The Ciaowagen enjoyed a rest from our travels in Duluth, while we flew back home to Virginia to attend a Smith family reunion. It was the first gathering in two years, and was a great time to see Doug's brother and sister, our five nieces and nephews, our 14 grand nieces and nephews, and our own kids. We also had a chance to sample the constant hum of the Brood X cicada invasion and, on our back deck, we saw the result of the mating frenzy 17 years in the making.
We had a flight delay returning to Duluth, so did not have any time to explore that city, which sits on the western end of Lake Superior and is obviously a major transportation terminus between trains farther west and shipping traffic on the Great Lakes. We did note, however, that self-driving freight trains have made their way to Duluth - who knew!
We drove to northern Minnesota and spent three full days at Voyageurs National Park close to the Canadian border. On our way there, we visited the International Wolf Center in Ely, Minnesota. They have some interesting exhibits on grey wolves. We also got to view two brothers, Greyson and Axel, as they got a little exercise and entertainment.
Voyageurs NP is up in Minnesota's boundary waters area, and almost 40% of the park is water. In addition to preserving the flora and fauna, the park preserves the trade routes of the Voyageurs, French Canadians who traded in furs during the 1700 and 1800s. The park is a magnet for fisherman and for houseboats. We'd actually hoped to get our inflatable kayak out on some of the lakes, but the winds while we were there generated 2-3 foot swells, so we abstained. Perhaps we'll try in a future visit. We could also come back in the wintertime for Ice fishing and driving on roads plowed by the Park Service on the frozen lakes in wintertime.
We did take a couple of cruises on Rainy Lake (one of the larger lakes in the park) with a company called Voyageurs Outfitters. The first cruise started at 7 pm, so we got to experience the golden glow of the setting sun on the water.
On the second cruise, taken on another day, we explored some of the back areas of Rainy Lake, and also visited an old fish camp, where fishermen would drop their individual catches so they could be stored on ice and then transported to town a couple of times a week. We also saw evidence of a gold mine on one of the more than 1,500 islands that dot Rainy Lake.
We saw evidence of some local wildlife, including a beaver lodge and a pair of nesting bald eagles.
Voyageurs NP is close to International Falls, MN, which bills itself as "Icebox of the Nation" since it has 100+ days each year where the temperature does not make it above freezing. However, the day we arrived in the park the temperature was 91 degrees!
The International Falls area is big on large fiberglass sculptures, including "Big Vic" and Smokey the Bear. Americana at its finest!
It's just a short bridge drive from International Falls to Ontario, but we could not cross since the Canadian border was still closed due to COVID.
We camped near the southern part of Voyageurs, and were able to take some nice hikes to lake overlooks.
On the road to one of the visitor centers, we passed a very impressive beaver dam (at least 150 feet long) with a lodge at one end (you'll need to zoom into the picture to see the dam and the lake it is holding back).
It was time to continue our travels, and so we headed southwest to North Dakota. More about that in our next blog post!
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