These photos were taken a couple weeks ago, while riding on the Sakatah Singing Hills State trail. It was a cool, fall evening, and surprisingly we had the trail to ourselves.
The trail was canopied with trees that had not dropped all of their colorful leaves, and yet… the asphalt was covered with crispy, autumn leaves, and it was beautiful.
Gary and I rode along this portion of the enchanting path, with the sound of “crunch” underneath us. It was a fun ride!
Fall color tour... Fluorescent orange, yellow, reds, A beautiful gift!
I did not enhance these photos, before or after taking theses pictures.
The leaves were that brilliant.
As we plan our annual trek to the north shore, I always reread my own version of Psalm 23.
The Lord is my Shepherd I shall thank him. He allows me to be on the shores of Lake Superior And hear the calming waves. He restores my soul. He guides me on trails of the Superior National Forest, And leads me along the rocky shores of the big lake. Even when the waves are rough – even when the lake is calm, I am content to be near the water. And the Lord is with me. His creation and His majesty, they comfort me. He anoints me with many blessings My cup overflows and I am grateful Surely, I will praise him and follow him All the days of my life, I am grateful to dwell in His presence On the shores of Lake Superior.
Below are just a few favorite photos (from hundreds!) I’ve taken over the years, of Lake Superior.
It was a nice afternoon for the Valley Grove Country Social. It was cloudy, but no rain. A blue-sky backdrop would have been nice, but looking out from on top of the hill to the surrounding prairie and farmland is a beautiful sight no matter what the weather.
The fall Country Social, which I incorrectly called Valley Grove’s fall festival, began its annual affair with a two-day event in 1995. Back then it was a local artist’s exhibit in the two churches. Various fall events took place during the ensuing years, all with different names.
It wasn’t until 2002 that it officially became titled the annual “Valley Grove Country Social”, held the third weekend in September. It Is a fundraiser, and chance for folks to enjoy the area, and to learn about this very special place…two churches, a cemetery, and 52 acres of restored prairie.
This year there were a few artist’s works displayed, but it mostly was a time for joining in on two walks; a cemetery story tour led by Jeff Sauve a local historian and author, and/or a prairie walk.
Plus, both churches were open to explore. They are both on the National Register of Historic Places. Refreshments were for sale in the 1862 stone church with photo books on display, and a few artist gifts available to buy. There was four exquisite tapestries (see below) hanging on the walls.
There was outdoor background music by two different Nordic groups, recitals in the 1894 church, displays and hands-on activities for everyone, and the members of the Valley Grove Preservation Society were in attendance to answer any questions you had about these two historic and beautiful churches. The group works hard to maintain these remarkable churches built by Norwegian immigrants in the 1800’s.
There were several highlights for me this Sunday afternoon…
One was leisurely meandering the grounds, and running into people we recognized, stopping to chat…soaking in the energy of folks excited to be here in this wonderful space.
Another highlight was the cemetery story tour with Jeff Sauve. It was interesting. He’s a great storyteller!
Riding in a horse-drawn wagon through the surrounding prairie, which the preservation society also maintains, was fun.
And, I really enjoyed seeing four beautiful tapestries on display in the old stone church.
Funded by a grant, a Minneapolis textile artist, Robbie LeFleur, was hired to depict the Valley Grove churches and life in Valley Grove, back in the day.
LeFleur designed and created the tapestries (20”X26”) using a traditional Norwegian type of handiwork.
The tapestries were made to hang beneath four light sconces in the stone church. Each tapestry had a write-up explaining the various scenes on each one.
What a lovely display to peruse on a delightful afternoon at Valley Grove, one of my favorite places!
Glorious fall days…blue skies, sunshine and colorful landscapes… continue to linger on and on. We like to take advantage of them…so not much gets done on the home-front…but those things will wait…we have winter ahead of us.
We headed east in the morning towards Frontenac State park, through beautiful farm country. Along the way, close to the fence, were the unique Dutch Belted cows laying in a field, soaking up the sun. What a pretty sight. I discovered these striking and unusual looking cows (and special breed), on a farm along County Road 9 a few years ago. I look for them whenever we pass their way. When I got out to take a photo, the girls became alarmed and most stood up…I was sorry to disturb them. They were all laying down again as we passed them on our way home several hours later.
We continued to the state park and drove up to the Mississippi River overlook in the park. The river was lovely and calm. We hiked along the river for a while,
then we found the recently acquired section of the park and hiked hilly trails. The fall temperatures were climbing and we soon shed our jackets.
After hiking, we wanted to find a place near the water to eat our picnic lunch. We found a beach and boat landing in Old Frontenac, with a picnic table close to the water’s edge.
Perfect. We sat on one side overlooking the river and saw a couple of eagles, lots of gulls and swans, and a few boats. The water was calm and the sun was bright and I wanted to stay there all afternoon, but we had more to explore.
A few years ago, when we camped at Frontenac State Park, we drove through Old Frontenac near-by. It’s a small village along the river….no stores, only unique houses on packed, dirt roads, an old cemetery, and a church.
