North Shore (Day Two)

Having not fully recovered from day one, Pauline was an early riser as she wanted to get a view of the sunrise from the shores of Lake Superior. I struggled to get out of bed and in my haste I put on the clothes from our previous days hike. No coffee or snack before we exited the door. Just harness the dogs and hit the trail off the back of the camper for the short trek across the road and up the shore to the picnic area.

We arrived with light filtering from the east across the sky. The wind was brisk, the swells on Lake Superior were deep at about ten feet in height. The crashing waves spewing that mixture of water and air towards us on the rocks. We did not have to wait long for the sun to arise. With clouds on the horizon the sun looked like a small intensely bright light, muting to yellow and finally dark orange around its edges. The jagged shore to the west was glowing orange with sparkles of twinkling yellows from the few trees clinging to their leaves. Waves crashed down along the rocks with spray shooting into the brisk morning.

Sunrise on Lake Superior

We headed back to the camper for coffee and to gather ourselves for the long day ahead at Cascade River State Park. We spent the morning gathering ourselves. Watched the early church service on my phone set up in the window to get a signal. Had copious amounts of coffee. Time to read and to journal.

Not long after the church service, we headed out for the trail with the dogs pulling us up the paths. The gorge from the Cascade River is a small jaunt up the trail. You gain different perspectives with each view becoming more and more spectacular. The water steps down the gorge through several falls with the dark root beer colored water adding a little more creamy white frothy head. The light muted by the clouds this particular morning, so too were the colors on the trees above.

We continued up the hiking trail headed for "Lookout Mountain" with the dogs pulling and switching directions every few seconds. We thought the previous days hike would have mellowed the beasts within, but they proved to have much more resilience than we expected. The trail was narrow and steep. It climbed up through the forest exposing areas where storms had toppled trees. Here the grass reigned king for now. Small spruce and other evergreens were still young and would not inherit the area for at least another few years.

The trail, more washed out at the higher elevation finally gave way to "Lookout Mountain" with a spectacular view of the forest and lake below. The sun was out, but the colors had faded from peak fall to hints of winter. We took some time to rest, snack and take in the views.

View from atop 'Lookout Mountain'

We headed down the trail begging the dogs not to pull us to our deaths. Everyone was getting tired and eager to get back to the camp site. The trail was more laboring for tired legs even though we had gravity on our side. We arrived back to the camp site for some water and rest for our fatigued bodies. We decided to eat lunch with chicken fajitas and veggies (onions, peppers and zucchini) on the grill. The cuisine was satisfying.

After an hour or more of rest, Pauline and I set out again this time following the rivers short path to Lake Superior. We sat on the glistening black rocks on the shore for a short time, enjoying the crashing surf with deep blue water and foamy white caps.

We hiked back up the river after, but from the opposite sides that we had traveled earlier in the day. Venturing on the trail further, we headed north. Traveling north, we came across a bench setup between trails with a view to the north. The view was relaxing. The light cast across the dark greens of the evergreens, still catching the reflection of the few bright yellow leaves that clung to the Quaking Aspen. We took some time to recover here and discuss which trail to follow next. We determined to follow the cross-country ski trail that was a few feet from where we were.

The trail was wide and easy to traverse. Around us the forest changed around every corner. Stately trees stood tall and healthy around one corner while other corners revealed toppled trees with signs of new growth imminent to one day rule. While we strolled through the trail we talked about hopes, dreams and what if's while reminiscing our struggles and more importantly our blessings.

We arrived back at the camper, knees sore and bodies weary. We sat around a small fire having some water and maybe a beer as we discussed plans for the evening. Perhaps a drive back into Grand Marais? Yes. That sounded good.

We headed back into Grand Marais and enjoyed Walleye Tacos and Asian Wings at Voyaguers Brewing. I had the double dry hopped Devil's Kettle while Pauline had the Palisades Porter on Nitro. We had such a long day, why not some desert. Bring on the hot brownie sundae with another Palisades Porter on Nitro for us to share. That was the perfect ending to another perfect day.