Up North.

I shouldn't spend much time here this evening so I'll try to keep this brief. Over Labor Day weekend Tyler and I went camping for one night up near the north shore of Lake Superior. We went to the William Crosby State Park where there are multiple hiking trails and a few backpack in sites. When making reservations we were rather limited as it was a holiday weekend and we were a little late to make plans, thus we were only able to camp for one night. Our site ended up being amazing though!

It was 1 1/4 mile hike - lots of elevation change, rocks, boulders, and roots. Tyler carried my backpacking bag with millions of things attached. I carried a much smaller backpack and pulled/carried our cooler. It was a little rough. I had to leave the cooler on the way in and Tyler was wonderful enough to go back and get it for me while I set up the tent and prepared for our evening fire.

Our reservation informed us that wood would be available at the office. There was no office and there was no wood so, even though we're not supposed to, we had to hunt the area for wood, most of which was damp and squishy. Not sure we would have been able to carry wood in anyway! After a failed attempt at creating a dinner fire I searched around for birch bark and dead pine branches, rebuilt the fire, and got it going really well. I prepared dinner in our "kitchen" steak, vegetables, and garlic potatoes. After dinner we made some Mexican hot chocolate - mmmmmm! And of course s'mores. I spent a really funny 15 minutes trying to toss some rope over a branch in a birch tree while shinning a flashlight and wearing mittens hoping to bear proof our food, trash, and dishes - just in case. When I was about to give up I got it over. :)

The low was supposed to be 42 that night but we're not sure what it ended up being. That night and in the morning we could definitely see our breath! It was a chilly night but we tried to stay cozy in our sleeping bags and pile of blankets with a dog on top.

Speaking of dog - I think Honey had her most exciting two days ever. We let her roam around for the bulk of the time. She immediately ventured into the river when we arrived and kept venturing further down the surrounding trails. We'd notice she had been gone for a few minutes, call her name quite a few times, and she would come running (so fast!) down the trail right past us down the next trail. She was completely knocked out on the car ride home.

On the way home we stopped at Gooseberry Falls to go to the lake shore. It was a little too chilly and windy for me which most likely bothered me more since I was tired and sore... We headed back into Duluth where we hoped to eat the yummy Indian place we found last time we were there. Unfortunately it was closed, like many other restaurants. We checked out the tourist area but decided against all of the places were basically refuse to eat - Old Chicago, Green Mill, etc. So we got on the road, stopped at a few places with intriguing names that ended up being mostly bar-like, and found ourselves at a Perkins in Cloquet where I had a very un-mocha-like mocha. We had some great conversation inside and in the car about cities, living situations, and homeschooling.

In summary... I cannot wait to go camping again! We don't think we could ever settle for a drive in campground again, unless it was a really good one. But the weather is changing - it feels very fall-like here so we may have to wait until next year when it'll be an entirely new experience with a 3 person 1 dog family.

Enjoy the photos! :)

[gallery]