We also toured the kitchen building, linked to the Great Hall by a covered walkway. Another costumed interpreter explained what kinds of foods were served to outpost employees and customers, as he cooked up a skillet of potatoes and onions over the fireplace.
Our next stop was a warehouse, called the Palisades, where trade goods were stored until the annual July rendezvous. The costumed interpreter there shared information about how the huge birch bark canoes were constructed with examples on-hand of canoes at different stages of construction.
There was a reconstructed Ojibwe Indian village just outside the walls of the stockade, along with a small tent village where the Voyageurs stayed during the annual rendezvous in July. It was during the Rendezvous that all the goods the Voyageurs had brought in their canoes from the north and east would be traded for beaver and other fur pelts supplied by the Ojibwe and Chippewa tribes, both friendly to the white men in the area.
Upon completing our tour of the national monument, we headed north to Grand Portage State Park. There is no camping at the park but, instead, a couple of trails that lead to the Pigeon River. We first took the ½ mile trail to High Falls, which drops around 130 feet at an average of 3,200 gallons per second. We learned that the outer part of the waterfall freezes in the winter with a sheet of ice up to 20 feet thick but, underneath, the water is always still flowing. From High Falls, we continued on to Middle Falls, described as a rugged 3.6 mile hike. They were right! The trail is obviously not traveled much and was overgrown, to say the least. But we persevered and did, in fact, reach the falls. Along the way, we saw a number of squirrels preparing for the coming winter by stuffing their cheeks full and heading for their nests. They were also very talkative, chattering feverishly as we walked along. The smells of the forest were exhilarating and the falls were beautiful.
We arose Tuesday morning, August 15, to a temperature of 47 degrees outside. It was great but called for the heater again. It was time to head south to Duluth, across Wisconsin and on to Michigan to visit friends in Traverse City, Ludington, and Grand Rapids. Once into Wisconsin, we took Highway 2 through Ashland to retrieve our mail at the local post office and then on to Saxon for the night. We stayed at the Frontier Bar and Campground – what a hoot. This was a gas station/bar/campground combination in the middle of nowhere - 11 miles west of the Michigan border. It was a new experience sitting down at a bar while the bartender checked us in to the campground. They were a tolerant bunch, even allowing us to wash Bubba at our campsite . . . quite a change from the rules of Minnesota.
Minnesota does love rules. One rule we found interesting was that the consumption or display of alcoholic beverages in state parks is illegal. However, we saw many beer cans in the recycle bins and when we had lunch in Douglas Lodge in Itasca State Park, beer and wine were offered on the menu. Go figure. There is also a rule that you can’t pick up down firewood in the state parks but they will sell you firewood for $5.00 a bundle. Hmmmm.
The state parks are nowhere as nice as our Arkansas parks. All the parking pads and most of the parks’ interior roads are gravel or dirt. And they are heavily used and show it. None of the campgrounds we encountered offered water at the campsites. Some didn’t even have a spigot from which we could fill our onboard tank. Very few parks have electric hookups. Several of the parks have no hookups (i.e. electricity and water) at all. We encountered several parks that had no sanitary dump (to empty your sewage). In Ely, we had to go into town, to the Chamber of Commerce, to dump and we had to pay a $3.00 fee to do so. That’s more expensive than the pay toilets in Europe!
We have learned that we Arkansans are spoiled! Our state parks are beautiful and well maintained. Every Arkansas state park offers campsites with electricity and water. And most of them offer paved interior roads and paved parking pads. And no dump station? I never heard of such!
Minnesota also loves user fees. We paid $43 in fees to register our vehicles to enter the state parks. We paid $24 to register our canoe so we could launch it on the lakes. There is an $8.50 non-refundable fee just to reserve a campsite. There were fees everywhere we turned.
But, in spite of their rules, their fees, their under-developed state parks, and poorly maintained roads, Minnesota is absolutely beautiful. Although the Minnesota car tags boast of the “Land of 10,000 lakes”, there are actually 11,842 lakes in the state that are 10 acres or larger. Additionally, there are 69,000 miles of natural streams throughout the state. If you haven’t been here, pack your bags and expect a real treat for the soul.
Next stop . . . Michigan. Until then, happy trails to all . . . til we meet again!
