The Hidden Gem of the North

Ever heard of Voyageurs National Park? Chances are probably not, yet this park just stole our hearts and worked its way to the number one spot on our favorite places of the trip so far.

 

Logistically, Voyageurs was one of the most difficult parks to figure out because it involved an element completely foreign to me, backpacking via canoe. We managed to figure out a route, reserve a canoe, and find our way up here though and set off on a two night, three day paddle around Lake Kabetogama (pronounced Kaptgama).

We picked up our canoe at the Northern Lights Resort, a must return location with its cozy cabins, water playground, and wonderful staff. We loved getting to know Tracy the owner, who arranged our canoe rental and allowed us to leave our car on the property while we were out.

The first day was about a four mile paddle to our own private island, if we could just find it. This was the point when Ryan probably felt closest to strangling me thus far on the trip. You see I’m from Colorado, which is not a conducive location for learning about watercraft and lakes and such. Ryan, as I’ve mentioned, has spent many a long day out on the lake in southern Missouri where his family has a lakehouse and so paddling in a canoe seems only natural. In short, I was freaking out about the waves, and tipping over, and figuring out where we were supposed to go when in reality, only one of those things would end up being a concern. As we paddled into the lake, we realized it’s a lot bigger than we could have imagined, and all of the islands look alike. What’s worse is the depth perception basically disappears so you can’t tell from afar what’s an island or what’s shoreline. It seemed we weren’t getting anywhere.

This is when we caved and resorted to, well, Google. Yup. We used Google maps to navigate our way around Voyageurs. I do NOT suggest this as a survival strategy for anyone and I’m sure the ghosts of trappers past were utterly horrified with the technique but hey, it worked for the time being. Next time, I’ll be more prepared with my GPS.

Anyway, with Ryan checking his phone as we went to keep us on course, we headed towards our island fuming at each other, when we came across three bald eagles in about five minutes. Two of them were about 50 feet away from us, one munching on a freshly caught fish. In a canoe, with waves, without my zoom lens, this was the best shot I could get.

It was hard to be mad at each other after that. And the wildlife just kept coming.

We came across a loon on our way to the campsite and spent our first night at this beautiful campground secluded from the whole world it seemed with loons calling all night and thunder rumbling in the distance. I’ve included a track from YouTube which demonstrates a loon call so you can understand just how beautiful it is. (Click here if video does not load).

Day two a deer was hanging out in our campsite (casual) and after packing up our stuff we headed south to our second campsite about 10 miles away. We saw about 12 pelicans, lots of loons, a beautiful falcon and other fish-eating birds along the way. Lunch was spent at a campsite at the mouth of our bay where Ryan and I fly-fished for a bit (no luck) and enjoyed the view.

Then we paddled up the bay, waving and chatting with other campers along the shore (the lake is very popular for house boating) and remarking on just how friendly everyone in Minnesota is. We took a dip ourselves after setting up camp, built a fire, made dinner and enjoyed the view from our campsite. Rough life.

The next morning Ryan complained of not sleeping well at all in the night. Apparently he felt something crawling on him, reached down and thought he’d pulled a spider off of himself. Freaked, he flung it away, then realized it wasn’t a spider, it was a tick. So the morning began with a hunt for the live tick somewhere in our tent and hopefully not burrowed in one of us or our clothes or sleeping bags. Thank goodness we found it crawling along the floor of the tent, and even more thankfully, it never burrowed into either one of us.

Breakfast and cleanup was made more interesting by a beaver crossing by our site, and then we were off for the longest paddle back to the Northern Lights Resort. The wind was blowing about 10mph out of the north, creating cresting waves between two and three feet on the lake, and we had to head straight into it. The last haul especially was brutal. In Ryan’s words, “I’ve never worked so hard to move ½ a mile per hour.” We made it though, and after returning the canoe and saying our goodbyes to Tracy headed next door to regroup and spend the night at Woodenfrog State Forest Campground (super beautiful rustic campground with beautiful sites, followers take note).

 

Today it’s a long drive to South Dakota (cus apparently there’s nothing cool to do in North Dakota). It’s mostly a regroup day, then we’re headed to the Badlands tomorrow.

All Ryan and I know is that we’ll be back here someday. Voyageurs, with its wildlife, untouched wilderness, and total solitude looks much the same today as it must have when the fur trappers used it to move pelts to the east for sale. This gem is certainly in our hearts for good.

