Gooseberry Falls State Park – Valerie's Voice

An Unusal Gift

Thank you for all the wonderful happy birthday messages. 
I was delighted to read each one.

The sunrise over Lake Superior, the second day.

We had a very relaxing and refreshing birthday/wedding anniversary trip to the north shore of Lake Superior. Our cozy cabin had a wood-burning fireplace next to patio doors to the deck overlooking the lake.

Enjoying a fire while viewing the lake from the cabin.

We had fires In the morning and fires in the evening…and enjoyed watching the lake with its many moods. On Tuesday the lake was churning with huge waves crashing against the rocky shore. The other days it was much calmer.

Huge waves crashing and spraying high above the rocky shore.

Mesmerizing Lake.
All our attention goes there,
It’s restorative.

A calmer day…photo taken from the deck of the cabin.

However, we did bring along our cross-county skis, snowshoes, and Yaktrax to get out for fresh air and exercise.

We hiked at Split Rock Lighthouse State Park.

This is the upper falls at Gooseberry Falls State Park, where we hiked.

A old Norwegian fish house on Stoney Point Drive…a nice walk from the cabin.

Our hikes kept us close to the lake, but cross- county skiing took us inland.

We usually ask locals for recommendations. Our resort owner told us about Korkki Nordic.

In the morning, the sun was shining and it was a decent temperature so off we went to ski this trail. Next to the warming house (a nice touch to this trailhead) was a guy standing near a snowmobile with trail grooming apparatus hitched on the back. We started a conversation and found out he is the regular trail groomer. Mark lives on the property and grooms four ski trails.

The ski season is, of course, winding down – it was the first day of spring after all- so he was not planning to groom many more times this year. During our conversation, we mentioned it was my birthday. He was a jovial sort and said, as a gift to me for my birthday, he would go ahead of us and groom the trail. It would make skiing much easier for us.

And so he did, and we followed about three minutes behind him, and the skiing was great.

That is one of the more unusual gifts I’ve received for my birthday. It was a random act of kindness and we were grateful.

The North Shore 2022

Our trip to the north shore proved to be a lot more colorful than we were expecting.

We had already started seeing pockets of beautiful fall colors on our drive up, so I started to get a little excited…and then the colors began to pop out everywhere…with wonderful contrasts to the evergreen trees.

The weather also turned out better than I had hoped for, with warmer temperatures and some nice sunshine and blue skies (and one cloudy day). We had packed clothes for colder weather.

Looking inland from the Tofte overlook, on a spur trial off the Carlton Peak trail. (1)

Looking inland from the Tofte overlook, on a spur trial off the Carlton Peak trail. (2)

We followed our annual routine of balancing cabin time and lake time with hiking and local drives.

We watched the sun rise over the big lake and had a camp fire on the rocks. We stopped in Hinckley and Duluth on the way up, and stopped in Grand Marais one day. It’s all so familiar, yet all so refreshing, relaxing, and restorative… and so much fun!

A leaf-covered hiking trail through the forest.

The colors were breathtaking…everywhere we went. It was spectacular to see and hard to photograph with my iPhone.

But it was enough to witness the colors and breath in the fresh air, smell the different whiffs of pine scents, lake water, decomposing leaves, feel the crisp air and to “taste and see that the Lord is good” (Psalm 34:8a).

I stand in awe of the Creator of these incredible autumn colors.

And the colors were not only up north…we saw them driving home, and right here in Northfield, and outside our front and back doors!

Our neighbor’s burning bush, where our mailbox is tucked in.

A Weekend Away

We had a great weekend up in northern Minnesota with only one disappointment…but there could have been more.

We could have been disappointed when our camping reservations, made long before Covid was on the scene, had to be changed… because of Covid. A Jay Cooke State Park ranger called and told us they had to cancel one night of our stay in the camper cabins to let the cleaned cabin “rest” between renters.

Looking up at the Two Harbors lighthouse from the shore.

But that led us to making reservations at the Two Harbors Lighthouse B&B which usually requires a two-night stay but the innkeeper let us stay for just one night. So the cancellation of a night’s stay at a camping cabin turned into an exciting addition of staying in a historic lighthouse!

We could have been disappointed with the unusual cold weather spell for late October… the highs were only in the 20’s, but the sun was out and we had warm clothes.

From a wam & charming B&B to a cute, snow-covered but toasty warm camper cabin.
Photo by gb

With warm places to sleep – the lighthouse was cozy and our camping cabins were toasty warm – we went with the mantra: “no bad weather, just bad clothing.” We brought sufficient jackets, boots, hat, scarfs and mittens and stayed warm while hiking and enjoying the great outdoors.

