Hello Everyone and greetings from Minnesota. I crossed over at Duluth on the first of October which seemed like and appropriate day for a new beginning. It’s always a bit strange crossing into a new state because over the last however many weeks I’ve become accustomed to wherever I was. Within a state there are certainly regional differences, but crossing the state line isn’t a gradual change from north to south or east to west. Grocery stores are one way in Superior, Wisconsin and are something completely different 10 minutes away in Duluth (no booze in MN stores). And while people obviously move freely between the two, you can see differences in the culture immediately too. Packers’ green and gold gives way to Vikings’ purple and white and the maps on peoples’ t-shirts change as well. Spend enough time in one state and you’ll forever after recognize that state’s shape because you’ll see it everywhere if you’re really paying attention. It’s fun. Also apparently they call port-a-johns “biffies” in Minnesota. Oh, and the Twin Cities become just “The Cities” when you cross the state line. I have definitely been a little bit surprised by how many clothes people are wearing up here. Temperatures have been in the fifties and sixties and I’m still in shorts and a t-shirt but the locals are wearing jeans and coats and hats. Mark Twain has often been quoted (erroneously, apparently) as saying “the coldest winter I ever spent was summer in Duluth” and I know winter temperatures around here can get down to 50 below, and I just can’t imagine how cold these people must feel in the middle of winter if they’re so wrapped up in the beginning of October. I also got a kick out of a local radio ad which was telling employers to book a fun day out for their employees with a no bag-limit pheasant hunt - “reserve your birds today”. Of course if it weren’t for these differences, traveling around the country the way that I am wouldn’t be nearly as much fun.
So I have a fly which has been in my van for a few days now. I envision him thinking he is my dog because he seems to want to play all the time. He’s also very Midwestern in his mannerisms. He doesn’t bother me, but he wants me to know I’m not alone either. He keeps me company and comes and lands on me when I hop into bed. He doesn’t bite and he leaves me alone if I swish him away enough, but every time I get him out the door, he flies right back in again. He doesn’t move very fast and I could whack him with a flyswatter pretty easily, but he’s not really causing me any problems so for now, he can stay.
After I finished up this post last week, I headed out to Amicon Falls State Park which is about 15 minutes east of Superior. It’s a beautiful state park with quite a few waterfalls around to see, all within an easy walk of the parking lot. Like so many of the rivers in Wisconsin, there are a lot of tannins in the water from the trees which line their banks, leaving the water a brown, cola-like color. I don’t know where the Amicon River flows from, but it was raging when I was there. There was so much water going over the falls, and there hasn’t been much rain here recently and obviously no snow-melt in quite a while. It was pretty cool to see that much power in the water. That evening I went to celebrate my time in Wisconsin coming to a close with a beautiful cut of prime rib at Hammond’s Bar and Steakhouse which of course had to be accompanied by a brandy old-fashioned. I only made it to a few of Wisconsin’s storied supper clubs, but they made a big impression and were a wonderful part of my experience.
Thursday morning dawned foggy and grey, but I had one last place I wanted to see before I could leave Wisconsin: the state’s highest waterfall: Manitou Falls, at Pattison State Park. It was also only about 15 minutes out of Superior, and definitely worth the drive. I was actually really surprised by how high it was as most of the waterfalls I have seen around the state have been pretty small (it’s a flat state). Manitou Falls was impressive by any standard and I enjoyed eating my breakfast and watching the cascades. After breakfast I went on a little 3 mile round-trip hike to Little Manitou Falls which was also a pretty good sized waterfall. The sun came out and the fog burned off and by the time I returned to my van it had turned into a beautiful day. I decided to hang out there for a while, work on my podcast and enjoy the weather. I ended up staying at the park far into the middle of the afternoon and then headed to the library for a while to try and catch up on some of my photos from last week. By the time I was ready to go, it was late so I decided to hang on in Superior for one more night instead of crossing over late and when I was tired. I went for a burger and the Anchor Bar in Superior which came recommended by a friend. It was a decent burger at a very good price, but the people working there looked and acted the way most servers and bartenders feel but don’t show. I ended the night back at the Thirsty Pagan in the old railroad station with a nice beer and some good live music. That’s definitely a place I will return someday.
