I estimated that I was about 5 pounds too light. The water at the Madeira was 39 degrees. As I was swimming back to shore the 25 divers were on their way back to the wreck. When I took the dry suit off my t-shirt was dry but the outside of the Weezle Wear was wet with sweat.

The next day I dove the Hesper. I put two smooth rocks that weighed about 3 pounds in my pockets to help compensate for me not having enough lead. I was sitting on the big flat rock putting my gear together while looking over my shoulder in a crack of the rocks, I inadvertently unscrewed the yoke knob on my bailout bottle too far and the knob fell into one of the cracks in the rocks. I did the solo dive without the bailout and all went well. I dropped below the surface just to the right of the entry point and swam towards the end of the breakwater. I did not see the wreck right away so I zig-zagged back and forth wasting air. Then I swam toward the lake again and I found the starboard side. I made my way to the stern and took a lot of pictures along the way. I turned back toward the bow and videoed the entire length. Visibility was only about 15' -18'. I surfaced at the starboard bow with 500 PSI and snorkeled toward the breakwater. I saw a 2# soft weight sitting on a small rock in 15' of water and went down and grabbed it. When I got to the entry point I looked around for 68raggtops computer and mask in the cracks of the rocks. I saw a 5# hard weight down about 7' in a small crevice. The crack was so small I needed to take off my BC and fins and pull my self down to grab the weight.

A couple days later I dove in Crystal Bay just North of Tettegouche State Park I surface swam to the far (East) end of the "Cave of the winds" and dropped below to enter the cave. I surfaced inside the cave and took several above water pictures towards the West (the cave above water is about 20' high 10' wide and about 60' long). Then I dropped in again and swam out of the other side of the cave towards the South. I Kept swimming parallel to the shore in about 20' of water towards the South until I came up to the submerged "3M dock crib" huge boulders sitting on top of a wooden crib structure. There were a few pipes and big bolts laying around it. I took photos of this and also a small bottom feeder fish who did not seem to have any sense of which way was up. I would not dive this site again from shore as it is a real mother getting down and back up the hill (500 horizontal feet and 100 vertical feet over loose footballs). There is an old foundation at the bottom of the hill and a nice pebble beach.

That was all of the scuba that I could squeeze in during the trip. but I did get to use the metal detector at the South Kawishiwi River near Ely. I found an old metal buckle and a VERY, VERY, VERY old coin in a narrow point in the wide river in about 3' of water. It was black from all the years, round except for 3 chips on the edge, measuring 1 3/16" in diameter and about as thick as a quarter. I haven't tried to clean it yet to look for a date for fear that I will ruin it. The coin does stick to a magnet. Maybe Canadian... but my guess is that it was a Voyaguers trade coin. If anyone has any experience in old coins from this area/era please contact me.

[jasondbaker]

The rocks on the breakwall claim another victim.  You could start a dive shop with all the gear that has been lost in those rocks. Sounds like a nice trip.  Post your pictures!