North Shore Camping - Day 2

Tuesday started with a quick breakfast before the boys had a plan.  As soon as they had finished breakfast, they wanted to go for a hike, which of course was fine.  They led the way....

They led us straight to the picnic lava flows down by Lake Superior.  Apparently they had the idea that they needed to look for something....

Of course, the something that they wanted to look for was tadpoles.....and they had no problem finding them and catching them....

I spent the hour and a half looking around at features you find on the picnic lava flows, like how the lichen is growing or buildings built by the CCC in the 1930s.

After we had returned to camp, it was time to go and view the three main waterfalls at Gooseberry Falls State Park.  The pictures below show the Upper Falls, located just north of the Hwy 61 bridge.

Next we had to stop and get as close to the Middle Falls as we could, we actually got closer than the picture shows but I needed to hold onto the boys as opposed to the camera.

From the Middle Falls, the boys and I continued on a rather long hike that would take us downstream, eventually cross the river and bring us back on the opposite side of the river.  Signs of the recent flooding were everywhere, with most vegetation being pushed down to the ground and no longer being upright.

Large trees were also laying as they were thrown, the amount of water needed to move some of these trees would've been impressive.....at this point we were also able to look straight up river to see the Middle and Lower Falls.

On the Eastern side of the Gooseberry River, the trail takes you to some impressive overlooks, of course these overlooks are at quite a height above the river level.

It's also interested to get a view of the Middle Falls from a different perspective, we're not sure how many people take the time to get to this side of the river.

Before returning to the visitor's center, the trail takes you underneath the Hwy. 61 bridge by a walkway and gives you the opportunity to view the Upper Falls from a different angle.  Pops has always claimed that in his more 'reckless' days he traversed the bridge via the beams located underneath the structure....not really sure if it's true or not...

After viewing the falls, we took a quick trip up the road to the Split Rock Lighthouse.  Luke had never been to the lighthouse, Kieran had a few years earlier.

We had to take the stairs to the top of the lighthouse, the stairs are tight and Luke did not especially enjoy them (particularly the way down).  But it is an interesting view from out the windows in the lighthouse.

After leaving the lighthouse, Kieran really wanted to go down to the lake level and they apparently found a tree to hug along the way (it wasn't the first or the last tree they would hug).

Getting to the lake level involves a large amount of stairs, the trip down is not bad at all, then you remember that the vehicle is parked at the top and you'll be walking them again...

What did the boys want to do at the bottom?  They didn't really care for the view, they wanted to throw rocks into the lake, again....

Of course before beginning the hike up the stairs to the van, they (and I) wanted a quick rest break.

After leaving the museum, both boys were immediately drawn to the anchor of a ship that had crashed over 100 years earlier, they had ignored the anchor on the way in...

After leaving Split Rock, we went to the beach at Beaver Bay (apparently one of the best places to find an agate on the north shore).  All the boys wanted to do of course is.....throw rocks.....

I was looking for an anorthosite inclusion in the surrounding basalt.  The greenish anorthosite crystalized at depth (20-25 km) before riding to the surface with later lava flows.

After dinner that evening, we took another hike to view the falls, but this time it was from a straight-on viewpoint.  It was about a mile hike before the trail was closed because of being washed out from the recent floods, but it gives another view of Gooseberry Falls.

After returning to camp, exhausted, it was time for bed.  It was our last night at Gooseberry Falls State Park.

The next day, we left for Trail's End of the Gunflint Trail.  Before we made camp the next day, we hiked to Magnetic Rock just off the Gunflint (meaning a 1 mile hike, uphill, one way)....

Too be continued....