Monday 9-17 Wow, What an Outstanding Day

Outstanding Day

I'm sorry I don't have any pictures to show you about our outstanding day. I thought I imported my pictures from my camera to the computer so I deleted them off the camera. But when I went to look at them they weren't on the computer. Larry tried to recover them but couldn't. I am very disappointed because I had some really good pictures.

We only drove 65 miles but it took us a few hours. We drove the Scenic 61 along the coast of Lake Superior and when we saw something interesting we stopped. The first stop was at mile marker 5.1, it was the first shore's park along the Lester River, it was built in 1890. It was a very nice park with a pavilion made from rock, the windows looked over Lake Superior. It has hiking trails, playground and a picnic area. The next stop was McQuade Harbor. It had a walkway that went under the road to a beautiful park. There was a boat launch area with docks. It is a safe harbor protected by a rock wall. There are interpretive panels that tell the history of the harbor. Very nice. The next stop was at Two Harbors. We did a self tour of the lighthouse, it is the only lighthouse in Minnesota that still works, it was built in 1892 and is not actually used for navigation anymore but the light still runs. During the tour we walked through the lighthouse and climbed a narrow staircase to the lights, we walked through the Assistant Keepers House, the Frontenac Pilot House and the fog signal house which now houses the gift shop. In the pilot house we watched a movie on the history of Two Harbors. While in Two Harbors we stopped by and saw the Edna G. tugboat, it was used by Cleveland Shipbuilding Company in 1896. At the same spot we read about how the iron ore is loaded on big vessels that are over 1,000 feet long. The iron ore is brought to Two Harbor by railroad and then loaded and shipped out on giant vessels. 

The last stop was Gooseberry Falls State Park, where we're calling home for a couple of nights. When we got to the park we stopped at the gate so see how to register for a site. You have to make a reservation. Larry went online to find out what sites were available. We were surprised to find there were only a few and come the weekend forget it. We drove around and decided on a site. Then he went back online and reserved it for two nights. We wanted to stay on the coast for a few more days so he went online to see what was available in other state parks. He found that most of them were full. He booked one for Wednesday and Thursday but all the state parks up the coast are full for the weekend. We'll find something, we always do.

Gooseberry Falls State Park is a gorgeous park, it has Gooseberry Falls, over 80 structures that were built by the CCC (Civilian Conservation Corps) and miles of hiking trails. They also have a visitor center. After getting a site we drove to the visitor center to purchase a yearly park pass and some information about the park. While there we bought some delicious butter rum caramels. We walked around the area and saw the Middle and Lower Falls.

After dinner we walked around for two hours. Got in a bit over seven miles of walking today.

We love to learn about the CCC and see the structures and trails they built. While at the visitor center we got a trail map on the CCC buildings. As we walked we saw and walked through gorgeous buildings that were built in the 1930's and are still being used today. The buildings had the original door hinges and door latches. We walked through picnic areas where the picnic table and benches were restored to original. We walked along the shores of Lake Superior. The trail was paved in some places, had steps, bridges to cross and boardwalks. We walked by the falls. One of the structures the CCC built in 1936-1940 was the Castle in the Park, it is the retaining wall and highway concourse. As we were walking back to the campground we saw a beaver trying to dam up the stream, he was huge. We watched him for awhile and took pictures (now lost). By the time we got back it was starting to get dark. We spent the rest of the night inside relaxing.