SLEEPING GIANT PROVINCIAL PARK

 

We have about decided that the foul-smelling 3AM visitor to our campsite is a randy Fox, not a Sasquatch. There's a plentiful supply of Fox around Sleeping Giant Provincial Park; 30% of last year's photo contest winners were cute fluffy Fox pictures. Flipping on the noisy water pump sends "Stinky" on his way; in our experience, this doesn't work with a Sasquatch ...

Arrived Wenesday at Sleeping Giant after a day of mild anxiety.

• Until noon we were awaiting lab reports (negative, all good).
• Our border crossing was pleasant. (We should have kept those eggs.)
• We were suffering wheel bearing neurosis, but when we pulled into Woody's RV in Thunder Bay at mid-afternoon, they "double teamed" the Airstream and we had new bearings with synthetic grease all around and a new brake assembly on the left rear before we returned from egg shopping. Like with a newly washed car, we imagined the AS pulling more smoothly; even did a couple hard-braking stops to our complete satisfaction.
  
• Now it was 4:30, Sleeping Giant PP was on the itinerary we scrapped during the three day "disablement". We wondered if we could still fit in a visit, but with no Internets, and multiple miles/kilometers down to the tip of the long peninsula before we would know, we were still holding on to our anxieties. The two Ranger Laurens found us a spot.

Lucky, it's August Long (??) and festival weekend at the park.

Oh, we are all about Lucky today!

And speaking of blind luck, we weren't five miles along Canada's superb roads when a full grown Black Bear loped across the four-lane divided. We were the only vehicle in sight (Oh, Canada) and Patty swears he looked both ways before bolting.

The campground at Mary Louise Lake has 200 sites of all kinds. There are premium sites overlooking the lake (a couple of knowledgeable Airstreamers there), most sites with trees and privacy, many with acreage. Tidy vault toilets with running water spaced around, one central shower house/laundry with individual unisex showers which never seem to be oversubscribed, a well-run family place with lots of kids, bikes, tents and an absolute minimum of mega-motorhomes.

They are deadly serious about bear proofing here. No smelly dumpsters here. All the refuse is hauled out of the park, promptly (a 35 km run to the park boundary). Campers can deposit their recycling at multiple locations but bagged garbage in the One collection point well away from campsites. It is a cement block FORTRESS with a thick Sasquatch-proof, latched chute.

 

The Visitor Center is small, but the exhibits are first class, including details on tiny Silver Islet. This tiny rock just offshore was once the richest silver mine in the world! Now the silver and the miners are gone and Lake Superior storms have reclaimed it.

Hiking is what you do here. For this short walk near the CG, the park provides this detailed FULL COLOR guide to the plant life along the way. WOW! ....and a gentle suggestion that you might want to leave yours for the next hiker.

 

 

Textures along the trail:

 

 

CLUB MOSS

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

WHITE CEDAR BARK

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

That's the Sleeping Giant formation in the background. In the foreground, Stooping Woman, position #1 in rock skipping.

 

 

Again with Stooping Woman trying to document the "Descend Steeply" in the Trail description.

 

We have seen a lot of crashing cascades along the North Shore but beautiful Sibley Creek is a charmer.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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BOUNDARY WATERS DREAM

Yesterday's trip up the Gunflint Trail got me as close to the Boundary Waters as I've ever been. The pencil sketch ads for the Gunflint Lodge ran in Field and Stream, Outdoor Life, Sports Afield -- the adventure porn of my youth. Drop a postcard to the Chamber at Ely and your mailbox would be filled with the most glorious colored brochures from outfitters providing canoe adventures in the Quetico-Superior Boundary Waters. Long hours of study....

But I, then WE, then The four of Us never made the trip...

Watching young families, and seasoned veterans launching and recovering at the edge of the BW yesterday rekindled the Dream. Surely we were too old and stiff and soft to even think about such a trip at our ages... but I guess we could read a few webpages...

There we found that Sawbill Outfitters at the end of the Sawbill Trail offered a half day sampler: three lakes of dramatically different character, three short portages, a little stream, 4-6 hours of "lesiurely" paddling IN A SUPER SEXY 42# KEVLAR TOURING CANOE....

We talked about it over breakfast, packed 25# of totally unnecessary supplies and headed out into the sunshine. The Dream Lives....

