The legend lives on from the Chippewa on down
Of the big lake they call Gitche Gumee
The lake, it is said, never gives up her dead
When the skies of November turn gloomy….
RIP…Gordon Lightfoot
We’ve spent the last week exploring Lake Superior from Duluth, MN through Iron Lake, WI, Madeline Island, WI and Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore in Michigan…The Lake is massive and beautiful and seeing it from various angles has been a delight.
We traveled up HWY 61, scenic byway to check out Split Rock Lighthouse, Gooseberry Falls and then back down to Duluth. The highway was beautiful with some magnificent homes right on the water. The lighthouse museum was cool with an interesting video about all the shipwrecks that have taken place on Lake Superior and the amazing building of this lighthouse in the early 1900’s to try to protect the ships, sailors and cargo. You could even tour the lightkeeper’s to get a feel for how they and their families lived while on duty.
One of the highlights was Betty’s Pies in Two Harbors WI (darling town)…a tip we got from the Keep Your Daydreams channel and it did not disappoint. French Cherry and Five Layer Chocolate were the go to choices on this day although Key Lime, French Blueberry, Strawberry Rhubarb, Great Lakes Berry Crumble and some Peanut Butter concoction tempted us. Great little joint with really good pie. I hear they ship, so you might want to check it out. We also visited Gooseberry State Park to see the falls and then headed to Duluth for a quick tour before heading to camp.
The Lift Bridge above was so cool….the entire road piece elevates toward the top arch to let ships come through. There’s a Canal Boardwalk area that travels the lake and the canal with QR codes that give you an audio tour.
From there we went to Top O The Morn campground in a little town called Iron River. The campground sits on Iron Lake, a small, quiet lake and was simply delightful. Six Adirondack chairs await you on the hill overlooking the lake, just waiting for you to come, sit back and enjoy a good book. Greg and Kathleen were wonderful hosts and owners and we spent some time chatting with them and hearing their story. We rented a pontoon boat one afternoon for a few hours of fishing and caught bluegill, croppy, northern, sunfish and bass. Beautiful day on the lake with little noise and great fishing…
One of us had a better day fishing than the other….you be the judge:
Last but not least was my exciting walk….the woods were thick so I stayed on the road and walked to another little lake called Deep Lake. Made sure to watch my route because it was easy to get turned around. On my way back, I turned the corner and just about a block ahead of me was this gal…
At first I thought it was a black lab. Had my phone out so caught the video below. After I filmed the video, a cub ran across the road to the other side. I thought I was probably okay continuing down the road, because she was on the other side, but it spooked me, so I called Tim and told him there was a bear between me and camp so he came and rescued me! We drove back down the road and she was right off the road with her cub checking us out. Found out later from Greg and Kathleen that she’s about three years old and seems to love this area. She has three cubs this year, so who knows which side of the road the other two were on! For some reason I was totally unaware that black bears were in this area….had bear spray in Canada and Glacier at the ready, but Wisconsin? Nope.
From Iron River we headed to Bayfield, WI to catch the ferry to Madeline island, one of the Apostle Islands and the only one that has been developed. We stopped at the Bayfield Winery and Blue Ox Cider house for a few tastings before hitting the ferry and found some good ginger cider….word is it makes killer Moscow Mules, so we’ll see.
Madeline Island was a charming little island. About 400 people year round, swelling to 2500-3000 during the summer months. Great little cottages right on Lake Superior, a cool beach club and an ice cream shop. What else do you need? We stayed at Big Bay State park and did a few hikes along the woods and water. And hit the town on Friday to watch the Opening Ceremonies at The Beach Club….perfect.
The memorable hike was the Lagoon Beach Trail. We wanted to get in a good long hike so decided on this one, despite the sign. Bad decision.
Mosquitos, Tics and Bears……OH MY!
Spoiler alert. We did not encounter a bear.
But given my earlier encounter in Iron Lake, I was brandishing bear spray the entire time, blowing my “I’m lost in the woods” whistle every three seconds, singing “99 bottles of bear, beer” ( freudian slip) at the top of my lungs, and was generally miserable for 3 miles. Tim was more worried about the tics, so had his hood up, sweats on and was fully covered…happy to let me be out front with the whistle!! And then the mosquitoes and flies showed up…swarming. Did I mention the mud, and long grasses and swamp land?? We were the only ones on the trail…it was thick woods and grasses and at one point a guy came around the corner all stealth-like and he’s lucky I didn’t take him out with bear spray and jijutusu moves. Seriously…amped and un happy.
After what seemed like a marathon, we emerged into a campground and hit the beach portion of the loop. Sublime.
The best part of the campground was that our site was right near a trailhead to the beach and I ventured into Lake Superior for a swim one afternoon…the first of what I hope will be all five Great Lakes.!
From Madeline Island we drove to Munising MI to check out the Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore. The KOA was beautiful and we had a few great nights sitting out among the party lights!
We hiked to Miners Falls one day and did the Marsh trail. The next day was the Chapel Rock loop which ended up being a little over 6 miles with some great payoffs….hiked to some falls, then Chapel Rock…a rock with a 250 year old Michigan White Pine growing out of the top then to Chapel Beach which was fabulous and then back through the woods to Chapel Lake. Great hike…took it out of us by the end. No bears, no biting flies…no swearing.
I had heard about Pictured Rocks from a friend a few years ago who was hiking a part of the 40 mile North Country Trail and camping along the trail. It was beautiful shoreline, clear water and amazing coloration in the rocks from minerals.
From here we begin our journey south to St. Ignace, Mackinaw and the lower part of Michigan. See you there!