The North Shore – Gunflint Trail
August 19, Friday: Gunflint Trail, MN
It rained during the night and the skies were still threatening in the morning, but the radio said the afternoon would be clear and gorgeous.
We stopped for a few groceries, fuel and strolled through downtown Grand Marais to see what the many gift shops had to offer. We saw some interesting craft/art items, but nothing called out to us.
Just outside of Grand Marais, we made a planned 110 mile detour up the Gunflint Trail to view the scenery and hopefully some wildlife, especially moose and bear.
The Gunflint Trail runs from Grand Marais for 57 miles along many lakes right next to the Canadian border. It’s a lonely road with a few lodges for fishing, cross-country skiing and paddling the lakes into the Boundary Waters Canoe Area. The beginning of the Gunflint Trail is a scenic byway through the Superior National Forest and bordered by beautiful lakes of all sizes. Further north along the Trail, large dead trees and lots of small green trees and underbrush were evidence of massive fires and another natural disaster called a ‘blowdown.’ A blowdown occurs from a straight line wind that can approach 200 miles an hour and simply lays flat anything in its path. We learned about the blowdown and the history of the Gunflint Trail area at the Chik-Wauk Museum and Nature Center, a small but very well done museum run by volunteers from the Gunflint Historical Society.
At the end of the road is the appropriately named Trail’s End Café and Convenience Store where we stopped to take a few photos and enjoy some ice cream.
We turned around and drove back to mile 27 where our campground sits on Flour Lake. The Golden Eagle Lodge has nice cabins and a small campground with lots of privacy – just what you’d expect for a get-away to the North Woods.
We had a great filet mignon dinner and walked over to the Great Teepee for a campfire and storytelling. Deb was our guide who answered all types of questions about the area and told stores about the Indian Legends of how the stars were made and her “party true” bear experience in Yosemite. It was a fun evening.
August 20, Saturday: Golden Eage Lodge
The night was cold, and we woke to 48 degrees and clouds. We had a big breakfast and listened to the radio for weather (no TV here). The afternoon was supposed to be great, so we decided to stay on so we could put the kayak in Flour Lake. The clouds finally gave way to a beautiful day in the high 60’s but a bit windy. We put in the kayak and paddled north, staying close to shore where we were protected from the wind. We paddled across the lake and back down along the opposite shoreline to put in at a small portage and hike to the top of the bluff overlooking the lake and lodge. The trail was wide and weeds were cut, but it was filled with bolders, swampy areas and was a general pain to carefully pick our footing. The trail forked a couple of times with no signage, so we hiked for over an hour and only got a tiny glimpse of the lake through the branches of trees – not the great vistas we were told we’d find. Returning to our kayak, we struggled against the wind to return to the lodge. Later, Deb told us we had taken the wrong fork on the trail and so we hiked over hill and dale and never did get to where we were supposed to be going.
We relaxed the rest of the afternoon, made a campfire at night and enjoyed the peacefulness of the North Woods. A good day – lots of exercise and lots of relaxation.
August 21, Sunday: Gunflint Trail to Thunder Bay, Ontario
It rained hard during the night with the clouds lifting in the morning, but it was breezy and chilly.
We made a nice Sunday pancake breakfast, wiped down the boat, packed it up, and headed back southeast on the Gunflint Trail. We made a short stop to hike up Honeymoon Bluff that gave panoramic views of a couple of lakes with islands covered in spruce, pine and birch.
We made a nice Sunday pancake breakfast, wiped down the boat, packed it up, and headed back southeast on the Gunflint Trail. We made a short stop to hike up Honeymoon Bluff that gave panoramic views of a couple of lakes with islands covered in spruce, pine and birch.