Caving via Kayak

Yesterday Ryan and I drove to the Apostle Islands National Seashore where we acquired our backcountry pass for the night at the Bayfield visitor center. Bayfield, a tiny little town overlooking Lake Superior, was absolutely adorable. Old Victorian homes overlooked the bay in pristine condition with well-tended flower beds, another gem that we hope to return to hopefully when our budget would allow for one of the cute bed and breakfasts in the area.

Then it was off to Cornucopia where we checked in for one of our few guided touristy things – sea kayaking and exploring the seashore’s caves. Our tour set out at 12:30pm, perfect timing as the winds had died down and we were able to explore the caves more fully than the morning tour. Ryan and I shared a tandem kayak (thinking back to the fly shop owner’s advice in Grayling) and Ryan was overjoyed to do most of the paddling through the caves, battling three foot waves while steering with his feet, while I took pictures and videos like a good blogger should. There’s really no way to describe what caving in a sea kayak is like, check it out for yourself below… (click here if video does not load).

Cool huh? You can really get back in there and explore and Ryan and I would love to go back and explore further. Of course weather permitting. When Lake Superior gets angry, those sea caves are no place to be. The sandstone cliffs have been pummeled by waves for centuries and there’s certainly no denying how much harm the force of water can do. We thoroughly enjoyed the day though, and had such hot weather we even took a dip in Superior afterwards. Refreshing!

Then we had a five mile hike to the backcountry site I’d reserved for us. Our beautiful, backcountry spot had a picnic table, fire ring, private beach, and a sunset view, but at a price. I think I have about 20 mosquito bites on one shoulder alone, and the trail was long with rolling features that really took its toll on our (my) strength. The foliage was starting to take over as well, so at times we felt like we were bushwacking. It was a truly beautiful view though, and the sea caves from this angle were unique as well. We even walked over a natural bridge at one point across a cave, frightening some boaters below.

Mosquitos aside, we enjoyed the sunset, and our dehydrated food on the beach, then Ryan managed to start a beautiful fire which somewhat abated the bugs while we sat and enjoyed the seclusion of our site and the lapping of the waves on the beach. Lightening was striking cloud to cloud in the distance and even rolled over our site in the middle of the night, though we had no major rain or thunder.

The next morning a fog had rolled in over the lake and as we were hiking back out, it started raining. Soaked, we returned to the car, did our best to clean up gear, changed clothes, and clambered into the car for the drive to Jay Cooke State Park.

Jay Cooke is famous for its “swinging bridge” which no longer swings after it was rebuilt for the fourth time after the 2012 flood. In other words, Jay Cooke is famous for its flooding. The Saint Louis River is the largest river that flows into Lake Superior and what a force of water it is. This is what it looks like on a low day.

So in 2012, when a hydroelectric dam overflowed and then broke, Jay Cooke State Park took the brunt of the hit, with trails, roads, buildings, and of course, the swinging bridge completely destroyed. It’s drizzling lightly now, an unfortunate circumstance for the clothes and stuff we have out to “dry” from earlier this morning. Here’s to hoping the clouds will break soon!

Tomorrow we’re off to Voyageurs National Park and our first multi-day backcountry experience. You won’t see a post for a couple days while we’re canoeing, but pray to the powers that be that the mosquitos will have already had their fill of other yummy tourists before we arrive. Cheers!

A Rollercoaster for Mountain Bikes

Yesterday morning Ryan and I got up early, packed up camp, and hiked back to our car to start the drive to a little place called Copper Harbor. Once we got there, we pulled off the bikes and I packed up my day pack with a hefty first aid kit, Sam splint, triangle bandage and quick clot gauze. If there was a place where my sister’s crash course EMT training she gave Ryan and me was going to come in handy, it would be here:

Copper Harbor is renown throughout the mountain biking world because of the wooden structures and beautiful trails that are so well maintained on the peninsula. Ryan and I were loving life as we explored the different trails, marked as “green,” “blue,” “black” and “expert.” Ryan and I got to the black level which included these two trails below.

On the Edge: (click here if video does not appear below).

Stairway to Heaven: (click here if video does not appear below).

The trails really were like nothing we’d ever experienced before. The elevated wooden platforms certainly added a level of technicality we weren’t used to, especially when it started raining. Fortunately though, none of my first aid gear came into use, although Ryan did have a near serious wipe out when he caught sight of some giant bug on his leg. If only I’d caught that on video.

