The inside is outfitted with tables and chairs, as well as some furniture. It was full most of the day, as tent campers needed a place to get in out of the rain. The good news is that it has good wifi, and we spent the day catching up on correspondence and researching places where we will stop as we continue down the road. Sometimes it is nice to have a rainy day, where we are forced to rest from our travels.
After four days, the bad news is that it's time to leave our camp site. We enjoyed breakfast in our spacious and completely shaded camp site before we left. We're still wearing jackets, as it is cool here--especially early and late in the day. The good news is that we made it out of our camping spot without scraping any of the trees guarding the entry of the site.
But before we leave, we have one more hike in mind. So we parked the motor home at that big Tettegouche State parking lot and used our state park pass to go into the park for a hike. Even though the ranger said there were no loop hikes, the trail map told us differently. Again, it looks like the ranger has seen our white hair and assumed we weren't very durable. We set off on the less-maintained trails where the grass was tall and parts of the trail were muddy from recent rains. Yes, this picture was taken down the trail, even though you can't see the trail for all the overgrown plants.
The good news about less-traveled trails is that there will be more berries left on the bushes. The bad news is that the hike will be slower since Denisa thinks she needs to eat all those berries so they won't be wasted.
We're also finding thimbleberries along this hike. Bigger than the red raspberries, but also seedier.
Today we don't have to worry about dodging the skiers and snowmobiles that will be using this trail later this year.
Our first lake destination was Nipisiquit Lake. We love finding remote mountain lakes that we can't pronounce.
We would say that overall, mosquitoes have been less of a problem than we thought during most of our stops in Minnesota. We don't even use insect repellent most days, and we're usually outside and in the forest much of the time.
The good news is that on this hike we didn't see many mosquitoes. The bad news is that we did hike into deer fly territory. These buzzers love to fly around your head, waiting for the best opportunity to land and bite. Mark had read that having a fern or leaf branch in your hat would help to chase them away. It looks silly in the pictures, but it really did work.
Because we were making the big loop today, our trail went into Tettegouche camp. No vehicles allowed, so its cabins are for hikers only. But someone is obviously taking good care of the window boxes on the cabins.
We pulled up a bench, and had our picnic lunch in the rustic day-use cabin that doubles as a warming hut for the cross-country skiers in the winter.
We also took the loop out to Tettegouche Lake. As we looked over the lake, we saw a lone loon. (We just want to point out that the loon is a bird on the water--not the woman standing in front of the water.) At that moment, the bird let out a wail that sounds much like a coyote howl. Magic moment in the middle of nowhere!
The good news is that we have some boardwalks over the muddy sections now that we were into the more-used parts of the trail. The bad news is that the plants have about taken over even the boards.
We were over seven miles into this hike when we came to a steep muddy section. The good news is we had some "ladder steps" to help with the steep descent. The bad news is Denisa's bum ankle turned them into crab walk steps. Even though her ankle is doing significantly better, it still has its limitations.
In addition to the loop, we also did several spur trails that took us to viewpoints. The bad thing about viewpoints is that they are always found at the top of a steep trail. The good thing is that they allow us to see the mountains and lakes around us.
Even though it's just August, we find evidence that fall is just around the corner in northern Minnesota. These hardwood forests are going to be lovely in a month or two.
In our ten-mile hike today, we had the trail to ourselves. The good thing is we had the peace and solitude of the forest. The bad news is we didn't have anyone to swap picture-taking duties. Mark balanced the camera on a branch, and we got a picture together at Raven Point.
By the time we had hiked the ten-mile route we had mapped out, Denisa and her ankle were ready to call it a day. It feels good to be tackling big hikes again after that sprained ankle!
It's evening as we get back to the motor home, and now it's time to head down the road. We usually move to new camping spots in the morning, so it's unusual to be driving the motor home so late. The bad news is we are leaving behind the North Shore of Lake Superior with all its beauty and fun. The good news is we are heading down the road to discover more of God's wonders!
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