Early Departure

Pictured Rocks Continued

After our day hike to Trapper's Lake we chowed down, then Lisa and I walked to the creek and sat a spell on the bridge, enjoying the evening. We were dead-dog tired but it was too early to turn in so we dangled our feet over the water and rested our heads on the handrail.

Beaver Creek bridge

Beaver Creek

 Back at the campground we watched another glorious sunset.

Lake Superior at sunset

We had another decision to make about our trip. It was Sunday, and we were supposed to stay through Tuesday morning. But the last weather report we'd heard was calling for potentially stormy to severe weather some time on Monday. If it came early (assuming it came at all) we would have time to dry out before packing up Tuesday morning. If it came late Monday, we'd be packing up wet. If it didn't come until Tuesday morning, we would be packing/hiking in the rain. Not only that, but we were to drive home Tuesday as well, a good seven to eight hour trip. We decided to sleep on it, but knew that if we were to leave early it would be Monday morning rather than later in the day. No sense sitting around waiting for the rain to come.

So Monday I got up early and hiked around the campground looking for birds. The only one who showed his face was this Red-breasted nuthatch. It was good to see the little fella since none of them came down to see us this past winter.

We deliberated again about what to do and decided that it would make the whole trip more pleasant if we packed up and left that morning, and took our time getting home. We could drive east to Grand Marais, the small town that lies at the east end of the park, then down to Seney National Wildlife Refuge. We'd get a motel room somewhere on the south side of the U.P. then head home Tuesday morning. It would get us home earlier and we wouldn't feel rushed.

So we packed up and hit the trail. My load was slightly lighter since I was carrying most of the food, but it was still an arduous hike. We stopped several times, once along side a creek where we filled our water bottles and cooled our feet in the chill water.

Back at the van we wiped down and took some time getting gear loaded and organized. We headed to Grand Marais, where we stopped at the Lake Superior Brewing Company for a wonderful lunch. This dog sat on the seat of this bike, waiting patiently for its owner. The little guy in the doorway was enthralled.

By 5:00 pm we were rolling into Seney, one of our favorite places to go to see wildlife.  Everyone there seemed to have babies, but that will have to wait for next time.

The rain? It never came....

Backpacking to Beaver Creek

After spending Friday sightseeing and missing some pretty nasty weather, we were anxious to get our boots on and hit the trail. We were nervous too, as Lori and Lisa had never backpacked before. We'd made a poor attempt at doing some training, getting out twice in May with half full packs to kind of get a feel for how they fit and the distance we could travel. Let me just tell you, a half full pack is NOTHING like a completely full pack, and when I shouldered this bag I thought, "I have to go how far?!?"

In the world of backpacking three miles is nothing. People who do this often go 10 miles or more in a day. We however are not most backpacking people, and we were daunted. We put on brave faces though so Karin could take our picture.

Before the hike at the Beaver Creek trail head. Photo by Karin.

It was a warm day but not unbearable. I think we got out on the trail around 10 am, later than I wanted but it's hard getting four people together in any reasonable amount of time. We stopped several times, once for lunch and the others mostly to adjust equipment. 40 pounds was doing funny things to my equilibrium. I don't know how long it took us to go three miles but I'm going to guess around 2 1/2 hours.

Crossing Beaver Creek. Photo by Karin.

The trail's namesake creek is in a valley of sorts.  The campground is, of course, on the other side. The last climb, from the eastern side of Beaver Creek up to the campground, darn near killed us. We did finally make it, and found at the top a completely deserted campground.

View of Lake Superior from Beaver Creek campground.

It took us 15 minutes to choose a site. I think everyone was too tired to think. I was happy with the site we settled on.

Site number six at Beaver Creek.

We puttered around, setting up camp, then walked back down the dune to the creek to get water. Karin, the poor girl, was besieged by stable flies, biting flies that look much like house flies. She dove in the creek to escape their wrath. They don't seem to like me all that much.

Mouth of Beaver Creek at Superior

After we had dinner it seemed too early to turn in so we went for a short walk along the Lakeshore trail, which runs along Superior on the top of a ridge.

I waited around for the sun to set, and noticed scores of monarch butterflies sipping blueberry flowers.

 The sunset was well worth the wait, and the stable fly bites I got on my ankles.

Lake Superior sunset.

Next: Day hike to Trapper's Lake