Gander with me as I embarked a three day, two night trip far along the shore of Lake Superior and camped out of my van to visit a friend who was there over the summer.
That is her on the right, her name is Alyssa Klocke, but we will call her Al for short. You see I met her my freshman year in college through a camping and hiking club called Alfresco, which means a breathe of fresh air. It has been history ever since, and we have become great traveling buddies. Al was working on an internship at the Lutsen Lodge for the summer and once I heard news of this I just HAD to go up and see her.
June 29th rolled around and I set off North in the silver bullet (my family's old van that has been with us ever since I was in diapers). As I made my trek on 35, I made sure to stop in Duluth to see an old friend who goes to college there. Cesar met up with me down in Canal Park and we enjoyed a family next to us feeding the seagulls. Naturally, we got hungry so we heading to a Mexican restaurant and sat on the deck that over looked Lake Superior. As I said my goodbyes to Ces, I had to finish up my trek on highway 61. By sundown I made it to Al's cabin and we decided to catch up over dinner at the Lodge.
After the first night of meeting her cabin mates and sitting around the fire, we had to get ready for our eventful day ahead of us. We had yoga, hiking, kayaking, and rock collecting to look forward to.
Morning yoga was much needed after an eventful first night, I believe our instructor felt so as well because when we were doing our Savasana, he fell asleep and made our class go 15 minutes over. We all had a good laugh about it and we gave him some crap about it later, but we had to make our way to Grand Marais to pick up doughnuts at only one bakery that deserves this name, World's Best Doughnuts. We didn't stay long as we had to make our way to the Canadian Border to hike High Falls at Grand Portage State Park.
If you ever want to view an amazing water fall, High Falls is the place to go. It is known as 'Minnesota's Niagra' as it is the highest waterfall in the state and also has the most gorgeous views and hike. It was a boardwalk throughout the hike with pockets to travel into the woods and end up alongside the Pigeon River to enjoy the water and relax, till you got to the main attraction of course. There are two different routes you can take, High Falls and Mid Falls, both equally beautiful and worth your while. If you want a shorter hike, take it straight to High Falls. Mid Falls was about a 4 mile hike in to reach them, but again, worth it. Below is Al and I in front of High Falls.
As I said earlier, hiking High Falls was only our first event of our day. We drove back down to Lutsen to hike around the park and sit and enjoy the warm summer day by the lake and collect rocks. We actually got a bit of a sun burn! We then got to our sea kayaking event which is what we were looking forward to the whole evening.
There was a group of us that went out that night, and it started to get colder and a fog rolled onto the lake. Still good enough weather for kayaking so we voyaged on. It was about a 2 hour trip and I loved seeing the shore I have grown fond of on land, from a new perspective. Seeing it from the sea was something unexpected, and I will never forget that feeling it gave me. A new appreciation for what beauty can come from our earth was wrapped up in that moment on the kayak..I only hope to find new ones on more travels I embark on.
It didn't take long for us to fall asleep that night as our day came to an end, and we awaited what was in store for us tomorrow. Little did I know it would extend my trip on the Shore a bit longer than expected, but of course I wasn't too upset about that.
I was the first to wake up that morning, and after finding some coffee to drink I decided to take a morning hike alongside the lake in the light rainfall. This hike was so peaceful in the rain, the tree coverage on the trails meant for a longer hike and just sitting and enjoying the simplicity of life. Enjoying the sound of the rain on the lake and as it hits the trees above me. It made the greens pop against the dark browns of the rocky lake side. Next time, if you don't want to hike in the rain, think again. I promise you won't regret it and all of it's natural beauty.
The rain didn't stop but decided to pour down on us when it was time for our paddle boarding trip on Caribou River. Again, nothing could stop Al and I from having a great experience in the short time that I was there. We bundled up and had two layers of clothes on, including our swimsuits (just in case we actually fell into the lake). Now this was my first time ever paddle boarding and Al was in her words 'still amateur' at it even though she has done it twice as many times as me. It was going to be interesting to say the least. We unloaded the boards onto the lake and had a quick lesson on the basics of paddle boarding. I think the hardest part of the whole lesson was understanding how to stand up on the board, which is the whole point of this experience. Naturally, I had a feeling I was going to be the one who ended up in the lake. I was the last one to stand up, and I had all eyes on me but thankfully to save me from embarrassment I stood up and got my balance like a pro...or maybe pro is too big of a label to give a first timer, but I impressed myself.
We had a steady rain the whole trip, and the lake was calm but I couldn't have asked for it any other way. There was something about the rain that calmed me and made the whole aesthetic of the lake worth while. The group we went out with was small, so it was comfortable atmosphere and added to the nature of everything. We enjoyed a fellow loon tagging along our trip occasionally popping in and out of the water, getting close to our boards sometimes. He was a very curious bird. A fun fact I learned about them was about their legs, they are placed farther back on their body than other birds. This is because they are more of a water bird than land, and they use their legs more for swimming than walking. There, I helped you learn something new today. You're welcome. But regardless, my new found experience paddle boarding was well worth the rain and I would do it again in a heartbeat. I can happily report that no one fell in and we managed to stay pretty warm and somewhat dry.
After that experience, it was marking the close end to my trip north and although I didn't want to leave I was unaware of what was going to happen to me next. I was all packed and said my goodbyes to everyone at the cabin, and as I situated myself in the drivers seat and started to turn on the car...they engine wasn't starting. Concerned, I tried again and relieved it came to life. But that was just the beginning. I didn't even make it out of the resort until the car would shake and I couldn't make it past 30 mph. So, I went back to the cabin and called my parents. As I expected, they weren't upset to drive all the way up the shore to come save me because they love it just as much as I do, but they were upset the old van wasn't working. Three hours later, my saviors came and we made our way back down to home. I drove back with my mom as my dad resorted to the silver bullet and we ended up getting home around midnight. That was okay though because my family had me back safe and sound and I couldn't wait to tell them about my travels.