A Spring Break Trip to the North Shore (Post 2 of 2)

So part one left off when we left the ski hill and headed back for lunch on day 2. After lunch, the boys wanted to hit Artists' Point again (that's the 3rd time in 24 hours), and then go back to Sugarloaf Cove again as well.

Across the harbor from Grand Marais.
(See my boys climbing?)


I had to make him stop there as he wanted to jump out to those rocks. Sheesh.






Breezy with MUCH bigger waves than the day before! (The day before, they
were running on those rocks that are now washed with water in the distance.)


Calmer on the harbor side.




Exploring more to the east, finding a big crack!




Where the crack meets the lake.


Running from the waves.






You can see the sass in Charlie's hips as he tempts the crashing waves.


Running before they get caught!

Then the boys wanted to explore Sugarloaf Cove again, so we hit the road for 40 minutes or so. AGAIN, we had that beach and cove all to ourselves for 90 minutes!

Back at the cove. Rougher waters here as well!


On the back side of the cove. We never explored out here on the previous day.


Charlie on a rock.


Close-up. He's pretending to be me as he's using a rock as a camera. :)




Running. Exploring.




Henry was intrigued about the "vein" in the large rock,
and Charlie's climbing it (up by that little birch tree).


The boys doing their things.


Hiking out to the WINDY tip of the cove.


This almost looks tropical. Didn't feel that way though.


Back on the main beach. That little point to the far left was the tip we were at 2 photos above.






Doing some reading back at the motel as I cooked some supper.


Crescent rolls, sausages, fruits, and veggies.


My taped up Holga film camera. I need to help
seal it with tape like this between every roll of film.


Here's what the images from it look like (link to my "photo blog").


Passed out sometime just before I went to bed.

I got up really early on the morning of our 3rd day to sneak out and make a few night photos of Lake Superior. After that, we were planning on having breakfast and packing up. We were going to meet Charlie's classmate to explore a bit on the other side of the harbor, and then hit the road and see more sights on the way back. We just needed to be home by about 5 pm so that I could unload the car, shower, and then get to my evening class.

Even windier than the previous day! There were official "gale warnings."






Lounging in a giant chair!


Heading south we stopped at the Cascade River to hike to the Cascade Falls.


Hwy 61 and the lake.


A small falls with a large format photographer standing over it.






Some of the falls (more up stream as you look off into the distance).






We hiked "out" east of the river, and hiked "back" on the west side.




Henry loved this burl!


Hamming it up near Hwy 61.

We hopped back in the car for about 30-40 minutes before stopped at Palisade Head overlook as part of Tettegouche State Park. The driveway up to the lookout was closed (it's not maintained over the winter), so we had a bit of a walk. But there were NO other cars in the lower parking lot, so we had this place to ourselves as well.

Icey spots on the way up!


Not THEE overlook, but starting to get some views of the lake.


THERE'S THE VIEW! 300' down to the lake!






Selfie up high!


Heading back down (and slipping at times).


We were still the only car in the lot!


Pulled into Gordy's "car hop" in Cloquet for a late lunch.


Burgers and corn dogs! (And cheese curds!)


Playing out on Dunlap Island (in the middle of the St. Louis River that runs
through Jay Cooke State Park) which was just a few blocks from Gordy's.




This voyager statue was wearing pants (unlike the one we saw 2 days before).


A quiet final 2 hours home.

So the UPSIDE to heading to the north shore during the "off season" (well after peak skiing but before it's "nice" for the spring and summer) was that these places were quiet and there were no bugs. We met a few people on the Cascade Falls hike and during our first evening at Artists' Point, but we had Sugarloaf Cove and Palisade Head all to ourselves, and I kept telling the boys how that won't happen when we come back! (We hope to be back in the summer or fall with Mama as well.) Gooseberry Falls just had a few families, and Black Beach just had a few couples wandering around.

The DOWNSIDE to being up there during the off season was that there were a fair amount of places that were closed. We didn't get ice cream on the beach because it was closed. The "World's Best Donut" shop was closed for the winter. The "Beaver House" fishing store didn't have it's giant walleye up (and you know I'm a sucker for crap like that!). Grand Marais is a very cute tourist-y town (not a "tourist trap"), so it's not nearly as set up for tourists during the off season.

All that being said, my boys would go back ANY TIME of the year in a heart beat. In fact, on our first night there when we saw Grand Marais from out on the point, Charlie saw all the homes and said "Wait... can people just LIVE here?!? I'm going to to live here when I grow up!!" It was cute.

I took many random videos of scenery and/or the boys on our trip, and here's all those clips put together in a 13 minute video. It follows the same arc as these 2 posts (just chronological), and it shows how quiet many of these popular places were:

youtu.be/gtqCZ3u0Dbg

(Also, I pushed Charlie up onto the path at the 2:15 mark which also happens to be the still image seen above, and he complains that I hurt his penis, as he jokes "it hurt my 'no no spot.'" Classy.)

Here's part 1 of our trip, here are some Holga scans from my plastic film camera, and here are some black and white images after playing around with my new iPhone.