Memorial Day weekend 2016 Day 2 Lots of hiking in light rain and fog

Day 2 didn't start off the best.  It rained all night and neither of us slept very well.  It was also raining and cold when we finally got out of the tent at 7:30.

Our view of the lake from our campsite.  This was about as little fog as we ever got

Zach making our coffee next to our car

Breakfast of champions.  In the car while we waited out the rain

First hike of the day was from our campsite up to Carlton Peak.  This is hidden falls on the Baptism River

Belle trying to get a look at what was making all that noise

Great waterfall even in the rain

After a while we hiked past the river and crossed lots of little streams like this on the way to Carlton Peak

Carlton peak

Happy we made it to the base of Carlton peak

Belle at the top of the Tofte overlook

Memorial at Tofte overlook

This should be a lovely view of the lake...but really couldn't see anything.  Also the camera died right after this

We hiked back to the campsite after reaching the top of carlton peak.  After long hot showers at the campground, we headed to Grand Marais to the Dockside Fish Market.  At first we thought we might have to eat on the deck (which has the nice view shown above, but was also 45 degrees), but luckily a spot inside opened up.

Best fish and chips.  We both had whitefish

Fishmarket outside 

Quick stop again at the Java moose to recharge things and grab another maple latte.  These things are sooooo good.  They have real local maple syrup.

Next stop was Grand Portage and the Candian border to hike in Grand Portage State Park

High falls at Pigion River.  This is the highest waterfall in Minnesota, but technically part of it is in Canada

We made the hard hike to the middle falls.  Turns out to get there you have to hike over a small mountain

The lake was visible for just a second

This is what a lot of the trail looked like.  Lots of mud

We finally reached the middle falls after more than an hour of hiking

Middle falls up close

Trail of mud pit?  Either way Belle always was trying to lay down in areas that were more mud than trail

After driving back to Grand Marais in the rain and a long wait we finally had dinner at the Angry Trout.  This is the smoked fish platter for an app

More fish and chips for dinner

View from our table.  Outside would have been great, but again it was 45 degrees

Angry Trout on the way out

We managed to get in a few smores before it started raining again

I make a great fire even in the rain.  After this we dashed in the tent just in time to avoid the next round of rain.  Luckily there was less rain overnight than the night before.

Memorial Day Weekend 2016 Camping the Northshore Day 1 Split Rock Hike and Rain!

This is our short hiking/camping trip to the Northshore.  We are somewhat using this as a prep for our Banff hiking trip in a week.  

We started the morning in the Duluth with a stop for coffee and a few necessary food items like smores fixings at Mount Royale.  By about 10:30 we reached Split Rock for the first hike of the day

First Hike of the trip was the mostly lakeside Split Rock State Park train

Lots of wildflowers for the entire trip.  These pretty bluebells were everywhere!

Marsh marigolds lined all the small stream areas

Belle enjoyed her first dip in lake superior

Map of the trail

Split Rock Lighthouse from the start of our hike

Tried to get Belle and the lighthouse, but both the fog and the dog weren't cooperating

This pretty much sums up the view for most of our trip

Trillium I think

Wild strawberries

Clearly there was once something on top of day hike hill.  All that is left now is this fireplace

View from atop day hike hill

Attempt at family selfie.  This also happens to be the same cliff that Zach dropped our camera off of 3 years earlier.  I then freaked out and sent him over the cliff to retrieve it.  No luck finding the camera, but we did get the memory card back with some of the last pitures of my grandpa  

Interesting duck at the mouth of the Split Rock River 

This guy didn't really seem to mind having his picture taken

More march marigolds up close

Wood Anemone up close

Belle eating grass...this was pretty much all she ate the entire weekend

View from the stop of the second big hill near the end 

Columbine

Violet

Yellow violet, these were more common

Lots of steps up to the top of the last hill

Flowering bush, not sure what kind

One last stop in the light rain for Belle to get a drink

Dinky enjoyed our stop at the Schroeder baking company for Hawaiian pizza

Second hike got cancelled after the radar looked like rain.  This meant we got to enjoy our maple lattes at the Java Moose in Grand Marais

Rain let up just long enough for a walk out to the lighthouse in the harbor before dinner

View toward Grand Marais

More flowering shrubs

My favorite soup in the world.  French Onion at the Crooked Spoon

I had scallops with asparagus and sweet potatos

Zach had seafood pasta

Some great carrot cake for dessert

Final stop of the night was Voyageur brewing for some beer and cheese curds

We made it back to the tent right before it started raining harder.  Belle doesn't really like being in the tent and she always tries to take over my spot.  We played our usual game or Skippo and then tried to fall asleep to the sound of cold rain.