Weekend Update
I'm having a bit of a problem getting photos to upload today so I'll just have to tell you what I did and then send you over to Flickr to check out the pics.
Friday morning we packed everything up. Always a big job. We didn't hit the road until 2pm! A little later than anticipated but oh well. We had no schedule in mind.
We got up towards where were were going at about 4pm....we saw a campground that looked intriguing so we pulled in to check it out. We discovered a beautiful campgrond at Baker Lake. Baker Lake is in the Superior National Forest and is also the border of the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness. Unbelieveable. The campground was small and rustic. There were only 4 sites, no services (other than a pit toilet and a water pump). It was quiet, it was beautiful, it was peaceful. The site we chose (since we were 'early' for a Friday) was filled with red & white pines that towered over the site. The fire pit had a couple of nice big rocks around it (perfect for sitting). We set up camp and kicked off our weekend. A friend of Steve's was maybe going to meet us (at the other campground where we THOUGHT we were going to stay) and we left him a note on the side of the road (very remote area) on Steve's truck and he saw it! And joined us....it was a lot of fun. Steve & I took a quick canoe paddle in the evening and then we shared some hot dogs and brats with Nick who camped next to us that night.
Saturday morning we slept in which was heavenly. When we got up we spent a long time just lounging about. Steve had his coffee, I had my diet coke and my book and it was awesome. We packed up a lunch and took to the water at about 2pm. We canoed Baker Lake and had a small portage into Peterson Lake. It was HOT. Very very hot. And the black flies were biting like CRAZY!!!!!!! (that part was miserable). We saw great scenery and drank it all in. We pulled up to the shore and had our picnic (getting eaten the whole time by those g.d. bugs). We canoed until the skies turned dark by clouds and we got nervous about a pending storm. We headed back.
That night for dinner we enjoyed angel hair pasta parmesan, garlic fry-pan bread and sweet peas. It was nice. We were pooped from being in the hot sun and canoeing all day so hit the hay rather early that night.
Sunday morning was another leisurely one. I did some reading and some knitting and just enjoyed sitting in my camp chair under the protective shade canopy from the trees. Steve helped a neighbor who needed a jump for his car battery and I slowly started packing up camp. We had a huge brunch - eggs & bacon, OJ and muffins and then cleaned up our campsite. We took one last quick paddle before hitting the road.
On the way back towards the main hwy (Hwy 61) we were tooling along when I spotted a road sign (one of those informational signs "learn about the _____ here!" kind of things" And as I kept my head turned I said "MOOSE MOOSE MOOSE!!!" and there below us in a pond on the side of the road was a mama moose & a baby moose! It was one of the coolest things I've ever seen!!! It was so hot out that the Mama was obviously all about keeping cool and keeping her baby right there with her. She looked at us and I frantically was snapping photos. A couple of other cars saw us stopped and also pulled over to gawk. The moose were out there for quite a while. It was awesome. The only other moose I've ever seen in 'real life' was in Yellowstone and that was from afar. So after a while the moose headed into the woods and the other two cars left. We stayed a few more minutes (binocs out) and they came back into the pond! More cars stopped though and I think the moose was sick of putting on a show. So....we left. It was so cool though it made my day.
We went for a hike after that. Part of the Superior Hiking Trail which crosses the road we were on (Hwy 2 or the Sawbill Trail). To the north is Britton Peak and to the south is Carlton Peak. We hiked to Carlton Peak. It's quite a hike! And with that heat I thought I would keel over!!!! But the views were spectactular and I'm so glad we made it to the top.
After our hike we had a little tailgate picnic and then headed on down the road back towards Duluth.
It was a fabulous camping trip even with the heat, the mosquitoes and the biting black flies. I would go again tomorrow if I could!
Friday morning we packed everything up. Always a big job. We didn't hit the road until 2pm! A little later than anticipated but oh well. We had no schedule in mind.
We got up towards where were were going at about 4pm....we saw a campground that looked intriguing so we pulled in to check it out. We discovered a beautiful campgrond at Baker Lake. Baker Lake is in the Superior National Forest and is also the border of the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness. Unbelieveable. The campground was small and rustic. There were only 4 sites, no services (other than a pit toilet and a water pump). It was quiet, it was beautiful, it was peaceful. The site we chose (since we were 'early' for a Friday) was filled with red & white pines that towered over the site. The fire pit had a couple of nice big rocks around it (perfect for sitting). We set up camp and kicked off our weekend. A friend of Steve's was maybe going to meet us (at the other campground where we THOUGHT we were going to stay) and we left him a note on the side of the road (very remote area) on Steve's truck and he saw it! And joined us....it was a lot of fun. Steve & I took a quick canoe paddle in the evening and then we shared some hot dogs and brats with Nick who camped next to us that night.
Saturday morning we slept in which was heavenly. When we got up we spent a long time just lounging about. Steve had his coffee, I had my diet coke and my book and it was awesome. We packed up a lunch and took to the water at about 2pm. We canoed Baker Lake and had a small portage into Peterson Lake. It was HOT. Very very hot. And the black flies were biting like CRAZY!!!!!!! (that part was miserable). We saw great scenery and drank it all in. We pulled up to the shore and had our picnic (getting eaten the whole time by those g.d. bugs). We canoed until the skies turned dark by clouds and we got nervous about a pending storm. We headed back.
That night for dinner we enjoyed angel hair pasta parmesan, garlic fry-pan bread and sweet peas. It was nice. We were pooped from being in the hot sun and canoeing all day so hit the hay rather early that night.
Sunday morning was another leisurely one. I did some reading and some knitting and just enjoyed sitting in my camp chair under the protective shade canopy from the trees. Steve helped a neighbor who needed a jump for his car battery and I slowly started packing up camp. We had a huge brunch - eggs & bacon, OJ and muffins and then cleaned up our campsite. We took one last quick paddle before hitting the road.
On the way back towards the main hwy (Hwy 61) we were tooling along when I spotted a road sign (one of those informational signs "learn about the _____ here!" kind of things" And as I kept my head turned I said "MOOSE MOOSE MOOSE!!!" and there below us in a pond on the side of the road was a mama moose & a baby moose! It was one of the coolest things I've ever seen!!! It was so hot out that the Mama was obviously all about keeping cool and keeping her baby right there with her. She looked at us and I frantically was snapping photos. A couple of other cars saw us stopped and also pulled over to gawk. The moose were out there for quite a while. It was awesome. The only other moose I've ever seen in 'real life' was in Yellowstone and that was from afar. So after a while the moose headed into the woods and the other two cars left. We stayed a few more minutes (binocs out) and they came back into the pond! More cars stopped though and I think the moose was sick of putting on a show. So....we left. It was so cool though it made my day.
We went for a hike after that. Part of the Superior Hiking Trail which crosses the road we were on (Hwy 2 or the Sawbill Trail). To the north is Britton Peak and to the south is Carlton Peak. We hiked to Carlton Peak. It's quite a hike! And with that heat I thought I would keel over!!!! But the views were spectactular and I'm so glad we made it to the top.
After our hike we had a little tailgate picnic and then headed on down the road back towards Duluth.
It was a fabulous camping trip even with the heat, the mosquitoes and the biting black flies. I would go again tomorrow if I could!
Comments
Sounds like it was a wonderful weekend.