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.