The folks at Sawbill Outfitters are pleasant and efficient. Al learned to shoulder the featherlight Kevlar canoe with its custom carrying yoke; Patty schlepped paddles, vests, the 25# of unnecessaries and a smile to the launch which was mercifully downhill on a graded path. There the Dream met reality. It was windy.

 

A West wind on three North-South lakes..? The featherlight Kevlar threatened to windmill around Al's head. Kids, and couples and whole families far less experienced than we were heading out with coolers and fishing rods, gripping poorly sized paddles inexpertly and weaving about.

We launched, Patty adjusting herself into the excruciatingly narrow bow of the Super Sleek Kevlar while Al found that Super Sleek Kevlar touring boats have seats about 4" off the deck forcing aged legs accustomed to upright seating to extend painfully in a position reminiscent of Physical Therapy.

 

 

J

Some relief from the swirling, gusty wind could be found in the wind shadow of the lee shore, but some bays were just full on "whitecappy."

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The portages were the novelty to us as downriver canoeists. We were a mixed bag of experienced folks returning from multi-day adventures and those of us on the "four hour tour." Things slowed down a little, but that was good.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Al LOVED THE PORTAGES. The whisper lite $3000 Kevlar, the evergreens brushing the canoe and not him, AND his legs could flex somewhat naturally.

 

Patty schlepped along good-naturedly EXCEPT when Al reprised his "it's always the bowperson's fault" refrain ... I believe a swim was suggested...

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Young couple, two kids under seven, 5 days ...AH, YOUTH!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Yes, she looks happy here, but I'm pretty sure the voyageur dream is dead. I know my legs are.

 

 

 

 

 

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THE GUNFLINT TRAIL

When I turned North on the fabled Gunflint Trail, I had no destination, but one overweening GOAL. Sure I wanted to drive the road that opened the Minnesota "Arrowhead" and took dead aim at the legendary Boundary Waters. I wanted to learn its history, smell the evergreen-scented air and see how the scars of the big Ham Lake Fire in 2007 were healing. But my GOAL was to use my meager, amatuerish photographic skills and pure dumb luck to shoot a MOOSE -- a Moose in the sunlight, not a dusky shadow, a Moose in a really wild place, not the drainage from the local highway salt stores, a moose doing moosey stuff, not cornered by an encroaching mob at roadside. It would be wonderful if this Moose had a rack as wide as a King Size Bed, but let's not get greedy. To be honest, the picture was less important than counting coup on my good friend Dave, a truly gifted photographer, who is, as we speak, piloting his Airstream over countless MOOSELESS miles in the wilds of Canada seeking the image which will complete his portfolio of North American Chauvinistic Megafauna.

Dave, this Moose is for you...

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

WISH YOU WERE HERE, MY FRIEND.

YOU KNOW THE IMAGES WOULD BE BETTER.

 

 

 

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Room at the Inn -- Cascade River

If we build eight more parks on the North Shore this morning, the campgrounds would be full by tonight, said the cheerful ranger at the Tettegouche Visitor Center.

Let's see what we can find for you.

Patty was aprehensive. Her internet search for campsites along the North Shore had yielded nothing for the upcoming weekend. The weather was perfect, the family vacations were in full swing and the little village of Grand Marias was setting up for a festival.

Cascade River has 6 non-reservable sites right now, first come, first served. They will fill up later 'cause it's 65 miles away.

We were Off, tailwind pushing us and looking over our shoulders hoping we weren't missing something.

Yet another cheerful and capable Minnesota Ranger assigned our site -- an electric one! -- and we were off to see the Cascades.

WOW! This little river is only seventeen miles long, but it finishes with a fury of rock-carving energy.

 

 

 

 

...and it just keeps going until It meets the Lake Superior "surf".

 

Circling back in the next days (to see if we missed anything), we found much to see a few miles inshore from Hwy 61 -- The gravel road along the gentle Baptism River covered with Lilies and looking very "Moosey" to us, walk-in campgrounds by stream and lake in the Manitou SP and a perfect little State Forest campground just a few miles inland, VIRTUALLY EMPTY. We think there are lots of other places ignored by the travelers on Hwy 61.

 

 

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TOUR de GITCHI-GAMI

...or how the Polka Dot Jersey still evades these Rail-trail riders.

