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How about I break this down by day, it was such a whirl-wind trip that this might make it easier to follow along...
~Friday
Right after work Bob and I hit the road! We quickly made it up to Two Harbors by 9:30 or so (after making a dinner stop at Culvers so I could spend $13 on fast food). Our lodging that night: The Voyageur (be sure to say it in a French accent). It was your typical highway motel, very JoyRide-esque.
~Saturday
We awoke in the morning to a sunlit, 20 foot tall, paper-mache looking man in the parking lot, I guess this was the Voyageur? We headed out for breakfast and ate at a cute local cafe, Vanilla Bean Cafe. After a moment of exploring the local cemetery, we were off to our first hike: Gooseberry Falls. Talk about mob, so many people were milling about the Falls, I was sure that I was going to see a 2 year old (or Bob) take a head dive off the cliff. We wandered off down some path and found it easy to lose the crowd then, most everyone just plays by the Falls.
After walking around at Gooseberry we had worked up an appetite and found the greatest lunch spot: Lemon Wolf Cafe in Beaver Bay. Even the bathrooms were decked out! It was totally the cliché looking MN cabin, but adorable, plus the food was actually good!! After refueling at lunch we were on our way to Grand Marais. However, we didn't make it far because we stumbled upon SugarLoaf Interpretive Trail. LOVE IT! The trail was densely wooded, with an inch of pine needles to soften your walk. Every few yards or so there was a numbered post, you would use that number to correspond to the number in your guide book (found at the entrance) and there would be a little history lesson about the site you were at, trust me, it was fun! Although there was a blind dog that followed us back to the car, it actually ran into a post, that stressed me out, I just wanted it to return to the center! We climbed back in the car and then it was onward to Grand Marais! I now believe it is time to introduce you to Five Mile Rock. Bob and I traveled this stretch of road more times than I would like to count and Five Mile Rock faithfully greeted us every time. I have no idea how that stupid rock got a name and why the city paid for a sign to alert us to the rock, but it was there. We stayed at The Outpost Motel for the night. It was the smallest motel room I had ever been in but it was very clean!
~Sunday
Mmmm...donuts....Mmm...World's Best Donut Shop... Ok, how could you go wrong with a bakery name of World's Best Donuts!? Needless to say Bob and I stopped for a donut, or two. It was a cute little shop, the place is plastered with pictures and notes from people who have traveled all over the world representing World's Best Donut Shop. Countless collages of people gleefully holding a mug that says 'World's Best Donut Shop' with the Eiffel Tower in the background or the Great Wall or Coliseum in Rome or, well you get the idea. After that filling and energy producing breakfast it was onto Devil's Kettle. The woods quickly enveloped us as we started the hike on the earth trodden trail. Several minutes later, after a continuous ascending climb, we came upon stairs, 171 stairs to be exact. Thankfully on this round they descended, but I was already dreading the fact I would have to climb them to complete this trail. But on with the hike for now, we stopped for a quick photo moment at the Upper Falls, but I could hear Devil's Kettle in the distance and was eager to see it. Devil's Kettle is a very mysterious water fall, just before the water crashes over the cliff into the river below, it separates so there are essentially two waterfalls. One waterfall powerfully empties into the peaceful river below, while the other waterfall, well it disappears into this cavern (aka: kettle). The thing is, no one knows where this waterfall eventually empties out! They have tried dyes and debris but they never see the dye or items again. Best guess is that there is a network of underground rivers that possibly travels all the way to Lake Superior, but it is quite the mystery, plus I think no one really wants to solve it, it would take away the magic of the place.
Hey we are in Disney World! Oh, no, wait it is Mt. Rose Trail. I don't know, there was something Disneyish about this trail. Maybe it was because it was fully paved or because we had an annoying family in front us that yelled the entire walk up. This was probably not my favorite trail. Although, the lookout on top of the "mountain" was quite the payout and on the walk up we learned about local trees, but I was hoping for more.
