Another Trip Up the North Shore with Maggie

Maggie and I made another trip to the Minnesota North Shore for a day of camping and a couple of days with Jenny B at the Gunflint Lake Resort. Click here for the video recap.

The drive up on Friday, June 30, was nicely uneventful with the usual stop at Duluth Grill for a delicious lunch. We arrived at Cascade River State Park in, what seemed like, record time.

Got the camp site set up and Maggie ensconced in the tent. It still stays light out well into 9pm hour. Got Maggie in her backpack and took a short hike along the Cascade River. We've been here a few times so rather than heading towards Lookout Mountain, we hiked along the north side of the river. To my surprise there was a fading Pink Lady Slipper right along the trail. This was my first encounter with the Minnesota state flower in the wild!

Lots of wildflowers including creeping dogwood, columbine, northern bluebells, wild roses, false lily-of-the-valley, and Clinton's Lily.

I had dinner at the Cascade River Lodge restaurant Friday night. Saturday, I made coffee while packing up to head into Grand Marais to meet my ex-boss from Nash Finch, Holly and her husband Bob. We met at Java Moose Cafe, of course (I follow the owner, Sarah, on Instagram).

Stopped at the Grand Marais IGA to pick up a few supplies before heading up the Gunflint Trail to Gunflint Lodge. We arrived to beautiful sunny weather. Jenny was ready for us in a lovely cabin. Maggie settled in and was glad to have room to roam, I'm sure.

Friday night, I grilled up all the meat (hamburger, brats, and turkey burgers) that I brought. Additionally, we made a salad with some very tasty homemade salad dressing.

The bed in the cabin has seen better days which resulted in a crazy-dreams night. Saturday, I made a big breakfast of scrambled eggs with a little bit of everything that was in the refrigerator.

Maggie stayed in the cabin while Jenny and I headed a few miles further up the Gunflint Trail to Magnetic Rock Trail. This is a relatively easy 3-mile roundtrip hike to a crazy monolith...and yes, magnets stick to it, but we didn't notice a strong effect to our compass. More incredible wildflowers including daisy and wood lily. Ask Jenny about the fellow hiker we met and the odd connection they have.

Saturday night we went to Poplar Haus down the Gunflint Trail. Our waiter did not seem so happy to see us, but he eventually warmed up. The bus boy was wearing a 99er volunteer shirt do I asked him how that adventure race went this year. My friend, Brett, was doing it again this year. Jenny ordered the BLT and claimed it to be the best BLT she has ever had!

Sunday, Jenny and I went to Loon Lake for a hike and hopes of seeing moose. We hiked the Crab Lake spur to the Border State Trail. We made it to Crab Lake and a bit beyond which turns out is in the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness - we didn't know. FYI - there is more than one Crab Lake in the BWCA.

The path was well maintained up to the BWCA entry point but after was very, very overgrown. We were hoping to gain some elevation for a nice overview but gave up on bushwhacking through.

No moose but lots of birds singing and a good trail except we did end up with ticks on our socks (me more than Jenny) but thankfully did a tick check before getting in the truck.

We stopped at the Loon Lake Lodge to treat ourselves to handmade ice-cream sandwiches. This resort is worth another check.

Sunday night I cooked up one of the grain meals I brought, added a bunch of the meat, and we ate heartily. I figured out the mattress by sleeping on the very edge.

Jenny got up super early Monday morning to meet students coming out of the BWCA (Project Success). Maggie and I packed up the truck and headed to Grand Marais for breakfast. It was very cold and foggy down by Lake Superior - a stark contrast to where we had just come from.

The drive down to Duluth was in intermittent downpours of rain. South of Duluth it started to get warm...very warm....and humid. By the time we stopped for a break in Pine City it was in the 80's with the same amount of humidity. It was crazy.

Another Trip to the North Shore with Maggie

Duluth from Skyline Parkway

Maggie and I made another quick and short trip up to the North Shore of Lake Superior. Instead of staying in a motel this time, we tent camped at Cascade River State Park. Link to video montage.

On the drive up I finally took Skyline Parkway (instead of I-35) which traverses the bluff at the top of Duluth. The views are thrilling. We also stopped at Silver Bay Marina for a lunch break.

We arrived at the park a little earlier than our campsite set up time but no one was there so we went ahead and got all situated. To be honest, I set up on the wrong site but was smart enough to double check 😊 The correct site was better anyway 😊😊

Maggie had dinner and then we went on a hike. This is the same park we had visited in March when it was cold and there was some snow. We took the hike toward Lookout Mountain but didn't go all the way to the top. The flowers along the path and the river were so very lovely. A perfect time to visit.

Comfy on the sleeping bag and therm-a-rest

After dinner at the Cascade Lodge Restaurant, we snuggled into the tent for the night. It was crazy windy, and I was afraid Maggie would freak out with the wind noise and twigs hitting the tent, but she was calm and quiet. I expected Maggie would sleep in a corner or snuggle up but instead she insisted on sleeping on the therm-a-rest and sleeping bag with me. If you've ever slept on a therm-a-rest, you know there is not much room beyond your own width. It was a tight fit but we both slept pretty well.

