The Grand Portage

Today we moved from Two Harbors a whopping 13 miles up the shore to Gooseberry Falls State Park. We had been at Two Harbors for 8 nights and felt it was time for a change. We kinda wanted to visit a Minnesota State Park, but we had several choices depending upon how far up the shore we wanted to go. Gooseberry Falls, Tettegouche, Cascade River, Temperence River and Judge C.R. Magney State Parks are on the North Shore and all have camping. Gooseberry Falls State Park is touted as one of the top ten campgrounds in North America, so we chose it. I don't know, it's OK, but I'm a little disappointed. It's nice, but the sites are small and don't benefit from the million-dollar-view of the lake. The roads are gravel and a bit dusty. And there are a LOT OF PEOPLE. The campground stays full every night. We got here at 9:00 AM opening time and got our choice of three vacating non-reservable sites. I think we actually ended up with one of the nicest of the parks 70 sites. We were able to park the coach nose-in, and we have a large grassy area on our site in which to let Matilda run a bit.

Today was a little rainy and dreary so we postponed some hikes in the park and drove up the North Shore. Our objective was to scout out other state parks and destinations to visit before we leave Lake Superior on Monday. We ended up driving all the way to Grand Marais before stopping. There we had a nice lunch at The Pie Place. We also stopped at the Superior National Forest ranger station there to see about the conditions in the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness. There is currently no fire ban in the BWCAW, but if there is no rain before we put in two weeks from now, there likely will be a ban. DANG.

After lunch we cruised on up to Grand Portage National Monument. From 1778 until 1802, the North West Company located their headquarters and western supply depot here for business and a summer rendezvous. French and English fur traders or "Voyageurs" would bring their goods from their winter camps in the north west interior. "Pork Eaters" would bring supplies across Lake Superior from Montreal. This place became the meeting place because it was at the end of the Grand Portage. The Grand Portage was the 8.5 mile footpath used to carry goods and boats from Fort Charlotte on the Pigeon River to the shore of Lake Superior, avoiding the rapids and falls along the lower Pigeon River. The Voyageurs carried 90 pound packs; at least two packs at a time, and sometimes 3 or 4 packs at a time! And I thought the single 85-pound food pack I carried in the BWCAW was tough! They have a nifty new visitor's center here that just opened last summer. There is a reconstructed fort and encampment, including the Great Hall, kitchen and canoe warehouse. Costumed interpreters are out talking about how the traders and Indians lived and worked. Pretty neat! The whole park is operated in concert with the Grand Portage Band of the Ojibwe, on whose reservation the park resides. After the park exhibits closed we hiked up Mt. Rose, which overlooks the encampment and hiked a bit on the Grand Portage itself. We didn't hike to Fort Charlotte, and we didn't carry a load.

From Grand Portage one could look across the lake and see Isle Royale National Park, about twenty miles away. Isle Royale is the largest island in Lake Superior and was one of the places we had hoped to visit during this trip. We killed that prospect when we got Matilda: dogs are strictly forbidden on Isle Royale. There is a company that does day trips to Isle Royale from Grand Portage, so we stopped to talk to them. Unfortunately, the lake level has been at an all-time low for the last two years, and the boat they use for day trips cannot get into or out of the harbor. They are doing day trips on a smaller boat once a week on Fridays, but they were booked two weeks out. Some things are just not meant to be.

It was getting late, but we figured we couldn't come this far without heading on up to the border. We drove to the Canadian border, which was actually pretty anticlimactic. We didn't try to cross since we had not brought Matilda's rabies certificate or our passports. We walked into Grand Portage State Park, which features the highest waterfall in Minnesota. The Pigeon River plummets 120' as it forms the international border. It was starting to get dark, so we turned back towards home. We did make a final stop before dark at Judge C.R. Magney State Park to check out their campground. While we didn't get to view it, one highlight of this park is Devil's Kettle waterfall. Here the Brule River splits and half the river drops 50' into the Devil's Kettle and disappears. Nobody knows where it goes. Researchers have dropped yellow balls into the kettle and they have never re-appeared. Very strange.