Hello Everyone! It’s been another wonderful week out here on the road as I’ve traveled from the beautiful North Shore, up the Gunflint Trail and back and then out into the interior of the state. The weather has been very up and down with a lot of clouds and rain but also a few truly stunning days which has really showed this region in its best light. Because of the weather, I have been moving a little slower than usual because there are things I don’t want to miss in this region. I’ve also been trying to plan the rest of my time in the state which takes time to research and plot out. I am very grateful to all of my Minnesotan friends for making my first week here so easy – with all of their pointers on the region, I barely had to look at anything other than my map. As I get deeper into the state though, I’m more on my own – which is perfectly fine, but it means I want to be sure I have at least a rough plan so I’m not missing things I really want to see. I was also trying hard to get another podcast episode done this week which I finally finished yesterday (and you can find here). I really hoped to keep on top of my podcast better this summer, but I’ve just been so busy that I haven’t had the time I thought I would. My fun observations this week have included Minnesotan’s pronunciation of the word “sauna”, which is probably close to the Finnish pronunciation, as “sow-na”. In most of the country we pronounce it “saw-na”. There are actually signs posted and T-shirts to be bought about this pronunciation debate, which I find amusing (here’s an article discussing the pronunciation). I also saw a great sign this week about social distancing which told people to stay at least one canoe paddle apart (in Wisconsin it was one cow apart). How wonderful! I’m also loving the Halloween decorations that are springing up everywhere and the fresh apples and cider in the stores. The roads have been good this week and actually make driving much more pleasurable. I know this is in part due to less traffic and especially less truck traffic in the area, but I’ve still been enjoying it. I’ve also seen an eagle pretty much every day since I left Duluth which has been truly wonderful to see.
After I finished last week’s This Week, I did make it out to Devil’s Kettle Falls in Judge C.R. Magney State Park. I had seen a lot of waterfalls last week, but my friend Jen was insistent on my seeing this one in particular. I was glad I did, because it was really cool. There are two sides to the falls – one continues down the river and the other disappears underground. After hiking to the falls, I headed back into Grand Marais right as the weather was clearing and it turned into an absolutely beautiful day. I had fun wandering around town and out along the breakwater to the lighthouse, taking photos and enjoying the sunshine. There are some cool buildings and some beautiful views in Grand Marais (pronounced “muh-ray”), and I enjoyed my afternoon, but I also didn’t want to spend the whole day in town as I knew there was a rainy forecast ahead. My friend Tim had recommended a trip up the Gunflint Trail, once a logging road which was improved to allow firefighter access to in case of wildfire and is now a state scenic byway. The road stretches 40 miles into the interior of the state and has a lot of public access points to many of the lakes along the way. I bopped along and ended up at Gunflint Lake, 35 miles or so up the Trail, about an hour before sunset. I cast out my fishing line and sat at the end of the dock and watched the beautiful day fade to dusk as the sun set in the west. I went back to my van and cooked some dinner and when I had finished and came back down to the lake there were a million stars overhead. It was so dark out there and the massive lake allowed such an expansive view that I just stood there in awe, listening to the loons and watching the stars. It was pretty magical.
I set my alarm to go off early on Thursday morning so I could watch the sun come up over the lake. The water was very still and it was really quiet and I just sat on the end of the pier with my coffee and enjoyed the morning. After a nice breakfast, I continued on to Gull Lake at the end of the Gunflint Trail where I spent some time in the fascinating Chik-Wauk museum which is housed in what was once a tourist lodge. The museum had some great displays on the natural history of the area and on the development and evolution of the Gunflint Trail. There was also a preserved tourist cabin with a nice view over the lake and a wonderful building filled with historic canoes. When I left the museum, I moseyed back down the Trail, stopping off to do a little fishing at a couple of lakes along the way. I also did a hike out to Magnetic Rock which is a huge monolith in the middle of the forest. The rock itself was cool and worth the trek, but the trail was quiet and had some stunning views as well. After my hike, I made my way back to Grand Marais where I watched the sun set and enjoyed a couple of beers at the brewery and a delicious walleye sandwich at the Gunflint Tavern before calling it a night.
Friday was rainy and miserable out, so I spent the morning tucked into the pleasant library in town catching up on a few things and editing some stories for my podcast. When the weather finally let up I had enough daylight left to hike the trail up the Temperance Gorge which I’m really glad I did. The gorge was deep and narrow and there were several waterfalls on the way upstream. Temperance Gorge was only about half an hour’s drive from where I wanted to spend the night at Silver Bay, but a tremendous fog rolled in while I was on the trail. It wasn’t too thick to drive in, but it was close. I took it slowly and hoped no wildlife jumped in front of me and cautiously made my way south. It was really something.
