Voyageurs National Park

Saturday, September 7, 2019

It was cloudy and cold today. You might think that we are exaggerating, but when the people who live here have on their toboggans and sweat shirts, we think the statement is justified. By the way, the wind howled all night last night and was still blowing until dark today. This evening the temperature was 38 degrees cooler that back in Alabama.

We started slowly this morning hoping it would warm up a little. We did some laundry and book work. When we were out walking the park owner invited us to a pot luck tonight for everyone in the park. Around noon we headed to Voyageurs National Park. We stopped at the visitor’s center and watched the movie explaining the creation of the park. Voyageurs is a water based national park. About 35% of the park is water; mostly lakes and marshy areas. After looking at the displays which were very good, we headed out for a hike. The park is really lovely. Nice hiking trails. Lots of greenery and the every present reminder winter is coming, the changing of the leaves. The people here tell us it is about two weeks ahead of schedule.

After our hike, there was a walking talk with a volunteer sharing information about the plants and history of the area. Then it was time for our boat ride out on Rainy Lake. You really can’t see or appreciate this park without getting out on the water. We had a ranger with us on the boat explaining everything from the Minnesota gold rush on Rainy Lake to pointing out all the eagles, eagle nests, and beaver lodges. We think we saw about eight different bald eagles – two juveniles and the rest adults. It was cold out on the water but we were dressed for it and really enjoyed our day.

We returned home just in time to get our deviled eggs ready for the park pot luck. Since we didn’t know anyone but the sweet young couple who own the park we were a little hesitant. It was so much fun. We shared the NOMADS story with several people, had a great meal and made new friends. Really good day!