Friday morning I made my move into Minnesota, crossing the bridge over the St. Louis River and down into downtown Duluth. My first stop was at Canal Park for a harbor cruise with Vista Fleet. Duluth has historically been such a major shipping terminal since it is at the very end of Lake Superior. In the early days there was plenty of competition between Duluth and Superior, but today, despite the state line along the St. Louis River, they operate as one port and are called the Twin Ports. My cruise was really enjoyable and the narration was fun and informative. This being the Midwest, there were definitely some lame jokes, but they didn’t overwhelm the story. We got to go under Duluth’s famous lift bridge and out onto Lake Superior and then looped back into the harbor to see the massive grain silos, the coal dock and the incredible ore docks which load taconite pellets (iron) onto the big ships. The tour was a little under two hours, and I would definitely recommend it for the $22 it cost me. From there I went for a beer at the old Fitger’s Brewery, one of the few breweries which survived prohibition and made it all the way until 1972. Today the beautiful old building overlooking the lake has a hotel, brewhouse, two restaurants and a number of shops and other businesses. I thought it was very cool and I really enjoyed a beer there while I edited a story for my podcast. From there I went across the street for one more beer at a pub called St. Benedicts. One of the stories in my next podcast will be about legendary musician Jimmy Rodgers, and when I walked in the door, the singer was playing a Jimmy Rodgers song, so I saw that as a good sign that it had been a good idea. It was a neat little place and I enjoyed a beer and some music for a half-hour before calling it a night.
Saturday morning I drove back down the hill into Duluth (and it is QUITE a hill!) and drove around downtown for a bit. It’s a tough town to drive in as there are a lot of strange cuts and turns and the highway runs between the town and the lake. It’s also the first time my brakes have gotten a workout in quite some time since, as mentioned above, the hills are pretty intense in Duluth. Later in the morning I went on a train ride through the city with the North Shore Scenic Railroad. The Zephyr Express is their shortest ride at an hour and forty-five minutes, and I rode in one of the historic railcars which was pretty cool. Of course I should have thought it all the way through as to who would be on a train ride on a Saturday morning as it could have been called the Screaming Kids Express instead. I love kids, and it always makes me happy to see happy kids, but when they start screaming in a public place and the parents don’t do anything about it and just let them scream, I have a problem. The ride itself was so-so at best with some nice views out over the lake (no better than from the road that runs parallel) and a lot of forest and residential neighborhood. Between the screaming and the so-so scenery, I’d give this one a miss. When I got back to the station, I needed some peace and quiet and found it along with a wonderful meal at the nearby Indian Palace. I do love being in a city big enough to have some good Asian restaurants and this place was great. After lunch I headed out to the 12th Street Beach for a swim and a nap, both of which were wonderful, and then headed out to meet my friend Julia who was in town for a wedding. They had put off their reception and were going to do a pub crawl instead. While I was down at the beach going for a swim, there was a wedding going on further down the beach and we all quickly put two and two together. Everyone found it hilarious that I had gone for a swim during the wedding (it probably wouldn’t have made quite that big of an impression if it wasn’t October and getting colder). Julia and I had worked together for several years at the same tour company and it was really nice to catch up with her and to meet her fiancé who seems like a really good guy. I definitely had a bit too much to drink but I wasn’t driving and it was good to have a group to hang out with for the night.
Sunday was definitely a recovery day. The weather was crummy and I hadn’t planned on leaving until Monday anyway, but I didn’t feel great when I woke up. A morning dip in Lake Superior made me feel a whole lot better and a pizza helped as well. I watched some football in the afternoon and did manage to get some work done as well, but generally speaking it was a pretty quiet day (hey, we all need one now and again).
I was up bright and early on Monday though as I had a lot to do and I needed an early start. I decided the best way to leave town was along the Skyline Scenic Byway which is a really pretty road that winds along the top of the hill above Duluth. The fall colors were pretty sweet up there and definitely more intense than down by the lake. The second half of the byway took me down the Seven Bridges Road, which is pretty self-explanatory, and dropped me onto Superior Street which took me right out of town. My first stop for the day was at Two Harbors, a small town with some big ore docks and clearly a place which moves a lot of iron. There was a cool old train depot and a beautiful lighthouse there as well. Two Harbors my friend Mitch’s hometown and even though he’s lived in California for many years I thought it was interesting to picture him there. Before I left Two Harbors, I had to stop in at Betty’s Pies which was recommended to me at least half a dozen times. I got a pasty which had a good crust but which I definitely think Michigan does better. But the main event, a slice of warm great lakes pie (apple, berries and rutabaga) with a scoop of vanilla ice cream, was pretty darned good.
