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Sunday, July 22, 2012

Our Annual Week Up the Gunflint Trail

Everything felt different during this week away. First, I didn't feel real great in the planning and packing stage of the trip, so it made the leaving home hard.  When I'm in a lot of pain, I tend to want to burrow in at home and not go anywhere.  This really isn't an earth shattering statement.  I have yet to find someone in pain that wants to be out and about!  But, I soldiered on.  Darren and Sam are so good to me and so loving that they make all this stuff easy on me!

So, we got loaded up, got the dogs dropped off at the kennel and off we went.  And it was hot.  Duluth was hot.  Two Harbors was hot.  We kept waiting for that blessed cool breeze off the big lake and it didn't come.  We grabbed some supplies in Grand Marais and headed up the trail to the campground.   

W e didn't get one of our favorite sites at the campground, but we learned to love a new one. No matter how beautiful our site was, though, it didn't feel like "home" to me.  I'm already devising plans for next year, so that we can get our favorite spot!  We did get to know the couple that were in our favorite site, though, and that was a bonus.  A wonderful, retired college ski instructor who was studying to be an episcopalian priest and her partner.  I got to enjoy some wonderful spiritual conversation with a very like minded person, Darren got to share biking tips and trails with her, and their dogs were a joy.  We visited every day.      

The campground was relatively crowded.  There was a delightful scouting group from Minneapolis.  Many of the kids had never been in the woods before.  One of their leaders was in his 80s and he was fascinated by our collapsable boat.  He had built the frame for a canvas one in the 1950s, so it was fun to visit with him.

I'll let the pictures tell the rest of the story.  It was a nice respite.  I only had 2 really bad pain days, so I was able to enjoy most of the trip. 
                                                                                                  

           Rock Skipping By Kadunce Creek  Hot and Humid!!




 Trail Center for Cheeseburgers and then Up the Trail for More Exploring. 
 Stopped at the Moose Overlook and found a buried car.  Jimmy Hoffa?


 Darren down by the boat--Check out the new motor this year!  Ask Darren about how far across the lake it will get before running out of gas.  Thank God for good Samaritans! 
Oh and please note my favorite inheritance from my dad.  The Leech bucket.  Miss ya dad.  Thought about you every day here at your favorite place. 

 Sam had his nose in his Kindle all week.  He enjoyed reading the Steve Jobs biography. 
 Napping like the dead. 
 We caught more Walleyes than Bass, but the Bass we caught were huge.  Well, the ones I caught were huge! 
 We found a remote campsite at a trout lake nearby.  It was quiet and beautiful, but I think might be a bit creepy if we were camping there alone. 

 Picked a few cups of raspberries by the trout lake.  They were made into delicious scones once we got home. 
 Out in the collapsable boat with the new motor.  This is one of the best things we've ever bought.  Definitely gets us to the other side of the lake where everyone knows the fish always are. 
 Watching the thunderstorms flash and listening to the thunder on our last night. 
 This is the life!
 Sam the Walleye King.  He is a pro at jigging right next to the boat. 
 The light show even impressed Mr. Sam!


 A stringer-full was a nice way to end the trip. 
 
 
We were ready to go the next morning, but the last night was pure magic.  As I videotaped the thunderstorm in the West, a fox came in the campsite.  You can't see the fox, but you can hear my surprise.  Hopefully, I can figure out how to get my Windows phone videos to work here so I can post it.  After sitting around the campfire, watching the bats and the storm and saying goodbye to our favorite place, we headed to the outhouse and the fox chased us away from it.  I guess we finally solved the mystery of who kept taking the toilet paper all week. 
 
 
What a fun trip!  Can't wait to return.  Now it's back to mountains of camping laundry and the rest of the real world!

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