Apples in Bayfield

Orchards surround Bayfield. dwm photo

  There are 16 orchards or fruit farms surrounding Bayfield.  They are so popular the Chamber of Commerce created a special route passing most of the farms.  It is called the fruit loop.

 

 According to the community's travel guide, a Bayfield farmer inadvertently created the town's biggest celebration.

 Jimmy Erickson was headed to North Dakota with a truck-load of apples when he had a flat tire outside Duluth.  

 

Not able to reach his destination, he sold apples from his truck while waiting for a spare.  In an early version of market research, he discovered no one knew about the orchards near Bayfield, just 85 miles away.

A basket at Apple Hill orchards.

He returned home with an idea for the town, create an Apple Festival.  The first one in 1962, sixty years ago, drew 4,000 people.  The festivals now attract 60,000 over three days the first weekend in October.

 

We drove the fruit loop a couple times during our stay, stopping at Bayfield Apple Company, Apple Hill, and Hauser's Superior View Farm & Apfelhaus Cidery.

 

We bought a baker's mix from the Apple Company to bring home from our trip.  

 

Hauser's Farm

 

On Thursday we picked up a few goodies from Apple Hill then made our way to Hauser's which we were told was a must-stop.

 

  It sits on a hill with an impressive and imposing barn (built from a 1928 Sears Roebuck mail-order catalog) which serves as their store, gift shop, and cidery.  In addition to traditional cider they sell hard cider, I had a taste a number of years ago, I prefer the kind without a kick.

 Their place is Superior View Farm.  If you're willing and able you can take the steps up to see their collection of history experienced by five generations over 100 years.  Then, if you like, there is another set of stairs up to the window in the hay mow.

It is worth the climb as you get a bird's eye view of Bayfield, Madeline Island, and the other islands dotting Lake Superior.

Lake Superior and Chequamegon Bay.

From their farm I could see Chequamegon Bay.  It protects Ashland from storms on Lake Superior thanks to a long sand bar that extends from the other side of the lake.  (Check out the photo below to see what made the view special.)

The other thing I loved about the barn is that a couple generations of Hauser's decided to collect hats.  

 

I have a good-sized collection at home but after seeing the trove of Hauser hats I won't think of it as a large collection (see below photo) anymore. The one side in the picture is matched with hats hanging on the other side.

Hundreds, if not thousands, of hats line the Hauser's hay loft.

Look closely at the sand bar protecting Chequamegon Bay, the white image in the trees is the LaPointe Lighthouse (more than 7 miles from this view) which will be featured in a few weeks.

All photos by David Mossner September 22, 2022.