After three hours of hard, wet riding, we took the recommendation of a local and walked down to the harbor for dinner at a little restaurant called Harbor Haus. It was my impression that this place would be a local pub of some sort, but this was not the case. Instead, Ryan and I, covered in mud and sopping wet from the rain were seated at a table with linen tablecloths and china plates by a hostess wearing traditional German attire that was impressively clean. I don’t think we’ve ever been more self-conscious as we looked around at the other patrons who were nicely dressed and clean. Woops.

Nonetheless we were served wonderful, authentic German food, like this potato pancake with apples and feta. Ryan ate all of a one pound pork chop in about fifteen minutes. Regardless of our appearance, we really enjoyed dinner, which was well priced for the amount of food we ate, and the view of the harbor with a rainbow bowing above it was well worth the stop.

After dinner it was off to Porcupine Mountains SP to camp, and along the way, we passed into Central Time Zone, gifting us an extra hour of sleep. Something we were very grateful for after a long day of biking.

Today, we’ve officially left Michigan, and we’re currently in Wisconsin almost to Apostle Islands National Lakeshore. Photos to come!

Picturing the Pictured Rocks

Yesterday Ryan and I drove three hours to Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore, which lines Lake Superior and learned of Lisa’s first goof in the planning process. We wanted to backpack for the night at the famous Chapel Beach loop, and I could have sworn backcountry permits were first come first served, but they weren’t. So of course all the spots at that area were full, and we had to choose a different backcountry spot a little ways away. We still wanted to see the Chapel Beach loop though, so we headed up a dirt road to the parking area, had lunch, then set out on trail through beautiful woods full of chipmunks. I’m used to chipmunks not being afraid of humans, but I’m not used to them minding their own business and not bugging you for food. They just went about their foraging business with Ryan and I inches away in some cases.

We stopped at Chapel Falls for a quick snapshot featuring our mascot Matt Adams, who was on the DL after his arm fell off. We found it though, and now good ole Matt is back! Check him out…

Amazingly, the mosquitoes weren’t too bad on our hike, and Ryan and I thoroughly enjoyed the dappled light and cool temperature of the thick forest. Also amazingly, we didn’t see any poison ivy. Ryan brought sunflower seeds to munch on, and he taught me how to open them up to get the seed without totally destroying the shell. (Step one: put all seeds in the side of your cheek like our chipmunk friends. Step two: lightly bite down on one seed lengthwise so it splits open. Step three: move the seed to the front teeth to extract the seed. Step four: blow the seed shell out of your mouth, and don’t accidentally hit your hiking partner with them). 

Soon the trees broke, and we arrived at the beach with the colored cliffs the park is known for. Chapel rock stood sentinel over children and pontoon boats taking advantage of the sandy beach. Superior is even colder than Michigan, so Ryan and I only managed to dip our feet in, but in our defense, no one else was swimming either. After taking in the coast for a bit, Ryan and I decided to make an ambitious choice and take the longer route back to the trail head so we could see more of the cliffs, and oh did we. There were definitely some places where Ryan was pushed up against the foliage on his left so as to avoid the daunting 100+ foot drop to the water below via the cliff on his right. The hike was well worth it though, with viewpoints of some of the iconic cliffs of the park and heavy grown forest all to ourselves. 

Pictured above: Pictured Rocks

Well almost to ourselves. At one point in the trip, my sister texted me and my phone somehow managed to use some small strand of cell service to receive the text message. “Ootini!” Ryan jumped just about ten feet in the air before realizing it was my ring tone for my sister. We both died laughing. It was the perfect habitat for Jawas.

By the end of the hike, we had hiked eight some miles and were feeling pretty weary. My ankles were having some sort of reaction to my socks and were swelling with a bit of a rash. We had to get moving though, as the sun was sinking fast and we still had to hike to our backcountry site. So we drove the ten miles to the next trailhead, threw all our backcountry stuff in our packs, and then huffed it another 1.5 miles to camp where we caught this great sunset picture below from the Coves backcountry camp. We set up camp and cooked dinner just as darkness set in, like we were pros. Except I realized I forgot my sleeping pad, so that made for a pretty rocky night’s sleep. Oh well! Live and learn.

We got up early, packed out all our stuff and are now heading towards what might be the craziest mountain biking we’ve ever attempted at a little place called Copper Harbor. Stay tuned!

One more mascot shot.