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.