From there, it was up the Superior coast to Gooseberry Falls State Park. This was a seriously crowded place for a Monday afternoon, but the falls were pretty to see. There were three sets of falls near the parking lot and then another one a mile or so away. The last one (Fifth Falls, and I don’t know where the 4th one was), was definitely my favorite because it was much quieter out there and the walk was nice after my pie. When I was done with the waterfalls, I went to visit pretty Iona’s Beach which was a resort for many years but was donated to the state by the owner when she retired. Then I headed further up the coast to Split Rock Lighthouse State Park. Split Rock Lighthouse is a beautiful building situated high up on a bluff overlooking the lake. The inside of the lighthouse itself had a fascinating tiled brick which made it look nicer than most lighthouse interiors. There was also a restored lighthouse keeper’s house to tour on the property which was nice. The truth was that the best views were from down on the beach below the lighthouse looking up and I found a beautiful little cove with a great view to hang out at for a while. As the day was wearing on by that point, I headed up the coast and took a brisk walk out to Palisade Head as the sun was going on and got a nice view out over the lake as dusk began to settle. It had been a long day so I made myself a quick dinner and then called it an early night.
Split Rock Lighthouse
I got up early yesterday and headed just up the road to Tettegouche State Park where I started the day with a nice walk out to Shovel Point. This was one of the better viewpoints I’ve seen anywhere on Lake Superior as the shoreline was very rugged and winding. It was too bad it was overcast, but it’s getting to be that time of year. Next up I headed up the trail to High Falls and then on to Two-Step Falls, both of which were really beautiful. It was a nice hike to really get me going, but the weather didn’t seem like it was going to improve. I decided since I was going to have to backtrack to Silver Bay anyway (which was just south of me at that point), I should use the overcast day to drive all the way up to Grand Portage and then I can see the things I want to see on the drive back down in a few days. Grand Portage was about an hour and a half away and it was a nice drive with some good views out over the lake.
When I arrived, I headed straight out to Grand Portage National Monument, a unit of the National Park Service in collaboration with the Grand Portage Band of the Lake Superior Chippewa. This unit interprets the fur trading days as it was once the main outpost of the Northwest Fur Trading Company. Big canoes were paddled by French Canadian Voyageurs all the way from Montreal loaded with food, supplies and goods to trade with the Indians for the furs. They arrived at the “Depot” on the shores of Lake Superior and then were carried by hand up the old Ojibwe trail which went around the worst of the rapids and falls of the Pigeon River. The Indians had a name for this trail which the French Canadians translated as “le grand portage” and in English “grand portage” (a portage being a land crossing between two lakes or rivers). From the end of the grand portage, these goods were loaded onto smaller canoes and taken by the “North Men” out deep into the interior. These men would set up near the Ojibwe camps and trade for the furs the Indians brought in, returning to Lake Superior in the spring to trade the furs for their annual paychecks and party it up at the big Rendesvouz. In exchange for the furs, the Ojibwe received things that were useful to them but which they could not make like axes, cast iron pots and pans, and guns. It was a mutually beneficial relationship for many years, for everyone but the beavers of course which were hunted to the brink of extinction. Thankfully for them, silk would replace beaver fur in the fashions of Europe and the fur trade would all but disappear. It was an interesting time and an interesting site. The Park Service has rebuilt three of the original 16 structures that once made up the outpost there on the lake and you can get a feel for how it once looked. In pre-Covid times, this was a very active site with living historians on-hand to interpret the time period but for now it was very quiet. When I finished there, I headed up to the Pigeon River which forms the border between the U.S. and Canada and hiked a mile up to High Falls, the highest waterfall in Minnesota. It was a quiet enough place and I decided it would be a good spot to spend the night.
I got up early this morning as well and enjoyed my coffee overlooking the Pigeon River. There’s WiFi here, so I figured I better finish up this post now so I can be sure it gets out to you on time. When I leave here, I'm headed down to see the Devil’s Kettle Falls and then on back to Grand Marais. From there, I’m off to explore the Gunflint Trail Scenic Byway which should take me through some beautiful scenery and out deep into the Boundary Waters Canoe Area. I’m not sure how long I’ll spend out there, but I think it will be beautiful with the fall foliage. Then I’ll be headed back down the Superior Coast to Silver Bay and out to Ely where I can hopefully do an overnight kayak trip. From Ely I haven’t made much of a plan yet, but I know I am continuing across the north and then down the west coast of the state. I need to look at that all a little more closely this weekend so I don’t miss out on anything by moving too quickly. I do know that the extended forecast isn’t looking great right now and it may be a wet couple of weeks ahead. I have absolutely no idea where I’ll be at this time next week, but I hope you’ll check back with me so you can find out what I’ve been up to. Until then, stay safe out there and I look forward to seeing you right back here next week.
-Mike