If the Cologne Hollanders are our team, then Gooseberry Falls is our park...they are as comfortable there as they are anywhere, but there are two things we've never done at the park...first was the geocache (a recent thing Lukie and Lex have been enjoying)...
We arrived too late to check out a GPS unit, so we started with my phone...it was obvious that the first clue was somewhere up by the visitor center/falls area, so we took off hiking because this is a great view...
We we were there in June, this area was flooded because the river's mouth had been plugged by sediment built up by persistent NE winds/waves...we had to pause to check it out...
We found the first stop...though we couldn't make out all of the numbers...
It was enough to get us close to the second waypoint...we have stood and read this sign many, many times, but have never seen the coordinates to the next waypoint...
By the way...that second waypoint has a nice look to it...
From that point though, the phone just was working...it got us to an area where we figured we were close, but kept bouncing us around. So we gave up and figured we'd start there the next morning with GPS units. Our hike began back to the campground, but we had to stop at the falls again...
The second 'new' thing at the park was the Junior Naturalist program...we've heard about it, but never really looked into it. This time, Lukie and Lex wanted to give it a go. It's a booklet meant to be completed over time, there are a series of pages that give kids pages to read through and answer based on their observations at the park.
There are three Junior Naturalist programs - pinelands, hardwoods and prairie. So they began work on the pinelands program while I was getting the fire going, cooking dinner and frankly, just relaxing...
Lukie figured he could keep working...especially if he was swinging in the hammock...
Eventually, they finished that night (they had one step to accomplish, but that needed a park ranger to finish), so the focus turned to the fire...and sleep...
It wasn't our usual campsite at Gooseberry, but it worked for one night...
Before breakfast the next morning, of course we had to head down to the lake...
Tadpoles, tadpoles, tadpoles...where are they?
There one is...
Love this view during different times of the year...
The last time we were here, the river was blocked off at this point...it might have been cool to see the river reclaim it's entrance to the lake...
And we came across multiple examples of this (plastic cup, straw and spoon), right next to the lake...three days later, one of the headlines in the Star Tribune said 'the Great Lakes have a plastic problem.' Really? Too bad some people are stupid and leave their crap around...we picked up what we saw and got it into the recycling...
But if you're by the lake...you might as well skip some rocks...
On the way out of the campground that morning, we stopped at the Ranger Station so they could complete their last task. They needed to read 'the pledge to protect the pinelands' to the ranger...I sat back and watched...
For their efforts, they received a certificate and a Pinelands Junior Naturalist patch...they were excited...
Then we needed to find that geocache...we picked up a GPS unit and took off...
We found the cache in about 15 minutes...
Opened it up and found the prize...
The aquatic quest card that the parks have for another year or so...
From Gooseberry, we stopped at Canal Park for a bit...found out a ship was coming into harbor in about 45 minutes, so we had to stay for that...
Three stops at Canal Park this year and we've seen three ships...that's a good percentage...
Before leaving (and we had to be back by 6:00 because Lukie had his last baseball game of the summer) we needed lunch...Little Angies it was...chips, salsa and the works...
Not a bad week out of town...we'll do it again...
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