Saturday morning was still pretty foggy, but I wandered out to Shovel Point to say goodbye to Lake Superior nonetheless. I may see Lake Michigan again on my way east, but this was probably my last time with the greatest of the Great Lakes which I have spent a big chunk of my summer on. I have hiked its shoreline, swam in it and boated across it, visited a dozen lighthouses which guard its shores and sat and watched the waves roll in when the weather turns. It is simply an awesome lake and one I will definitely return to in the future. While I was out there, the coastline was totally fogged in, but for 10 minutes it cleared up enough to give me one last great view. From there I headed up Minnesota Route 1 and stopped at East Chub Lake to do some fishing. I caught a half-dozen perch which I enjoyed and it was a beautiful lake on a beautiful day. When I was pulling in one of the perch, a massive monster of a fish took it and ran when it was only about 5’ from shore. I only caught a glimpse of it because it spit out the perch pretty quickly. That poor little fish had a traumatic afternoon having been caught by me and then spending 20 seconds in the mouth of a musky (or whatever it was). It was very exciting and I only wish it had held on a little longer so I could have gotten a better look at it. From there I headed into Ely, a cute little town of 3500 in the middle of the Boundary Waters. Outfitters line the street there and thousands of people descend on the town each summer to head out onto the lakes. Charles Kuralt once wrote of Ely that a man could walk into town in a three piece suit and walk out an hour later with everything he could possibly need for a week on the lakes. Unfortunately the weather didn’t give me a window to go out as I’m not particularly excited about spending a day paddling, portaging and camping in the rain so this particular adventure will have to wait for another time. When I arrived on Saturday, I wandered the downtown area for a few minutes, trying to find a bar to watch the Penn State-Iowa game in. The first place I walked into only had one TV but the second place already had the game on – on the main TV with the sound on. I was really excited. The couple at the bar, Patrick and Abby, turned around and saw my Penn State shirt and amicably expressed their opposing views, as they live 30 minutes from the University of Iowa. They were really wonderful people and I became so engrossed in our conversation that I found myself missing big parts of the game. Our quarterback got injured and it turned into a tough loss, but it was a good time. After the game I wandered up to the Boathouse Brewery and had a delicious walleye fish and chips. Then I headed back to the bar for a couple of beers and met some really wonderful locals who were super welcoming. We had a great evening.
On Sunday, the gloomy weather returned and I spent most of the day just relaxing and reading and hoping the weather would clear up. It was Sunday though, so I cleaned my van and did a little shopping as well. In the afternoon, one of the people I had met the night before invited me out to the cabin they were watching on Burntside Lake. All I can say is wow, what a beautiful lake. I wish I had brought my camera with me because the weather cleared up right before sunset and the sky was fantastic. We enjoyed a campfire by the lake, a nice dinner and a game of Up-Words, all of which were really fun and it was definitely nice to have some company.
I was happy to find the Ely public library open on Monday since it was Columbus Day, but it was grey out and I wanted to get my photos from the North Shore and the Gunflint Trail up and posted (which you can see here). I also wanted to get some writing done, transfer my travel plans from my notebook to my map and continue working on my podcast. When I finished, I headed back out to the lake for the night. We had another campfire and talked until late.
I spent most of Tuesday in the library as well, finishing up my podcast and starting this post. When I finished for the day, I went on a nice long ride to check out some beautiful overlooks around town and then had enough time to hike out to Kawishiwi Falls before nightfall. It was a powerful and beautiful waterfall and I had the whole place to myself. While the clouds remained, there was the tiniest hint of pink in them as the sun went down. When I came back to town, the sidewalks were all rolled up for the night and I had to really hunt to find somewhere open for dinner after 8pm. I found one place which was just okay, but I was grateful they were open.
I headed out of Ely this morning and made my way out to Bear Head Lake State Park. I did a nice little three mile hike this morning around a couple of lakes and had pretty much the whole place to myself – a sharp contrast to the state parks on the North Shore last week. I made a quick stop on Vermillion Lake and then made my way down to Virginia, Minnesota which has a neat old downtown area. I wasn’t there long, though, as I wanted to get here to Hibbing to finish this post before the library closed. Hibbing is the town Bob Dylan grew up in (he was born in Duluth), and I’m looking forward to seeing more of it tomorrow. I’m staying with my friend Elizabeth while I’m here and she’s promised me some live music while I’m in town. The weather is still pretty gloomy, but hopefully it will clear up by the weekend.
I’ll be here in Hibbing until Friday and then I plan to hit up Voyageurs National Park this weekend. Then I’ll make my way up through International Falls and on to Lake of the Woods where I hope to do some fishing. By this time next week, I may be all the way to the North Dakota border in the far northwest of the state. I’m definitely hoping for some more sunshine this coming week than I’ve gotten this week, but I’ve got to get moving one way or the other. October continues to march towards November and while the temperatures are still pretty mild for this time of the year up here, they could take a turn any day and I still have a lot left to see in Minnesota. I’m looking forward to this coming week, though, as I am definitely in a beautiful part of the country. I hope you’ll come back next week and see what I get into up here. Have a great week out there, wherever you are and I hope to see you right back here, same time next week.
-Mike