August 18, 2006

• North Shore, June 2006

  We have had a very busy summer. In fact, it has been much busier than it should have been. We have had some great times, but we have also had some unexpected complications, and, as you know, those are hardly ever fun. One of the first fun things that we did was a trip to the North Shore of Lake Superior with our family in late June. That has become an annual event and it is one that we all enjoy. Dan and I went up a couple of days early because we were badly in need of a couple of days’ rest and the peaceful environment in that area. While we were alone, we did some hiking in the Grand Portage, MN, area. It’s as far north as you can go without being in Canada. This river forms part of the US/Canadian border. The rocks in the foreground are in Minnesota. The trees on the other side of the river are in Canada.

  

  The park at Grand Portage is a joint effort between the US park service and the local Chippewa tribe, which is an unusual arrangement. The highest waterfall in the state is along this trail. This picture does not do it justice.
  
  The trail is not very rugged. The native Americans in the area maintain the forest in its natural state and have signs posted with information about how the forest was used by their people in the early days of the area. Walking on the forest floor damages it, so the trail is composed of a boardwalk with steps at the inclines. Most of it is wheelchair accessible, which is very nice. People are encouraged to stay on the boardwalk except in the few places where paths lead down to streams.

  There is a lot of wildlife which occasionally comes out to see who is there. There are also lots of wild flowers and berries. We have occasionally eaten wild strawberries or raspberries when hiking these trails, but the animals seemed to have harvested them before we arrived this time.

  
  We met three sisters who were having a family reunion in the area. They were taking pictures of each other near the waterfall, so we offered to take one of the three of them together. In return, they took this picture of Dan and me. They were not used to a digital camera and were a little in awe of the technology, but I think the picture is very good. I hope that the one that I took for them turned out as well.

  After the trip to the waterfall, we visited the Grand Portage National Monument. We have been there during pow wow, which is very interesting, but that is in August and we were there in June. There is an historic Native American village set up and there are always people there to explain their early culture.
  These two woman discussed gardening and child care. It was fun to talk to them. Neither of them had been in the area for long and they were enjoying their first summer there. The parents of the one on the left made their career in the National Park Service, so she had been all over the world. Her father designed the snorkeling trail at Trunk Bay on the island of St. John’s in the Virgin Islands. Our family has enjoyed that trail several times.

  Grand Portage was the center of the fur trade in the area and was a major trading post for both the United States and Canada. The fort has been restored and there are people there to re-enact the life of the fur traders, too.

  Just outside the fort, we saw this boat. It’s the Border Patrol. This was the first Border Patrol boat that I have seen up there. It’s a sign of the time, I think, although I am sure that the Border Patrol has always been around.

  We love the area around the North Shore and enjoy real hiking, not just walking on boardwalks. However, at the end of the day, we like all the comforts of home. This is the dining area in our “cabin.” We enjoyed all the modern amenities with a lovely lake view. This cabin even had a dishwasher! That’s a luxury we have not had before at this resort.

  We shared this cabin, which is quite large, with our son Andy and his family. Our daughter Betsy’s family ate meals there with us and spent family time there.
  
  This is the outside of the cabin as it is seen from the lake. In this area, Lake Superior does not have a sandy shore. The lake is the caldera of an extinct volcano and the shore was formed by lava flow. It’s quite rugged. The kids can spend hours just climbing around on the rocks. They need adult supervision, though, because the water is deep and very cold. Lake superior does not get above 40 degrees Fahrenheit in that area, even in the summer. If you fall into the lake, you do not survive long.
  
  Here are Jake, Ryan, and Dan down on the rocks. Jake, formerly known as Jake the Giant Baby, is now Jake the Giant Three-Year-Old and is our son’s child. Ryan is five and is our daughter’s son. The boys play very well together and enjoy being out with Grandpa. No toys are needed; the rocks are enough to entertain them.

  
  Jake’s brother William, on the other hand, enjoyed this hassock in the TV room in the cabin. In recent years, the cabins at this resort have all added satellite TV. I think that is rather sad. I actually preferred not having TV when we came to the North Shore. This cabin also had a phone, another amenity that I could live without. I think I may be one of the last surviving people who likes to be really away when I am away.

  It looks like we spilled something on William. I wonder what it was? Guess that’s what he gets for lying around like that!
  
  We do like to spend most of our time outside, though. Here is Betsy on a day that Dan and I went hiking with her family at the Temperance River. This is much more rugged hiking than we had at Grand Portage. There is no boardwalk. If the trail climbs, the hikers climb. This trail does climb, too. The Temperance River is a series of rapids and waterfalls. It’s really quite gorgeous. We were watching Dan and our son-in-law Matt (Betsy’s husband) hiking around on some rocks above one of the waterfalls with the kids.

  
  I know that they had rocks to climb on right in front of the cabin, but these are different rocks. That makes them more exciting. Besides, there is a waterfall here and you have to climb steep areas to get up here. You get to look down into caverns with roaring rapids. There is a possibility of bodily harm from the climb. These are better rocks!
  

  This is one of the waterfalls along the Temperance River. It happens to be the one directly below us in the picture above. Going over this falls would definitely be bad for your health, so it is very important to watch children carefully. You don’t quite get the effect of how steep the falls is, but the water is traveling at high speed and the river bed is made of huge rocks. It’s beautiful to see.
  
  The area where the Temperance River empties into Lake Superior is quite different from the rocky path the river takes to reach that point. Here, the rocks have been worn down to pebble size and there is some stuff that resembles sand. I have never thought thought that it felt particularly good on bare feet, but our granddaughter Madison (Betsy and Matt’s daughter, Ryan’s sister) seemed to think it was a good place to kick her shoes off. I thought this little balancing act she was doing made a nice picture.
  
  You can swim where the Temperance River empties into the Lake. It’s really very nice swimming, so on another day, we returned to enjoy the water. Left to right, here are Ryan, Andy, Jake, and a boy we did not know building rock sculptures at the edge of the water. The unknown boy is blonde, so he fit in rather well with our family, didn’t he?

  Notice the brownish cast to the water. That is tannin from all the leaves that fall into the river along its course. They color the water like tea and because of all the waterfalls and rapids, most of the river has a foamy appearance, so it looks a little like beer. Thus, the name Temperance River. The water is really very clean, though, and is safe to drink.
  
  In the evenings, we often enjoy a bonfire on the rocks in front of the cabins. We make s’mores and the kids crawl around on the rocks until it is too dark for them to be safe. Then they either sit by the fire or go to bed. You can see our daughter-in-law Jess in the picture carrying William, who is still pretty easy to supervise. That’s the cabin where Betsy’s family stayed in the background. Each of the cabins at this resort is different from the rest.

  Well, those are some of the highlights from North Shore 2006. It was a great family time!

  • 5:00 pm
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