This is my remember how to blog and practice run for our big trip coming up in only 3 short weeks (we are going to the Balkans and more on that later :-)
Zach and I headed to the North Shore on the last 3 days of May. It was a somewhat chilly trip, but I think we agree that it is actually a really nice time to explore the north shore. Everything is open, but the crowds aren't crazy yet. It is warm enough to hike but there aren't many bugs yet and those long hikes are a lot easier at 60 instead of 75 degrees.
I will mostly let the pictures speak for themselves, but in summary we did some great hikes, ate some good food and got the tour the new Voyageur Brewing Company in Grand Marais. We stayed at our favorite cabin 9 at Cascade lodge and brought Belle with us for all the hikes.
Gotta have some Betty's pies. We managed to eat 3/4 of the French Cherry pie over 3 days
First hike was the Crow Creek Valley Hike. It was a nice hike, good temperature and the rain held off until we were done
You will see lots of wildflower pictures. That was one of the highlights of hiking this time of year. There were so many cool flowers and things sprouting.
After arriving at our cabin and resting while the sprinkles passed we attempted to do the Cascade River loop. While we didn't make the entire 8 miles, we did get 4.8 miles in. We saw some of the waterfalls and some great wildlife. Total hiking for the day was 8.3 miles
Dinner was at our favorite The Crooked Spoon. This time we both got our own French Onion Soup!
After dinner we made a stop at the new brewery to hear some live music and sample their 5 beers. We liked all of them, but the IPA and Wit were the favorites.
In the morning we did the Oberg Loop. This hike is great because it isn't too long or too hard and has all sorts of great overlooks
From 11-12 we were 2 out of the 4 members of the tour of Voyageur brewing for the week. We got to see everything and their brewmaster gave a great presentation on a lot of the specifics of brewing. Sadly they don't have plans to distribute south of Duluth for a while yet.
Lunch was another favorite. The Dockside Fish Market. Who can resist a good fish and chips with views like this?
Our entire afternoon was this long, but rewarding 9.6 mile hike into the boundary waters. The terrain was really rough and we nearly got lost a few times, but the hike was great. We saw the biggest waterfall in Minnesota and lots of great overlooks into the boundary waters.
This is Canada visible from Lake Rose at the far end of the hike. Total hiking for the day 12.21 grueling miles
Dinner was back at the Angry Trout in Grand Marais. It was too cold (like 35 degrees) to sit on the deck but we still got a good view from inside
Fish meal number 3 in 2 days
After dinner it was another stop at the Brewery to sample the cheese curds and use our free drink tickets from the tour (they are great! but might be fried in sunflower oil so watch out if you have allergies).
Cabin 9 our favorite
After a somewhat early start we stopped to hike Leveaux on the way back.
This hike in particular had lots of great wildflowers
Final stop before Duluth was the Schroeder Baking Company for coffee and a cinnamon roll. Can't wait for our next trip up the North Shore, hopefully sometime later this summer!
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