Is fall early this year?

+ Lake Superior fall & thoughts on influencer trips

It seems like everyone up on Lake Superior is buzzing about the leaves turning early, and maybe they are but it’s local summer still for me.

Local summer: the time of year in a tourist town when the tourists leave, and you begin to close up shop and slow down but the weather is still nice and you can enjoy yourself. Not that I consider myself a true local, but I have worked in tourism up here for five years, and I did arrange my calendar to treat myself to that sweet September summer.

Fall Comes to Bayfield, Wisconsin

Last weekend we (Andy & I) had family up and headed north to Bayfield, Wisconsin to show them the Apostle Islands National Lakeshore, where Andy and I have worked for a while now.

Rather than kayak we took the cruise boat tour, and I brought my camera with.

In the summer, and lately in general, I haven’t used my real camera as often. The iPhone does a pretty good job and I think I go through phases of interest and inspiration. I got into photography as I fell out of writing in 2020. Now I’ve gotten back into writing more seriously, and photography has sort of fell by the wayside.

It felt nice to pick up the camera and open Lightroom (editing app) again, though I mostly use presets now. I have lofty ideas of finding balance, but I’ve never been good at that. I like to throw myself entirely into one thing at a time.

Rumor has it fall is coming early up on Lake Superior. Personally, I think if it’s coming early it’s truly by just a few days. This time of year I feel like I always see pockets of color, and last year was notably late and muted in the Arrowhead, then late and vibrant in the western Upper Peninsula.

Either way, it always lasts longer than people make it out to. I sometimes think social media has created this sense of urgency around fall colors, like there is one moment of “peak” and if you time it wrong you’ve missed out on the fall magic. (Social media, of course, thrives on making you feel you’re missing out).

But fall is slow, and no matter what the leaves look like there’s magic in the season. If you’re stressed about missing out, don’t worry. You’ve got more time than you think.

READ: Best Things to do in Bayfield, WI

Are you a sea kayaker looking to shred?

If you’re a sea kayaker who owns their own gear (or can borrow), has a solid self-rescue and is looking to hone their rough water skills check out the Gales Storm Gathering this November! Formerly Rough Water Rock ‘Em Weekend, these lovely folks (Ben, Paige, Jamaiah, Conny, Andy (yes, my Andy!), Zach and Jeff) have taken over the Gales Gathering on Lake Superior and are bringing it back.

This is a really great event for building confidence on Lake Superior, honing your surf skills or catching your first wave, nailing your first combat roll and working with some extremely qualified ACA coaches.

(I won’t be able to make it to this event this year, but all the folks are super cool and if you’re looking to challenge yourself this is a super fun weekend and way to do it!)

Learn More: The Gales Storm Gathering

Outside Magazine wrote about influencer trips. The article is pretty good.

Earlier this week I stumbled upon an Outside Magazine article on influencer-led trips and I just had to read it.

As you may know, I myself have hosted a number of influencer trips, generally with the caveat of I have worked as an outdoor guide since 2018, and I am either also the guide on these trips doing the cooking, cleaning and logistics, paid as a guide, or I am going through local outfitters and act as a trip organizer, do not make money off the trips.

I expected the writer to use influencer like a dirty word and to hear a shade of that judgement I sometimes hear from people in more traditional outdoor jobs. People, it often seems, either get caught up on the word influencer and can’t look past that at the actual work, or are able to see past a label and look at the individual and their content.

The author of the article turns out to be the former, arriving at the conclusion that in a not-so-different-world, perhaps she would’ve ended up an influencer herself and that ultimately the trip brought a group of cool, like-minded people together.

READ: I Wrote Off Traveling With An Influencer. Then I Tried It.

Fall reading: trip ideas, gear guides, books, good links, ect

• I just finished book 2 of Emily Wilde’s Encyclopaedia of Faeries and I’m really enjoy the series. It’s driven very much by cozy setting and lovable, developed and unique characters and it’s overall kind of the perfect cozy fall read. It’s almost got YA vibes, but the female main character is thirty, which I also really like.

• This weeks project for me was an article on the best puffer jackets for hiking— writing this made me realize that owning four puffer jackets is probably too many, even though a lot of the gear I own is for testing purposes or does get a lot of use on-trail and guiding.

• It’s not too late to plan a fall color trip! I actually have two little trips planned for fall, both of which are likely to happen just past true peak, which is kind of where I like my fall colors. In the meantime, check out the best Midwest fall color destinations.