Tettegouche State Park: July 28, 2012

On July 28th, Joe and I decided that we would try to do the Tettegouche State Park Hiking Club trail again. We were thwarted last time...we would not be fooled again!  We left Thunderdog at home and drove up the shore.  

Almost immediately upon getting to Tettegouche, we realized that the universe was once again conspiring against us.  The parking area was blocked off with pylons, and big signs said "PARK CLOSED".  We had no idea. 

"Whatever!" said Joe.  "We're not going to come back a third time."  Despite my Dudley Do-Right protestations, we crossed the pylon line, parked in the empty lot, and easily found the Hiking Club Trail.  I half expected the State Park Police to jump out from behind trees and arrest us, but Smokey and his buddies were not around.

There were trails "under construction"...more like "blocked off for no discernible reason"

The Hiking Club trail pretty much follows the high edge of the land above Lake Superior.  Amazing views of the lake - deep blue against the light blue sky.  Slight breezes kept it from being too warm.  We could have knocked off the two miles of the trail in about half an hour if we'd wished.  However, we took our time and enjoyed the views.  It's easy to see why this is my friend Mandy's favorite Hiking Club Trail!

Rock, tree, sky, sea

To our surprise, we were not the only people out there.  Several groups of rock climbers were hitching themselves up to the metal hooks in the ground, and preparing to leap over the edge and then climb back up.  At least, that's what I'm assuming they were doing.  You know me and heights.  I didn't get too close.

Rock climbers in the distance - see the metal clips in the foreground?

Out in the lake we saw several huge pleasure boats, motoring wealthily along.  I've heard that, if one is interested in seeing the REALLY big houses on the North Shore, they would need to either go on a boat or on a low-flying float plane.  The fancy vacation homes are all right on the water (of course), and hidden from the road by trees.  I know they're out there.

Thy sea is so great, and my boat is so small.

There were little lookouts built along the trail, for people (like me and Joe) to stop for a minute and take in the view.  Thunderdog would have HATED all of the standing around, looking out at the lake.  This is definitely a slow-walking trail.  For that reason - and I know I'm going to be in the minority here - I liked the hiking trail we took on June 16th better.  It's probably because I'm a spoiled brat who gets to look at Lake Superior every day.  Hiking up into the trees, seeing the waterfall and the river, and enjoying the woods is more of my cup of tea.

Checking out the view...of the landscape!

While on the trail, Joe and I had an interesting discussion about lichen.  (really!)  One of us said that lichens were a plant, the other said that lichens were a fungus.  Although neither of us has a degree in biology or had any way of backing up our claims (out of cell distance - no magic phone answers for us!), we stuck to our stances.  It turns out that lichens are a symbiotic life form that are made up of both fungi and alga.  Algae are different from plants, so it looks like Joe was half-right and I was all wrong!

I'm likin' this lichen

All in all, a beautiful trail in a really great park on the North Shore.  I looked up why the parking lot was closed - turns out, they're building a new visitor center!  I had just heard about that a few weeks ago.  I assumed that, since the news broke a few weeks ago, it would be a project for next year.  Nope!  Apparently they really want to get moving on it (or it's been in the works for years, and I just haven't known about it).  It'll be really nice to have a new visitor center for this sweet little park.

One more shot!

Total miles hiked today: 2
Total miles hiked (in 2012): 94.8

Total ticks today: Joe - 0; Thunderdog - n/a; Elly - 0
Total ticks (in 2012): 48

Tettegouche to Baptism River High Falls; Superior Hiking Trail: June 16, 2012

Ya know, sometimes things don't work out the way you want.

Excited and enthusiastic after our Grandma's Marathon cheering earlier in the day, we decided to go for an ambulatory journey ourselves.  In our quest to get our 25-mile Hiking Club Patch, we headed for Tettegouche State Park in search of its Hiking Club Trail.


We did not find it.  Oh, we looked...but it would have been helpful if either of these factors had been in place:

1.  If I had brought my Hiking Club book, which had excellent and detailed directions on where to find the darn trail
2.  If the trail maps had actually marked which trail was the Hiking Club trail.

Lost in the deep woods...not really lost, but look at how thick those woods are!

Instead, we found ourselves on a section of the Superior Hiking Trail (not even a spur, it was the main trail) that went through the park.  Well, that works too.  We headed towards Baptism River's High Falls, which is the highest waterfall entirely within the state of Minnesota.

Baptism River High Falls

We followed a very nice boardwalk to the river's edge just above the falls.  There were a lot of people around!  After spending so much time in the North Shore's state parks during the "off-season" (anything other than the three months of summer), it was sort of jarring to see how crowded it was.  I suppose that's the cost I pay for living in a beautiful part of the country.

High Falls, from the top

Nature Man Joe

Nature Dog

The Superior Hiking Trail crosses over the Baptism River above the falls, and keeps going northeast and out of the park.  A remarkable suspension bridge spans the river, and we thought it would be fun to cross over it.  Thunderdog, however, was not too keen on that idea.  She was brave though, and made it... not without looking stressed out and whining pathetically as she stretched her toes out as far as they could go to get a good grip on the bridge.

Not diggin' the bridge

Poor Thunderdog.  She had an extraordinarily stressful day.  When we got home, she received lots of scratches and pets and slept happily on the rug for the rest of the afternoon. We played cribbage, listened to the Twins game, and were happy that we got a lot of outside stuff in early in the day - it poured rain all afternoon and evening.

Tettegouche State Park is really cool.  There's a lot of history in the park, there's some cool ecological stuff that is unique to the park, and there are some amazing views.  Aside from the river and the falls, we didn't see any of it.  I'll write more about the wonders of Tettegouche some other time...when we find the stupid Hiking Club trail.

With all of the wandering we did, it's hard to say exactly how much of the Superior Hiking Trail we covered, and how many miles we actually hiked.  I think it is safe to say that we covered about one mile of the SHT (twice - from the intersection with trail B to High Falls and back, plus some wandering) and maybe another half mile of wandering.


Total miles hiked today: 2.5 miles
Total miles hiked (in 2012): 55.2
Total ticks today: Joe - 0; Thunderdog - 0; Elly - 0
Total ticks (in 2012): 45