Here on the North Shore of Lake Superior just a daytripper's hop from Duluth are two of the most visited sites in the North Country. Gooseberry Falls State Park has the most trampled set of waterfalls we have ever seen and, despite some hefty entrance fees, the beautiful Split Rock Lighthouse on a sunny weekend compares with any overcrowed NP visitor center for sheer volume of flip-flopped humanity.

 

Lacing these two attractions together is one completed section of the stunning PAVED Gitchi-Gami trail. The trail sometimes follows along hwy 61 (climbing over the hills that the roadway cuts through) but often swings to the brink of the bluffs with views of the lake and cool updrafts.

Yes, we ride up here; the Winnebagos ride through the cut...

WAIT! There are HILLS? Was I consulted on this?

 

After laying about for two days during a Minnesota heat wave, we saddled up this morning and rode through a gap in the rain shield that was passing over. The grades did not LOOK bad, but we were toast even on the gradual ones. Pressing doggedly onward and stopping frequently to pant, we couldn't help dreading the downhills that would become climbs on the return. It didn't get better as we decended the col d' Split Rock which actually has a switchback!) and rested at the Trail Center in Split Rock State Park. We dragged ourselves out on the lava flow with snacks and drank in the views.

Split Rock Light, the most visited in the US

We don't need your stinking $9 tour badges. We can see just fine from here.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Cool mist coming.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The climb up the col was testy until we got the Granny Gear adjusted, but then, on the second leg of the switchback, a MIRACLE. That fierce headwind that plagued us all the way out paid back. We flew, our spirits soared and victory was ours.

We braked for features we missed going out...

 

 

 

A couple of long climbs in the sun and we were back across the Gooseberry River cooling in the breezes at the top of the "Castle". We knew it was all downhill to our campsite from here. We celebrated with calls to Grandgirls and the last snacks.

Soo, a lot of drama for a couple septuagenarian flatlanders. We probably won't be getting any Polka Dot Jerseys for our modest hill climbing, but we are less afraid to stray off the flat and level; We feel a bit better prepared for our annual assault on the Acadia Carriage Trails. We think this deserves a little pie.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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NINETY LEAGUES NORTH

Engaging as those Wisconsin bike trails were, our newly hatched plan to travel the North Shore of Lake Superior demanded that we make some progress Northward. We stayed with the River Road as long as possible, winding below the bluffs on the Minnesota side. Rounding the Twin Cities, we took up with Interstate (Ugg!) I-35. It was the direct route and rewarding in its own way. The changes were dramatic. Gone were fields of corn, and picturesque farms, even barns and silos. Green boggy looking spaces bounded by conifers and Aspen with an occasional Paper Birch exclamation point captured us. Signs offering Wild Rice appeared near crossroads and we were on the lookout for harvesters in canoes, but admitted we had no idea what Wild Rice looked like "in the wild". In late afternoon we slipped through the pleasant hamlet of Carlton and on to Jay Cooke State Park for the most dramatic change of all.

 

The St Louis River at minimum flow

The quiet Trempealeau and the glossy backwaters of the Mississippi had been replaced by this chaos of fractured, twisted stone and the St Louis River thrashing its way through it. This was the Grand Portage of the St Louis, the way West for English fur traders, seven hellish miles to test any voyageur.

The Willard Munger State Bike Trail (150 paved miles, thank you Minnesota) passes nearby and links with the shorter St Louis River and Alex Laveau trails. We were in heaven with a Park spur that led us to the junction in Carlton.

No mountain tunnels here, but half mile rock cuts and...

 

 

 

 

 

...quiet tarns reflecting conifers and Aspen.

 

 

 

The views from the bridge over the St Louis Gorge are so dramatic that the trailbuilders have provided multiple viewing platforms.

 

 

 

But the best view and the focal point of the Park is the Swinging Bridge built by the CCC and rebuilt four more times as catastrophic floods reduced it to rubble.

The 2012 flood overtopped them all but the DNR responded with a taller design utilizing the same stonework as the original and the cedar log approch railings. It is truly beautiful and the view is as well.

What is Patty doing besides riding trails every day? Oh, just a little light walking therapy --over the roughest ground I've ever seen (in her knee thingy though...).

 

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