Back from the north woods

My vacation with Jane went too fast, as usual, and yet when I think of everything we did, it seems like a lot. Needless to say, it was difficult to decide which of the 97 photos I should post.

We took two days (Friday, July 20 and Saturday, July 21) to drive up. Our first stop was the new Duluth Trading Company outlet store in Belleville, WI. We found some bargain hats, shown here in front of Cabin 1.

New bargain hats from Duluth Trading Company

On our second day, we stopped at Bargain Bill’s in Rice Lake. I found a Mini-Gourmet Cocktail kit that included plastic swords, monkeys that hang on the side of a glass, little umbrellas, coasters, a guide for giving cocktail parties including recipes, and a collapsible shot glass (which turned out to be completely useless). All this for $2.49! Gotta love Bargain Bill’s!

Our cabin was situated on a little bay of Hungry Jack Lake. The water lilies were blooming. Before the week was out, I discovered that water lily flowers close up at night.

Water lilies near our cabin

We hung around the cabin on Sunday, recovering from the long drive. We fished from the dock and from the rowboat, with limited success. Lots of strikes, but few actual catches. Bluegill put up a good fight, though, so it was fun.

On Monday, we drove around the back roads on our way to Grand Portage State Park, just south of the Canadian border. We did not see much charismatic megafauna except for deer. I got a picture of one that was standing in the road, but not of two others that spooked more easily.

There were a few blueberries at the Otter Lake boat access, but not like the bumper crop of last year. We each got a handful. I took a picture of the berries in my hand to give an idea of their small size. They are not like domestic blueberries.

Tiny wild blueberries

We stopped at the county park at McFarland Lake for a break. We usually have lunch there, but this time we were too early. We like the view from the picnic area.

View from the county park at McFarland Lake

We ate chicken salad sandwiches in the pavilion at the state park overlooking the mouth of the Pigeon River and a restored prairie.

Restored prairie near the mouth of the Pigeon River at Grand Portage State Park

The Pigeon River is the border between the United States and Canada. The falls and rapids in the river are the reason the voyageurs preferred to carry 180 pounds of beaver pelts along the 8-mile Grand Portage. The trail to the falls is a combination of asphalt and boardwalk and is completely accessible right up to the stairs to the falls viewing area. The sun shining on the falls made a rainbow.

I broke out the cocktail set for happy hour that evening. Umbrellas make a drink look so much more vacation-like.

Festive umbrellas in our drinks

Here’s a picture of us (taken with the timer, which explains why there is so much railing in the shot) enjoying our beverages while overlooking the lake. We saw hummingbirds visit the impatiens in the flower boxes nearly every day.

Afternoon beverages (with festive umbrellas) on the deck

Tuesday was another fishing day. Our luck was about the same, which is to say not much. We only catch and release anyway. Even if cleaning fish wasn’t a lot of work that makes your hands stink forever, I don’t like eating pan fish. We watched a loon having more luck fishing than we did.

Loon with fish

In the afternoon, we drove down to the Chic-Wauk Museum and Nature Center at the end of the Gunflint Trail. On the way, we saw a bear cub run across the road. I was able to get a not-very-good picture of it in the underbrush.

Bear cub in the underbrush. Its nose is above the fir branch next to the tree at the righ

On our way back, we saw a deer standing in a creek eating water plants. Are deer supposed to do that? I associate that with moose behavior. The deer had quite a time getting its feet out of the muck.

Deer foraging in the water. Note water vegetation hanging from its mouth.

We woke to rain on Wednesday. We finished a jigsaw puzzle and then drove south on Highway 61 along Lake Superior to make a loop through the National Forest. We took a short hike up to the falls at Cascade River State Park. These videos are of the upper and lower falls, which cannot both bee seen from the same place.

We ate lunch overlooking Lake Superior in the Temperance River State Park. We drove and drove through Superior National Forest but spotted no wildlife except a duck and three ducklings. We were too far away to determine what kind of ducks they were.

Thursday was rainy again. We fished from the dock in drizzle. The fish were biting better that morning, but we got chilled and had to retreat to the cabin for hot showers. We spent the afternoon visiting art galleries in Grand Marais. We had frozen custard at Sydney’s, as is our habit, and ordered a pizza from the wood-fired oven for supper. We got the traditional Margarita—cheese, tomatoes, and basil. The crust was incredibly thin and crispy. We would get that again.

Margarita pizza from Sydney's

The weather was back to beautiful on Friday. Mist hung over the smooth water.

We went for a long row across the lake to a bay where we once caught a lot of big bass, but not this time. It was a great day to be outside.  After lunch we fished from the dock. I caught a pretty good sized bluegill. I had Jane photodocument since it was our last chance for a fish picture.

Probably the biggest bluegill I caught. Too bad it is the same color as the water in this picture.

Here’s the obligatory sunset picture to end our vacation.

Sunset on Hungry Jack Lake

Here’s a bonus picture of the moon rising and reflecting in the water. We were feeling melancholy about leaving. A week without responsibility is nice.

Moon over Hungry Jack

Now I’m back home. It’s time to start putting up pickles and green beans. Tomatoes will be ripe soon. The chickens seem to be about full size. Classes start in three weeks. Egad.