Together again! New adventures await!

After 4 days away from the girls, it was time for some new adventures.  I had been excited about this portion of our trip for weeks because we were going to go visit some areas we had never explored before and get out on the North Country Trail in two different States along the way.  But before leaving the Minneapolis/St. Paul area, we had to make one important stop.

Imke at the Minnesota State Capitol Building

As you may know, Imke and Maddie have traveled to several State Capitols with me.  A couple of years ago we visited the Minnesota Capitol in St. Paul, but at that time, there was construction being done on the building.  There had been scaffolding around the dome and construction equipment around the building.  So I made the decision that the first stop of our morning would be the Capitol Building again.  This time we got lucky.  It was a beautiful day and there was no construction. It was the perfect morning for a short walk around the building in order to get rid of a little pent up energy and to capture a great picture.

Maddie at Upper Gooseberry Falls

Now it was time to head North!  We would be heading north of Duluth for this portion of our trip. We drove through Duluth and a couple of small towns to get to Gooseberry Falls State park.  What a beautiful area.  I had never been to this area before and I was not disappointed!  And to top it off, we were able to get some miles in on the North Country Trail while we were there!

Lake Superior Coastline

It was a bit cloudy, but it was still a beautiful day for a drive along the Lake Superior coast.  As we headed north of the town of Two Harbors toward Gooseberry Falls, the scenery along the way was amazing.  But what made this drive even better was the smells-fresh Lake Superior air and the scent of pine trees combining to make the most marvelous smell ever!  I'm not sure that there are two scents that could make me any happier.  So we had to pause, pull over at a road-side park, and take it all in.

Split Rock Lighthouse

Then it was on to Split Rock Lighthouse.  I have seen so many pictures of this lighthouse on a cliff that I just had to see it for myself.  The lighthouse has to be one of the easiest climbs I've ever made to the top of a lighthouse because the tower itself is not very high...because the lighthouse sits on a nearly 150 foot cliff.  The view from the top of the lighthouse is pretty amazing, but impossible to get any pictures.

Split Rock Lighthouse

The view of the lighthouse from a distance is pretty spectacular too.   Since dogs are not allowed at the lighthouse or the in the surrounding park, I made this a quick trip, but is was definitely worth the stop.  Then it was time to head South toward Wisconsin, but before leaving Minnesota we made one more stop for a walk along the pier in Two Harbors.

Ship at the ore dock in Two Harbors

Now it was on to the second portion of our new adventure-waterfalling in Northern Wisconsin.  US-2, which runs through this area, pretty well follows a stretch of waterfalls and the the North Country Trail and I was excited to get out and explore it!  Our first stop in Wisconsin was Upper Manitou Falls.  These falls are right off of the North Country Trail so we were ready to get our first miles in Wisconsin added to our miles for this year.

NCT Map of Northern Wisconsin

When we arrived at Upper Manitou Falls it was about 5pm and lucky for us, the rain had just stopped. We found the parking lot across from the trail head and headed out toward the falls. Pictures really don't do it justice.

Upper Manitou Falls

After a quick hike to the falls, we followed the trail for about a mile before heading back to the Jeep to drive the mile to Lower Manitou Falls.  

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Lower Manitou Falls

And we got in some more hiking along the NCT there too. Can you spy the trail marker?  

NCT at Lower Manitou Falls

By this time, it was after 7pm and we had one more stop we wanted to make before heading toward our home for the night.  We arrived at Amnicon Falls State Park around 7:30pm and it was cloudy and getting dark, but that wasn't going to stop us from exploring.

Imke and Maddie at Amnicon Falls

 This was a great area with several falls and rapids in a beautiful canyon and we spent a good 30 minutes exploring through some rain sprinkles.  As the skies got darker, we started to head back to the Jeep when we looked across the parking lot and saw a sign for Now and Then Falls, so we quickly checked them out as I could here the thunderstorm approaching.  Luckily we made it into the Jeep just as the storm started.  And we had a great time exploring these falls!

Now and Then Falls

As we started our drive to Hurley for the night, we made one last stop to pick up dinner and watch an amazing Lake Superior Sunset.

Sunset in Ashland WI

It has been a long, busy day, but what fun we had!  I am so glad we took the time to find some new places to explore. And tomorrow would bring more fun and new adventures as we continued our journey back to the Keweenaw.

Upper Potato Falls

Waterfalling Day 2 took us to a tiny county park in Wisconsin along the Potato River to see the Upper and Lower Potato Falls.  Boy was I glad that my knee was feeling better because I had no idea I was going to have to walk down 1000 steps to get an obstructed view of the Lower falls, but at least the girls got time off leash to explore the river.  I think they would have been happy to stay there all day.

The Potato River

Then we headed just 14 miles away to Copper Falls State Park.  There were a couple more waterfalls to view here, but when I arrived, I found that dogs weren't allowed on the trails to the falls.  I made a quick trip to the falls since we were there while the girls waited in the Jeep.

Copper Falls

I don't often go to places that don't allow dogs, but luckily most of the park was dog friendly and we were able to get 2 more miles on the North Country Trail before we left.  The girls were happy to be out exploring the North woods!

Then it was on to Superior Falls which are right on the Michigan Wisconsin border.

Superior Falls

 And then on to the small Saxon Falls, also on the Wisconsin Michigan Border.  The girls enjoyed exploring the River near these falls.

Imke and Maddie at Saxon Falls

Then we made one last stop before crossing the border into Michigan, visiting Interstate Falls, which are also right on the Michigan Wisconsin Border.  Although the falls are small, there are a series of them and a nice trail along the river.  It is a beautiful area to explore.  

Interstate Falls

Wow!  We had spent the entire day exploring and hiking and I don't know about Maddie and Imke, but I was hungry and exhausted!  I loved seeing all of these new areas, but I was ready to head to Eagle Harbor and get settled in for the rest of our weekend. 

We ended the night relaxing in our room at the Eagle Harbor Inn where I enjoyed a great dinner in my room and was lucky enough to have a front row see to the band that was playing for their 30th anniversary celebration.  It was the perfect way to end our awesome day and a great way to start our weekend in Eagle Harbor!