A Northwoods Jaunt

It was yet another spectacular weekend here in northeast Minnesota. We have had a run of very nice weather this September. On Saturday my mom and dad were visiting and we had an ambitious day trip planned. Right on time at 8am, my lovely bride, the wonder kid (now age 2), mom, dad, and I left Duluth and headed up the north shore. We headed inland at Beaver Bay and went through Finland to George Crosby Manitou State Park (about 1.5 hours from Duluth). Manitou is more rustic than other state parks. There is simply one parking lot with a network of trails. There are 20 designated hike-to campsites along the trails. The easiest sites to get to are located near Benson Lake, a pond stocked with stream trout. There is also a small, but very shady and pleasant picnic ground at Benson Lake.

We started out our adventure by hiking downhill to the Manitou River, where we took in a very scenic waterfall. The water was low, but the cascades were still very nice. My mom took advantage of the low water and scrambled up the rocks beside the waterfalls to get closer. The rest of us observed from a flatter location. We then hiked steadily back up hill along the river and then inland across some ridges, eventually coming back to the car. The wonder kid fell asleep in the backpack the final couple miles and her head kept bouncing against the back of my head, but she didn't seem to mind. All in all, about 5 miles of hiking. Back at the parking lot, we grabbed the coolers and food and had a picnic at Benson Lake. It was a very nice day. I threw in a line for some trout, but it was very shallow around the edge of the lake and shore fishing didn't look promising. I had no bites.

After a relaxing lunch we drove up to the the old Finland Air Base. It was a cold war era radar site. It has been closed for some time, but the old houses and barracks are still there. There was still someone living in one of the houses. The actual radar building was still there the last time I had looked, but this time that road was gated off. From there we stopped for gas in Finland and then cruised home on the North Shore Drive. It was a very fun little trip.

Nature Moment: We didn't have any wildlife encounters of note-the woods were quiet. But that in and of itself is notable...It is a sure sign of fall when the woods start going quiet. There were very few songbirds calling, fewer squirrels chattering, and no frogs peeping. Pretty soon there will be snow on the ground and the only wildlife noise will be the resolute gronking of the raven.

On Sunday we checked out Hawk Ridge (www.hawkridge.org). It is a world-famous raptor migration spot in Duluth. The hawks, eagles, ospreys, and falcons that migrate south from northern Minnesota and Canada tend to fly past this spot because they are unwilling to fly over Lake Superior. When they arrive at the lake, they follow the shoreline south, which concentrates them in Duluth before they spread out again futher south. Mid-September is the busiest time for migrating hawks. A couple years ago there was a day in which over 90,000 hawks flew by Hawk Ridge in one day. That was unusual, but they do regularly see 5,000 hawks a day. We were only there an hour and saw many small hawks, several osprey, vultures, and other birds.

This week I will be heading back to the Gunflint Trail for a final try at some lake trout. It has been so warm that the trout will likely still be holding in deep water and fishing may be a bit tough, but it will be nice to just get out, of course.