North Shore of Lake Superior

 Hello!

We have done a lot over the last few days!

Hike to the High Falls of Baptism River - 

the swinging bridge over the river - it was not swinging ... I had imagined something out of Indiana Jones... somewhat disappointed!

Palisade Head Overlook - this was a super cool area, the wind was blowing so hard it was nuts.  there were some people rappelling off the cliff down to the lake.  crazy in that wind!

Split Rock Lighthouse - built in 1910 as a direct result of the famous Mataafa Storm of 1905 wherein 29 ships were lost or damaged.  The Madeira was shipwrecked just North of the Lighthouse.

This is the Fresnel Lens that provides the light.  The lens floats on a surface of liquid mercury to allow near friction-less operation. They also have a fog horn option - which we heard!  With the advance of modern day navigation, the lighthouse was decommissioned in the 60's and has been converted into a museum.

Gooseberry Falls State Park - another nice hike!

My feet were tired by this point so I took off my shoes and socks and had a nice soak!  It was cool and refreshing!

The Edna G Tugboat - starting in 1898 this tugboat worked on Lake Superior.  She helped in several rescues... blah blah....

Two Harbors' Lighthouse -built in 1891, the lighthouse area included the lighthouse keepers' and assistants' houses. First lit April 15, 1892, a continuous beacon in all directions. The light was run with kerosene until 1921.

This was a neat little breakwater in Two Harbors.  

This is an iron-ore loader.  It is to load iron ore from rail cars which dump the iron ore into the shoots  loading into the ships below.

By the end of this day we had just over 25,000 steps.  That is a record.  So tired.....

Next day!

Devil's Kettle Falls hike.  Interesting phenomenon whereby the river splits into two sections at the top of the falls with one stream disappearing into a hole in the rock.  It rejoins the other stream below the water's surface at the bottom of the falls.

Cascade Falls Hike.

So, the river is foamy like the head of a nice beer!  This is not from pollution - this comes from the water that drains out of the swamps and bogs.  The natural chemicals create humic acid, this creates the color; the tumbling of the water over the rocks creates the foam.

Our picnic spot in Cascade State Park, right along the shore of Lake Superior.

In Lutsen there is an Alpine Slide - I have ALWAYS wanted to do this!  It was super fun racing down the mountain.  The first slide was fast but once we figured it out - look out!  On the second time down the mountain we really flew!!!

Of course Mr. Safety was wondering why we were not given helmets to wear ... sigh....

A mere 15,000 steps today .... we sleep well!

Friday (6/11) is the day for being on Lake Superior.  Finally we get on a boat!

Ummmm.... disappointed.... this boat is too small!  How many people would you think this boat could handle? 25? 35?  We were 50+ packed in like sardines!  They loaded by calling out names - thankfully we were inside the "cabin" with 30 other people and not out on the deck!  The ride over to Isle Royale National Park was 1 1/2 hours and it was super wavy, windy and wet if you were not inside!  It was cold and somewhat miserable.  You know how it is when you are perched on a bench and your butt is only 1/2 on? and you have no where to put your feet and you have to hold all your belongings on your lap and the person next to you is the foremost authority of a subject in which you have no interest, there is no cell service, no bathroom, we are all wearing masks after having gotten used to not wearing them, the safety "drill" was "don't monkey around" and "if someone goes overboard, let them know" .... ???? Well, that was this ride!  

Fortunately we were able to have a nice hike on this "least visited National Park" - this was a hike to the scenic overlook

The Ranger talk was one of the best we have heard - the National Park was lovely.  

The return trip on the boat was a little better - mostly because we were travelling with the wind so the ride was smoother.

They cruised by this lighthouse as part of the "tour" (I use the word lightly here). Apparently the lighthouse was built on a rock and once welcomed 125+ sailors for the night when their ship went down.  Apparently the boat outfit (the only one going to Isle Royale) was trying to recreate the cramped environment of that fateful night! LOL

Today's step total = 13,286

Happy Saturday my dudes!

Today we headed back up to Grand Portage to see the local sights.  We stopped at a cool overlook along the way.  The fog was super cool...

At Grand Portage National Monument we saw replicas of how the fur trade worked before this area became part of the US. These are fur pelts that were brought by canoe in from the North to trade for goods coming from (mostly) Europe.

A little later at the same overlook we had lunch... but now we could see the Susie Islands.  It was such a lovely day - short sleeves, sunny and perfect!

 a panoramic pic from the overlook

This is High Falls in Grand Portage State Park - it is the highest falls in MN.  Very cool ... you see the rainbow!!???!?!?  Pigeon River is the boarder between the US and Canada - you could literally throw a rock and hit the hikers in Canada (we saw a dude try... LOL).  Wish Canada were open so we could proceed to the Upper Peninsula without backtracking ... stupid Covid.... oh well....

It is a bit dry here for us.  We are used to more humidity (we don't miss it - but we are used to it)... we had to stop for a drink!  The town was "open" today so we did some shopping!

We are planning our departure from Grand Marais and our itinerary for the next week now AND doing laundry.  It seems we will have tacos tonight - we will let you know how that works out for us!  Hope they know how to make it hot for the Texans!

Take care,

Sheri & Carsten