Boundary Waters Day 4

Monday, July 18

We had eggs with green pepper, spring onions, and leftover foil pack potatoes for breakfast.

I bailed the boat while Jane did the dishes. We fished from the boat until lunch with slightly more success. I caught one small bass and a bluegill.

The only bass of the trip

 We had steak quesadilla for lunch. Jane is into quesadilla these days.

Steak quesadilla today

We went to Grand Marais in the afternoon.  Sydney’s was not as crowded now that the weekenders had gone home. We both had kid cones this time. We sat on our bench and watched the Canada geese and seagulls.

It was such a beautiful calm afternoon that I suggested that this should be the day we walk to the end of Artists’ Point, which we had never done before. The road on which Sydney’s is located runs almost all of the way down a strip of land that forms the north side of Grand Marais Harbor, and Artists’ Point is a pretty wooded point at the end. We have looked at Artists’ Point from our bench at Sydney’s forever.

We moved the car a short distance down from Sydney’s to the parking lot of the Coast Guard Station and Grand Marais harbor. The trail to Artists’ Point started behind the Coast Guard station. We skimmed the informational plaque at the trailhead. It briefly explained the volcanic origin of the point and the history of human use. The land that ended in Artist Point had been important to humans for centuries. It created a natural breakwater and sheltered place to fish and land boats. The first Europeans found Anishinaabe or Ojibwa wigwams on the point. Henry Mayhew later built a store and did big business with travelers using the harbor to connect to Canada and, ultimately, Europe.

The trail to the right soon came to steps up to a cement breakwater that extended along way south into Grand Marais Harbor and a short way north to the rocks of Artists’ Point. It was too rough for Jane. 

Breakwater to Artists' Point

Breakwater out to a lighthouse

We tried a different route that looked like it went along loose rocks by the shore, but that too soon led to uneven rocks and mud. Jane told me to take my time and went back to the car.

Trail to Artists' Point through the forest

I went north to Artists’ Point, taking the rock and mud trail through the trees. I saw one cedar waxwing and heard lots of them. It was quiet and calm in the trees, but I could not figure out where a person would put a wigwam. The ground was far too uneven. At the shore, the trees gave way to bare basalt. It was smooth from the waves where it met Lake Superior and jagged on the sheltered side. It was easy to see why artists were attracted to it.

Grand Marais from Artists' Point

I walked along the rocks by the open lake to get back to the cement breakwater. I walked all the way to the lighthouse at the south end. 

Lighthouse at the entry to Grand Marais Harbor

There were also huge rocks to the south which had been incorporated into the breakwater. Before the artificial breakwater was built, these scattered and partially submerged rocks must have been treacherous indeed.

Cement to level out the path along the breakwater

On the drive up the Gunflint, I solved the mystery of the wigwams. They could have been where the Coast Guard Station was or anywhere along the peninsula that is now a road lined with Sydney’s and tourist shops. Duh. Just because the sign was at the beginning of the trail didn’t mean that the wigwams were behind it. Of course, the peninsula today is probably different than it was before European settlement.  Since “marais” means “swamp,” it stands to reason that there’s been some draining and filling over the years.

Back at the cabin, I made a cobbler of scones and peaches, cherries, and blueberries. We had margaritas and ate almost an entire bag of Boom-Chika-Pop popcorn while the cobbler baked.

Cherry, peach, and blueberry cobbler, which looked mostly like blueberries when it was done.

Dinner was WondeRoast chicken, garlic, broccoli and cherry tomato pasta. We both ate too much and could only have a little taste of the cobbler.

Garlic, broccoli, cherry tomato and WondeRoast chicken pasta

While I was getting ready for bed, a baby bunny foraged right outside my window. It had long back legs and ears edged in black. My first snowshoe hare.

Baby snowshoe hare grazing outside my bedroom