North Shore Adventures

The three of us sisters did a camping trip along the North Shore of Lake Superior the 3rd week in August.  Since Grace and I had a "vacation" while we were at camp (not really, we still worked hard, but it was a break from the farm)  and our brothers have plans to head west for a hunting trip this fall, Laura was feeling a bit left out and wanted to have some time away from the farm as well.  She talked Grace and I into a short vacation and we chose to go camping in Northern MN.

If you care to read about our adventures- keep reading, otherwise feel free to go back to the previous post and admire the puppies instead... :)

Day 1:
We met our friend, Abbie, just outside Duluth and from there headed up the shore toward Lutsen, where we hiked a loop around Oberg Mt. and then hiked out to Moose Mt. on the Superior Hiking Trail. Abbie then headed home and we went to find a campsite.

Overlooking Lake Superior from the top of Oberg Mt.

 Oberg Lake

On Moose Mt. -(The hump in this picture is Oberg Mt- where we started the hike)

Abbie, Laura, and Grace 

The camera battery died after day one- so the rest of the pictures where taken on my phone and thus aren't quite the same quality as I normally post. 

Day 2:
We got a pretty early start on the day and headed northeast... Up Hwy 61. We drove all the way up to Grand Portage. First stop was the National Monument- it's a small living history village, so we got to interact a bit with folks dressed up in clothing from the fur trade time period- some of them of them were more interactive than others. The cook was very pleasant and we had a fun visit with him and learned about the "state of the art" kitchen that was there.

Then it was back in the car and we continued up the shore until we were as close to Canada as we could without actually entering it: Grand Portage State Park. We hiked along the Pigeon River- the river that is the border between the US and Canada. We walked to the high falls on the black-topped trail. It was on this trail that we got asked if we were conservationists... We still aren't sure why- but it made for some good giggles once we were out of earshot- and became a joke for the rest of the trip.

The main falls on the Pigeon River

 Then we left the main trail and headed out to see the middle falls. The trail was described as follows: "Steep and rugged terrain-Bare rock and roots- Packed dirt" it went on to say "this challenging trail... leads to a 20 foot waterfall."  The trail was steep and rugged- we went down, down a bit more and then up and up and up up up. It was a fun challenge and there were a lot less people at that waterfall. We ate our lunch on the rocks close to a smaller waterfall just up from the one we went to see, and we were about 8 feet from Canada... (8 feet over the top of a rushing waterfall...)  We waved to a couple of ladies who were having lunch on the Canadian side. The way back was a bit easier in some ways as it was down, down down down, and then a bit of up up at the end. 

This is where we ate lunch. The rocks and hill side on the left side of this picture are in Canada.

After that hike we still hadn't gotten our fill of up and down, so we located Mt Josephine as our next challenge. It was a short hike to the base of the mountain. Once we got to the mountain it was uphill the whole way for 800 ft with switch backs and steep inclines. (It's not one of the "fourteener's" of Colorado, but it's quite a mountain for this area.)  The view from up there was amazing. You could look out across the lake and see nothing but blue- blue water meeting blue sky far away.   It reminded me to stand in awe of our Creator, and made me feel so small in this world.... 

(The lighting in this picture makes it look later than it actually was.)

It would have been fun to stay up there longer- but it was getting late, and at that point we had yet to locate a campsite. So we hustled down, (going down is harder on the legs than climbing up). I think we were back to the car sometime around 5:00.  We headed southwest and stayed at a campground North of Grand Marais. This wasn't as quiet of a campground as where we were the first night, but we still had a good campsite with lots of privacy.

Day 3:
Packed up camp again, and then headed for more hiking: we hiked to the Pincushion Mt. overlook. Thankfully this section of trail was not very steep- you start part way up the mountain, so it was pretty easy going- which was a good thing at this point.

The overlook

 After we got there, we wanted to go further, so we followed the Superior Hiking Trail and hiked down to Devil's Track River. It's a lovely spot, a river, with rocky cliffs rising on either side. 

Here's the thing: when you started at a mountain overlook and then go visit a river that eventually runs into the lake, it means you go a long ways down the mountain, and after you go down.... that's right..... you have to go back up. Honestly by the time we got back up and on that nice wide main trail, my legs were starting to feel like jello. It's a weird feeling. We all agreed that we'd better call that enough hiking for the day, so we started the trip towards home.  We stopped at the Cascade River, and since those falls are only 300 ft off the road- we figured we could handle hiking to see them! haha! 

We also took time to eat our lunch on the shore of Lake Superior- we had been seeing the Lake a lot but hadn't spent time by it.

We all enjoyed spending time by the Lake. There is something about sitting next to a large body of water and just being quiet. Listening to the water, watching the waves break over the tops of rocks, and soaking up the sunshine.  

We were grateful to have great weather for this trip. The temps were perfect for hiking and the nights got cool, but not too cold. We stayed warm and dry and were happy campers! 

Sisters by birth ~ Hiking buddies by choice :)  

Love these gals so much and am grateful for the close friendship we enjoy as sisters. 

Hopefully I didn't bore you too much....  The next post will be more puppy pictures. :)