The next day I fixed a hearty breakfast of coffee and scrambled eggs with red onion, jalapeno, and cheese. Maggie didn't eat breakfast this morning. After breaking down the campsite, we headed to Grand Marais for a pastry treat and more coffee. I ran into my friend and ex-boss from Nash Finch, Holly, and her husband, Bob. We had a quick catchup before Maggie and I drove up the Gunflint Trail to Gunflint Lodge to meet up with Jenny B. The flowers along Gunflint Trail were spectacular. There was no way to photograph it. I highly recommend going to the North Shore at this time of year.

Lookout Point - Gunflint Lake

Maggie ate some lunch before Jenny, Maggie, and I hiked up to a Lookout Point over the spectacular Gunflint Lake. This is the lake we entered to go into the Boundary Waters Canoe Area (BWCA) Wilderness just last year, Jenny was staying at the Lodge because she was supervising groups of middle schoolers going into the BWCA.

Jenny treated me to a Northwoods canopy zip line tour. I had no idea this adventure even existed. The day was perfect. Not a cloud in the sky and not too hot. The views are amazing and to be at the tops of the majestic White Pines was an honor and awe-inspiring.

Maggie and I drove all the way back to Minneapolis after the canopy tour. It was a long six hours!

Link to video montage.

A Short Trip Up North

Click on the image to view the video

FYI the video is best viewed in landscape mode.

Apparently, I can't spend more than a month or so at home without needing to go somewhere. I decided a short trip up the North Shore of Lake Superior would be a good option. And why not go to Thunder Bay, Canada, so I could 1) visit a new place and 2) say I left the country.

My friend Bud agreed to join me and Maggie (my cat). Maggie was way overdue for a road trip and to try out our new cat-carrying backpack.

We left Minneapolis Wednesday morning. Stopped in Duluth at the Duluth Grill for brunch. If you have not eaten here, you should. The food is crazy good. Headed up Highway 61 to Lutsen to stay at Solbakken Resorts which was the only pet-friendly resort I could find in the area. We made really good time and got to the resort before check-in time. We went on up to Grand Marais and stopped at Voyageur Brewery for a beer.

Back at Solbakken where Maggie got comfortable and we relaxed...honestly, I think all three of us fell asleep. Woke up in time to see a beautiful sunset. Solbakken is right on the Lake so we walked down to the water to see all the colors.

There is virtually no snow anywhere! And it wasn't super cold. There was also NO ice on Lake Superior. It has been a very strange winter. After napping and sunsetting, we went up Lutsen Mountain to have dinner at Moguls restaurant.

Thursday Maggie got back in the car and we started our trip to Canada stopping in Grand Marais at Java Moose for coffee. I follow the owner of Jave Moose on Instagram. She wasn't there but the coffee shop is right on the bay and such a lovely, friendly place. I had never been past Grand Portage and Thunder Bay is only about an hour away so getting to Canada is a piece of cake. There is an incredible overlook at the top of Mount Josephine that gives a full 180 view of Lake Superior.

The border between the US and Canada is the Pigeon River. The Grand Portage State Park is also there as is the tallest waterfall in Minnesota! The Grand Portage Ojibwe people along with the MN Department of Resources have created an accessible trail to view the falls. It is a super easy 1 mile there and back. With little to no snow there were just a few places where the boardwalk was icy. The views of the falls are spectacular.

From the State Park it is just a few hundred yards to the border crossing. I assured the Canadian border agent that Maggie would not be let free in Canada and we were allowed to pass. One odd geographic thing once in Canada was how flat the Canadian side is. After a short way into Canada, you are in the Slate River valley and lots of farmland. Northern Minnesota is not like this as it is hilly and tree covered.

Maggie in the backpack

Okay, Thunder Bay...I had been warned that there wasn't much to Thunder Bay and Bud and I have to agree. It is an amalgamation of two "towns" Port Arthur and Fort William. There are a lot of train tracks and apparently a port. The city doesn't really take in the "Bay" that it is on. We asked about an "old town" or touristy area and were told there isn't really any. We ate lunch at an okay place and walked around Port Arthur Park (Maggie got to get her first backpack adventure) but headed back to the US in short order. If you do plan a trip to Thunder Bay, be aware that it is in the Eastern time zone!

Back in Minnesota, we drove through a small grove of old growth trees on the Arrowhead Trail. This is something I had seen on one of my Boundary Waters trips. To be honest it isn't that impressive, but it is nice to know it is still there.

Back at Solbakken, we rested before having a very nice dinner at Cascade Lodge Restaurant. Friday we headed home first stopping at Coho Cafe in Tofte for breakfast.

Click here for link to the trip video.

Aurora northern Minnesota November 15

Jenny took these amazing photographs of the northern lights at her and Andrew's cabin in northern Minnesota. Mt reaction was "WOW!" And yes, that is the big dipper in the second photo.

North cabin photos (one)

Only one photo uploaded because the connection at the hotel is not that good and I can't edit the pictures to be smaller.

This is Jenny and Andrew's cabin as seen from the lake. The lake is called Gust Lake.