And now the story of my death....the Grand Portage Trail. Again, this trail started out fully paved, but Bob and I quickly spotted a trail that branched off and lead us down to the water, which we took advantage of. Here I paused for a left-over donut break and some pictures, then it was on to view the tallest waterfall in Minnesota. It was magnificent, but we were off, we spotted on the park map another hiking trail. Ok, so some advice, if you read a sign that says "use extreme caution, extreme hiking trail", you might want to start out with more than a donut in your stomach and a half a bottle of water. The trail was amazing; at times it was hard to know if we were even on the trail it was so back-woodsy. But I was slowly wasting away, the humidity, the intensity of the trail, I thought I was going to have to tell Bob to go without me and leave me to the bears. However, I survived and actually made it to one lookout view but then we had to head back.
Ann and Bob cross the border! We successfully made it to Canada! People, here is a tip, don't go to Thunder Bay. Ok, I am being mean, but just be prepared. It is not charming, it is dirty and industrial and gray. We spent a good part of the night driving around and looking at the city, it was like the residents had all given up. No one had a garden, no one had any bit of color on their house, it was just depressing. The only saving grace was the White Fox Inn. This is the hotel we stayed at, it is a diamond in the pile of coals. It was clean, it was cute, they had their own maintained trails on site! The only downside was the food, not good, not good at all. However, I wrapped myself in the hotel's plush bathrobe and nothing could get me down for the rest of the night.
~Monday
The wet and dreary morning began with a cheese tour, at Thunder Oak Cheese Farm. It was actually interesting and there was oodles of free samples to snack on. Bob and I both left with an armful of gouda cheese and then we were off to our next stop; the 600 foot long suspension bridge! Who knew that if you drove an hour out of Thunder Bay you would come upon sheer rock faced canyon walls that reached to the sky and lush canyon beds filled with trees and meandering rivers? Eagle Canyon Adventure is the place to go if you can. The sights are amazing and it was fun to walk across the suspension bridge.
Well our time with Canada quickly came to an end and we were back to Minnesota to stay at this Northern hide away, Naniboujou. Interesting place. Don't go there looking for a drink with dinner (manager's choice) or a television in your room (manager's choice). There is this eerie Christian vibe to this place, but it is still remarkable. The dining room ceiling and walls has this vibrant, Native American design that has not been retouched since the 1920s when the lodge opened. It was originally a private country club of sort, with members such as Babe Ruth and local wealthy folk. When the depression hit, the lodge couldn't survive and closed it doors. It opened a few years later as a public hotel for all to enjoy and has been going strong since. The food is wonderful and I would list it as a not to miss place if you are in the area.
~Tuesday
You think Bob and I would just head home after several days of hiking and activities... well, not us! I think, for the both of us, the North Shore had lost its charm and we were looking for some new scenery. That is how we ended up in the Iron Range, more specifically, Ely. For those that haven't been there, go. It is the most charming Northern city I have been in! It beats Two Harbors and Grand Marais, hands down. Oh and Hwy 1! Best highway ever! I only wish we had more than an hour to spend there. We stopped for a quick lunch at The Chocolate Moose (which I heard later is where all the "out of towners" eat at). We then got back in the car, longingly looking at the city that we wished we could explore and drove to the next town over, Soudan. On one of our hikes we saw a brochure for a mine tour, a mine tour where you get to travel 2,341 feet underground! That was the only hook we needed and how we ended up at Soudan Iron Mine. Bob and I donned our hard hats and entered a cage for the trip half a mile underground and where we learned all about the world of underground mining, from an actual old miner. Once underground we also traveled 3/4 of a mile in a tram to the last and deepest area mined, um, there were bats. It was a very interesting tour and I could tell our guide got a kick out of turning out all the lights when we were underground, it was a little unsettling. I plan on returning hopefully in the near future to check out the underground Physics department that the mine also has. However, we ran out of time on this trip and had to leave.......the road trip had come to an end.
pictures: Click Here!
~Posted by Ann (transferring travel logs to this site)
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