The lower falls at Baptism River in Gooseberry State Park.

We hiked at Gooseberry State Park and Split Rock Lighthouse State Park, and in Two Harbors itself.

Hiking in the Split Rock Lighthouse State Park.

Our first night, from the Two Harbors Lighthouse B&B, we saw a ship in the night right off shore. It had left the harbor and was all lit up, sailing under an almost full moon.

Our camping cabin was in Jay Cooke State Park where there are a lot of wonderful views of vast wilderness areas and of the rocky and rugged St. Louis River. We had great meals and campfires and hiked over seventeen miles in four days.

The St. Louis River flowing through Jay Cooke State Park.

What, then, was our disappointment?

Our exciting lighthouse reservation was at the Two Harbors Lighthouse B&B overlooking Lake Superior’s Agate Bay.

The lighthouse was charming and beautifully appointed with antiques and we loved the idea of staying in this historic home.

The website says it is the oldest operating lighthouse in Minnesota. It began operation in 1892.

However, there was no light illuminating its special code out over the dark waters from the tower that night. Why? We didn’t know, and we were disappointed.

The original Fresnel lens on display in the dining room. The Fresnel lens consists of mirrored prisms that rotated around a fixed flame supplied by oil…until 1921 when the lighthouse started using electricity.

The next day we talked with the innkeeper and she said they are waiting on a new LED bulb for the lighthouse so the lighthouse is not operating at this time.

According to the website “the Two Harbors Light Station is designated as an active aid to navigation and is on navigational charts, as well as being a museum.” Apparently it’s not crucial for a light to be shining 24/7 these days, although usually it is on.

The light in the tower of the Two Harbors lighthouse is currently not lit.

We had been all excited to be “Keepers of the Lighthouse” but alas, it was not to be. We had a wonderful time anyway, and we wouldn’t change a thing – except the light bulb!

Lake Superior, an amazing blue color this fall day.

At the Cabin

I’m delighted to be up on the north shore of Lake Superior. We are in our happy place. I’ve been anxiously waiting for our time to check in, relax and be renewed in this very special place.

The drive up was gorgeous…many golds and yellows leaves along the highway, interspersed with evergreens. The beautiful sunny sky and warm October day added to our pleasure.

We made our usual stops along the way: Canal Park in Duluth…

…Gooseberry Falls State Park for a picnic lunch, Black Beach and then Tettegouche State Park for a quick hike before arriving at our beloved rental cabin on the shores of Lake Superior.

Once we unpacked and settled in we were looking through the books at the cabin and one stood out in particular… we laughed that this book was in our cabin. The title? Outwitting Squirrels. This adds to our reading pleasure during this 2020 squirrel capturing season.

The book we found in the cabin…how appropriate for our squirrel adventures this summer.

CCC: Civilian Conservation Corps

Through the years, at various outdoor locations, we’ve noticed signs that recognize the CCC (Civilian Conservation Corps) for their valuable work in natural history preservation. In the visitor center at Gooseberry Falls State Park we browsed their exhibit about the CCC, and noticed a statue dedicated to the men who served in the CCC on our walk to see the falls.

The statue at Gooseberry Falls State Park, dedicated to the CCC participants.

The CCC was a program President Franklin D. Roosevelt put in place in 1933 and it continued until 1942. It was a very innovative program and it was successful.

The CCC was a voluntary public work relief program that put young men to work during the depression. Men between ages 18-25, who were single and unemployed, could work for the CCC. It was unskilled manual labor and they had to leave home to find work.

From the display at Gooseberry Falls State Park Visitor’s Center.

The men worked for the conservation and development of natural resources in lands owned by the federal, state, and local government. The program employed three million young men over the years it was in operation. I learned they were paid a wage of $30 a month, but $25 had to be sent home to their families. The men were provided with shelter, clothing and food.

A cap issued to the CCC workers, with the division number.

This manual labor helped both the young men and their families. Apparently the young men developed an improved morale, learned skills to make them employable in the future, and improved their physical conditions.¹ The money sent home helped their families.

And…it helped all of us seventy years later. Gary and I often comment on how grateful we are for the people who went before us who had the insight and fortitude to protect the natural lands that we so enjoy today. The CCC was a part of this.

It seemed to be a win-win situation during a very depressed time in our nation’s history. I wish some kind of program like it could be put in place these days to help those who are unemployed.

I loved these tree roots…on the path to see Gooseberry Falls.

The small, but permanent, exhibit about the CCC at Gooseberry Falls Visitor Center tells of an interesting piece of our history.

¹Wikipedia