Author: rvingwithapurpose

Monday, September 9,2019

It was a cool 45 degrees this morning with a high of 62 today. It was mostly cloudy with a cool breeze as well. We took advantage of the great hiking weather and did a 5 mile hike on the Rainy Lake Recreation Trail. It’s really more of a walk in the woods on a paved trail rather than a hike over rough terrain like yesterday’s hike. It was a beautiful walk through trees with changing leaves. There are lots of great yellow color but the reds are still really spotty. We saw only one other person while we were out walking today. Quiet, peaceful, nature. Really nice. We also visited the visitor’s center again and were again greeted by some really nice rangers. Everyone here has been so nice.

After hiking we headed into International Falls to look around a little and pick up a few groceries. It’s a small town, a little smaller than Oneonta. It reminds us of many of the small towns in northern Canada and Alaska. Quaint little houses with lots of bright beautiful flowers.

According to the sign beside the statue in Smokey Bear Park in International Falls: “The Smokey Bear statue is the largest of its kind in the country. The 26 foot replica of “Smokey,” the national symbol of forest protection, was erected in 1953 as a project of the Koochiching County’s Keep Minnesota Green Committee.”

Then we headed back to FRED to begin packing things away. The rain started about 6:00 tonight and it is predicted that International falls will get over 2.5 inches of rain by Friday. It’s windy and the leaves are falling all around our camp site. We are glad tomorrow, not today, is our day to be moving on down the road, even thought it looks like we will be driving in rain. We have really enjoyed our brief time in this area. The National Park is different from most others we have visited but they are all wonderful in their own way. Voyageurs is one that we would enjoy visiting during each season. Summer for the time on the lake, spring for the beauty of spring. And yes, even winter because it would be nice to visit for just a few days to experience ice fishing, cross country skiing, snow shoeing and definitely to see the gorgeous northern lights. One day.

Sunday, September 8, 2019

It was another very cool morning. It was overcast most of the day with an occasional sunny break through. Today we planned to be our canoeing day. Voyageurs being water based, it seemed appropriate when we planned our trip. However, Semper Gumby. The temperature in the 50’s sort of changed our plans and today became a hiking day.

We did a little more work this morning and then headed out to another bogwalk. We forgot to mention our first bogwalk. It was Friday on the drive up to International Falls. We stopped in Orr, MN for a rest stop at what was marked as the rest area on our rest area app. Turns out it was the town hall for Orr and the visitor’s center with a bogwalk. We just walked a short ways on that one.

Today was a bogwalk developed by a local ski club. When the bogwalk ends the cross country ski trails begin. Hikers are not allowed on the trails in the winter but in the summer/early fall, it’s okay. However, there are lots of mosquitoes and biting flies. It was a beautiful hike but you had to really keep moving to keep from being carried off. Only wild life we saw were some grouse that were too shy to have their picture taken.

After stopping by FRED for some additional insect repellent we decided to visit the Kabetogama Lake today since we were on Rainy Lake yesterday. We first went to the visitor center in Kab (as the locals call it). The center was small but had interesting displays, but unless you have a boat there is not much to do there. The lady in the center was very nice and gave us a trail map for the Ash River Visitor Center. She also mentioned the Ash-Kab Trail which is is 26 miles long and connects Kab and Ash River. No thanks. The Ash River Visitors Center is in a great old log cabin. The rangers were very friendly and helpful. From there we decided to hike the Blind Ash Bay Trail which is about 3 miles round trip. There were great views of the Kabetogama Lake from up on the ridges and on the water front. The trail was out through the woods, quiet, and beautiful. We only saw 5 people the entire hike. It was strange that the north side of the ridge and the south side had such different plant life. As we were leaving the Park we stopped to hike out the Beaver Pond Overlook Trail which was a little short hike out the see a beaver pond. Since it was getting late we hoped to see some wildlife activity but it was not to be. All was quiet. We didn’t see much wild life today. We saw some interesting birds and thought we heard an eagle but not positive because we never saw it. It was such a peaceful relaxing day. Total we hiked about ten miles today. Not what we had planned but another really nice day.

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!

Friday, September 6, 2019

It was just like a work day today, up at 5:30. We planned to leave at 8:00 and we had one couple leaving at 6:00 so we needed to be moving early. Tom and Betty pulled out just as they scheduled and then we got busy doing our final prep of refrigerator, cabinets, etc. We then went ahead a did our morning walk since we knew it was going to be a long drive today. We made our planned departure time after getting our final hugs from our team members. We will see several of them at annual meeting but don’t know when we will be back with some. Safe travels to all. It was a great team.

We headed northwest from New Lisbon, on I-94. After about 90 miles we changed to US 53 for another 325 miles and arrived at Rainy Lake RV park just east of International Falls, Minnesota about 4:15. We came here to visit Voyageurs National Park. We have never visited this park or Minnesota so we should be able to add the state for FRED, get our national park passport stamped and find a geocache or two while we are here. We have a few days until we need to be in Illinois for the NOMADS annual meeting so it seems a good time to take a few days to play. It was an uneventful drive although a little harder due to the gusty winds. We stopped about every two hours to walk and change drivers. We really enjoyed the scenery going north in Wisconsin. Beautiful rolling hills of farm and forest land. After only about an hour we could see more color in the leaves. The further north we drove, we noted the steeper the pitch on the roofs of the barns and homes.  That means there is too much snow for us to live here.  We also got to see Lake Superior today. Another first for us. We crossed into Minnesota at Duluth, but sadly, no time to stop and shop at Duluth Trading today. As we continued to drive north, we noted a big change in the species of trees we were seeing, and of course more color change in the leaves. The leaves are by no means at peak but there are some bright reds and yellows to be enjoyed. It was a good day. Tomorrow we will head to the park.