Vacation, Day 6: the Gunflint Trail

 We slept until 7:45. Why not? It’s vacation! We had scrambled eggs, bacon and fried corn and potatoes for breakfast.

Breakfast

Jane played solitaire with a real deck of cards while I caught up on my journal. At 11:30, Jane suggested that we drive down the Gunflint Trail to the Chik-Wauk Nature Center (a traditional activity) so we could have a late lunch and go directly to Grand Marais to give Sydney’s one last chance.

On our way up the Gunflint, three otters emerged from the brush and ran across the road right in front of us. It was our only megafauna sighting of the day.

The Chic-Wauk was much the same. They had added a section on Native Americans to their previous display on dendrochronology, explaining how indigenous peoples used and managed the forests. I learned that the black growths that I saw on one of the birches near our cabin’s deck was a parasitic fungus called Chaga. Then it talked about harvesting it by sawing it from the tree, drying, and grinding for medicinal uses. It is high in antioxidants. Here’s a picture of the tree by the cabin. It doesn’t look very appetizing to me.

Chaga growing on a birch tree

As is our custom, we drove through Trail’s End Campground. Alas, campsite 19 was occupied, so I was not able to climb the rocks to the middle of the cascade. I followed a trail from vacant campsite 15, where I saw three canoes setting off on a trip.

Three canoes starting or continuing a trip

I could see the mouth of the cascade, but the rocks I would have to climb over bordered a steep drop off. Breaking a hip would ruin my whole day.

The mouth of the cascade in the distance

I made a quick lunch of the remaining green pepper, onion, and fajita meat. We each had two mini-tacos, and there was a bit more space in the small refrigerator.  

Alas, Sydney’s still had no Dutch chocolate custard. We settled for the more expensive turtle sundaes. Totally worth it. It really is the best custard in the world. So smooth!

Sydney's in shipping containers. A phoenix is painted on the left side.

We were so eager to eat our custard that I forgot to take a picture.

On our way back to the cabin, we saw two large white birds on Swamper Lake. I guessed pelicans, based on knowing they summer in North Dakota. I took a bad picture which was still good enough to see that they were swans.

A pair of swans with pinkish rocks masquerading as flamingoes

For supper, I rubbed two boneless, skinless chicken breasts in garlic and salt and braised them in wine. Our side was macaroni with a quick sauce of fresh tomatoes, garlic, and butter.

Supper

We had cobbler again for dessert. It seemed like we had done nothing but eat all day. I love vacation.