North Shore Road Trip

In a continued search for peace and harmony in our lives, Ellie and I took our second trip of the year and headed north to Minnesota's North Shore. For those of you who don't know this area, it is located on the north shore (obviously) of Lake Superior. Incidentally, Minnesota is the only North American state which has northern shores on Lake Superior. The North Shore has a backbone called the Sawtooth Mountains; it was these mountains that brought us to the area. We headed out late on a rainy Wednesday evening towards the welcoming home of Karen and Art in the heart of Duluth, Minnesota. It is good to have friends all over the world; they never seem to turn us down and always have a place to lay our weary heads.
	I had never been to Duluth before, and the impression I gained of Duluth in the late evening was not a good one. Grain towers and dock yards filled with huge tankers blotted out what may have been a beautiful view of the city. The rain only served to make it oppressive and rather industrious. In hindsight, I think it was because all of the major industry is located on the Wisconsin side of the city. On the Thursday we spent the day sightseeing Duluth with our tour guide, Karen. We saw and experienced a prettier side of the dreariness we had glimpsed the night before. The town has many parks for a person to walk in. We ventured to Lester Park and I could not believe that such a fine park could exist within a rural area. A raging river sporting many cascades and waterfalls flowed angrily through the park. Ski, snowmobile, and hiking trails offered winter and summer adventure for those willing to get off their couch. This was the beginning of something special. Duluth is the Mid West's answer to San Francisco. The hills and the variety of culture offer the lucky visitor a glimpse of something special that only Minnesotians are able to experience on an 365 day basis. We were lucky to be sitting on the boardwalk when this picture (left) revealed itself. As normal, being in the right place at the right time offered me the chance to capture something special on film.
On the Thursday, we began our journey north along the winding Highway 61. We drove for two hours toward our first stop; Cascade River State Park offered one of the open vacancies in the area. If you take anything away with you when you hit the back button, take this - BOOK EARLY !! Everywhere seemed to be booked solid and there was no real reason for it. The only idea I can put forward is that this is a beautiful area. The way state parks are heading in the USA is bothering me. It bothers me (and makes me quite perplexed) to arrive late only to find that your tent site is generally hard granite. Now I'm not sure if the state parks realize this, but it is IMPOSSIBLE to place stakes into what is almost concrete. If you don't own a freestanding tent, you are up s**t creek without a paddle. What the heck are they playing at ??? Here is my theory - I believe that most of these "campgrounds" cater purely to the RV generation which require level, hard ground to park on. Therefore, why even bother to say you have open "tent" campsites. RV's are the scum of American traveling and I fear I am a minority in this thought... if you ever get out onto the open road in America you will realize that they are huge, refrigerator toting parasites that feed on what I nostalgically call campgrounds. (Ellie says this is mean... but I am practicing freedom of speech)
The next morning (Friday), we took a quick look around the park's scenic beauty and headed toward Grand Marais. Grand Marais offered us the ability to find information on Eagle Mountain, Minnesota's highest a point at 2300 feet (N47⁰53.83 W90⁰33.60) and one of the reasons we took this trip. Sure enough, the tourist information gave us all the information we needed, and we set off in the direction of the trail head.

I would offer my advice on finding the trail head, but I fear I would get you lost in the network of back roads that snake through the area. It is easiest to get directions from the friendly town folk and then follow the signs. It is actually well sign posted and not so popular. The hike itself is a six mile round trip. Don't be confused over most of the trail guides which state it is only a three mile hike... that's one way. Ellie and I wondered how many people have been tricked by this. Allow yourself four hours to reach the peak and return to the trail head. You could get yourself seriously lost if you wandered off the trail in the darkness.

On the trail - Eagle Mountain

Eagle Mountain is within the Boundary Water Canoe Area and is a designated wilderness which means you are unable to take a wheeled vehicles (or hang-gliders!) into it. This is a good thing and truly allows a beautiful area to be preserved in the condition it should be. On July 4th, 1999 there was a devastating wind storm which felled a massive number of old growth trees. We hiked though part of the area on the way to the summit; volunteer workers have done a magnificent job of opening the trail up. For the first two miles, the trail skirts through woodland before climbing sharply to the summit. This is not a trail you would want to begin late in the afternoon and certainly not with small children unaccustomed to hiking. But, if you are willing to make the effort, you will suddenly emerge on a rocky outcrop which at first looks like the summit. I am sure most people hiking the trail never pass this point.... the view of the Boundary Waters and Canada is tremendous; why go further ? If you are a true peak bagger, you would be wise to follow the line of cairns skirting off to the right. After about one hundred yards, you will be rewarded with a plaque marking the true summit of Eagle Mountain. After a quick bite of a Marathon Bar (Snickers) we headed back to the car.

Sunset at the end of the Gunflint Trail

Our next stop was Gunflint Lake at the northern end of the Gunflint Trail. Here you will find a little campground called Gunflint Pines. It was probably a pretty spot before the wind storm and was probably shaded by trees. Now it is more open than what it should be and offers little solitude from your neighbor. It has also got RV syndrome which certainly doesn't add to the beauty of the area. It does have nice tent sites, but we hadn't booked early enough. Ellie was happy though, she likes being close to the bathrooms, and she hasn't hit thirty yet. Who knows what she will be like when she is an old woman !! We went searching for Moose that night but were only given the chance of photographing a beautiful sunset over Seagull Lake (left). The next day, Saturday, gave us the opportunity to hike on some of the Cross Country Ski Trails behind the campground. We hiked up a bluff which allowed us an opportunity to look out over Canada on the northern side of Gunflint Lake. Again, we were amazed at the devastation of the storm and could only consider ourselves lucky that we were not camping here on one of the busiest tourist weekends of the American year.

Unfortunately, we had to begin heading south again and back to the real world of work and day to day life. It's okay though, without work, trips like these would not be out of the ordinary and would certainly be less pleasurable.

Our last night was spent in an old KOA site located just outside Silver Bay. It was a nice place to spend our last night and actually had grass tent sites; we could barely see our neighbors !! Anyway, we spent our last day at the popular Gooseberry Falls State Park. It's a popular place, it deserves to be, although this isn't really what I look for in a "get away" weekend break !! The falls are magnificent and were developed for tourism by the CCC, they should be located at least ten miles from the nearest road. I'm not that lucky though... thankfully, they are not too over developed for tourism and offer some excellent hiking into the Sawtooth Mountains.

Ellie looking out over Gunflint Lake and Canada.

Upper Gooseberry Falls
Ellie and I posing for a tripod shot.
-incidentally on our second anniversary-

All in all, the trail systems on the North Shore are not given the attention they deserve.... or there again, maybe this is a good thing. Apart from the RV culture migrating around the area, it's actually a nice way to spend a summer weekend. From here (Rhinelander), it really isn't too far away. The area certainly deserves another few visits. On the internet, the sites for the North Shore are few and far between. I found a few, but most were under construction. Check out www.northshoreguide.com it seems to be quite comprehensive and well maintained.

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