I have always wanted to walk through this town, or ride a bike, since you can see more than from a car. So we brought our bikes to ride through this quiet town, off the beaten trail. It was fun to ride around and look at unique houses…no cookie cutter houses here. And, riding through the old cemetery garnered thoughts of spooky stories, so close to Halloween.
Later that afternoon, as we drove back home into Northfield, we commented on how our town was still the most colorful place of all…with a lot of maples still full of red leaves hanging on.
As I was on a walk this week I noticed something out of the ordinary…
beautiful, blooming purple crocuses. It was a surprise to see, what I thought were, confused crocuses because they were blooming in the fall.
After taking a picture of theses perky blooms, I looked on Google and learned there are some crocuses that do bloom in the fall…only they have no leaves.
This was a pleasant sight to see while walking on a beautiful, unusually warm, fall day.
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Warm, autumn days in southern Minnesota have lingered longer than normal it seems, and we continue to enjoy the sunny days outside. We are grateful for them!
Over the weekend Gary and I biked on another “new-to-us” trail…we went over the Mississippi River and through the woods, along the river to Prescott, Wisconsin.
It is a paved trail. We started in Spring Lake Park in Hastings, Minnesota, a lovely park on a bluff, with a great overlooks of the mighty Mississippi River.
We rode from Schaar’s Bluff, down, down, down into Hastings. We have riden our bikes on this part of the trail before. It’s a fun ride. Next we rode across the beautiful bridge over the Mississippi River in Hastings.
We crossed the bridge using the pedestrian/bike lane on the east side of the busy traffic lanes. It was exciting to be on our bikes looking over the railing to the wide river. Once across the bridge we continued riding into Prescott, Wisconsin, on an established bike/walking trail that follows the river, and goes through the woods.
It was a awesome, autumn day…blue sky and cool crisp air. When we arrived near Prescott, we rested along the river and watched the river traffic.
A while later we turned around, rode back to Hastings and then went up, up, up to Schaar’s Bluff. We saw a great blue heron, an eagle, three white swans, many ducks and geese…and lots of people. Many folks were out enjoying the last few days of this unusually, warm weather in Minnesota.
There were some beautiful fall colors in different places. I was reminded of a saying I read on a sign I saw in Pennsylvania this month…
“Autumn shows us how beautiful change can be.”
We often go up to the cabin we rent on Lake Superior in the fall. One never knows what kind of color autumn will have painted on the trees and foliage when we arrive.
The leaves usually change up there in late September/early October. The last couple of years we have seen some good color up on the north shore, even though our dates staying up at the cabin have varied – a lot.
This year, the day we went for our annual hike up Oberg Mountain, was one of those perfect fall days…bright sunshine, a vibrant, bold, blue, autumn sky, great temperature…it was stunning.
And the vistas from the seven lookouts on top were very colorful.
A lot of people were on the trail, and a lot of people were up north in general…more so than usual… evident with traffic and full parking lots. However, back at the cabin all was peaceful.
On another hike, in Tettegouche State Park, we spotted an unusual mushroom. It was golden…it looked like it was spray painted but it was far enough off the trail to know that was unlikely.
I tried to identify this mushroom with a quick internet search, but was unsuccessful. We saw other fun fungi on that same trail.
As wonderful as our hiking and biking and fall color drives were, the time spent with our son and daughter-in-love, and our two grandchildren, up north, at the cabin on Lake Superior, was the best!
We attended a wedding reception at the Minnesota Landscape Arboretum this week.
What a lovely place for the special event. It was held outside in one of the picnic shelters with beautiful scenery all around. We were also invited to come early and enjoy the September gardens in bloom at the arboretum.
There was much color, everywhere. There were vibrant, annual gardens, as well as rich, colorful dahlias.
I was surprised to see many showy, rose bushes still in full bloom. I stopped to smell them!
It’s always fun to see a few, unusual plants in bloom.
It was a wonderful afternoon, celebrating two lives joined together in marriage, and celebrating Minnesota’s finest blossoms and the upcoming fall season.
Lingering thoughts from the glorious, snowless, time up on the north shore…
Sparkles, like dazzling diamonds, are twinkling in a wide swath on the waters of Lake Superior, reflecting the sun. It is one precious view that money can’t buy.
The white foam waves clap against the rocky shoreline, producing a lovely sound and creating dancing droplets in the air. The blue water mirrors the blue sky and the temperatures are above normal for October.
Gold leaves, like coins, carpet the hiking trail that leads up the Minnesota mountain through leafless trees to the top. Once on top the views are stunning. The yellow birches and dark evergreens create the gorgeous contrast for this time of year.
All along the shore, there are only a few maple trees with colors of red and orange but it is the yellow leaves mixed with the evergreens that create the new and different pattern for us along the shore of Lake Superior.
This wondrous place always takes my breath away and is always hard to describe…my soul feels at home in this holy place and I’m so grateful to be in the moments that pass too quickly up here on the north shore… a reflection of God’s glory.
I often try to describe how spectacular it is through words and photos but they do not do it justice. But then, who can describe the Lord?
Exodus 15:11 Who among the gods is like you, Lord? Who is like you – majestic in holiness, awesome in glory, working wonders?
