Voyageurs

From Wikipedia – This park protecting four lakes near the Canada–US border is a site for canoeing, kayaking, and fishing. The park also preserves a history populated by Ojibwe Native Americans, French fur traders called voyageurs, and gold miners. Formed by glaciers, the region features tall bluffs, rock gardens, islands, bays, and several historic buildings.

• Established: 1/8/1971
• Annual Visitors: 239,656
• Size: 218,200 acres

Voyageurs National Park

Elizabeth:

We departed Houghton, Michigan after a great day at Isle Royale yesterday, and headed to Duluth, Minnesota on the way to Voyageurs National Park in northern MN. But, wait, there’s more! We stopped at the Isle Royale Visitor Center in Houghton, since yesterday was a Sunday and it was closed. The ranger said we should take a detour to Bayfield, WI on our way to Voyageurs, to see Apostle Islands National Lakeshore. Mapping it out, it was only 30 miles out of our way. We said farewell to our MI friend Eric who was driving back to Alpena, MI and set our GPS for Bayfield, WI. Good suggestion. We stopped at Apostle Islands Visitor Center and Park Headquarters housed in a beautiful Brownstone, the old county courthouse. We asked about dog friendly places to see in a quick time frame. We headed to Meyers Beach in Apostle Islands National Lakeshore where the ranger suggested.

Apostle is a chain of 22 islands off Bayfield Peninsula, at the northern most part of Wisconsin, on Lake Superior. With multiple lighthouses, caves on its shorelines, arches and dramatic cliffs, this location would be a place to explore had we scheduled more time. None the less, Rangeley loved swimming in Lake Superior at Meyers Beach and we got to walk the shoreline. We are now ready to continue our journey to Voyageurs.

An aside:  the follow paragraphs are random thoughts of appreciation and education on this trip while driving the 4 ½ hours from Apostle to Voyageurs.

• We’ve been told that a few people who live in MI/MN, who feed their dogs raw food like we do, have scanners to listen for when cars hit deer on the road. Tow trucks and forest depts. even call one guy to come get the deer. The guy would drive his pickup truck to get the deer for fresh meat his dogs. Sad that the deer is hit and hopefully no humans are hurt but, hey, using the already deceased animal is better than the police taking to be buried and the meat going to waste. 

• We have a USB drive we play in the car, full of 1400 songs compiled mostly by our next-door neighbor, for our now 4th long road trip. Thanks Mark! When not singing or rockin’ out (OK, me not Gary 😜) to Lady Antebellum, James Taylor, Kenny Chesney, Nora Jones or The Cars, we are Googling facts about the small towns we drive through. We try hard not to drive on any interstates to experience real America. We love the back roads. i.e. we just passed through Twig, MN, population 60. We love meeting locals at the small family owned diners, learning about fellow Americans from another traveler while pumping gas, talking to local farmers who produce the food we eat and enjoy spending our money buying that town’s local products and tipping the hard working people in hospitality jobs.

• Now in Minnesota, we learn this state is known as ‘The state of 10,000 Lakes” but also is big in Hockey! MN hockey started in 1895! Passing the US Hockey Hall of Fame and next to that a was a curling center, I think of the line in Wizard of Oz but in our situation: “Rangeley, we’re not in Phoenix anymore!!”. 

• We are always appreciative of the hard-working people in the many industrial towns we drive through. Copper miners, fisherman, loggers and sawmill operators, heavy equipment operators, farmers and more. We passed a location where the cargo ships and freight trains unload onto tractor trailer trucks to deliver all our needed items around the USA. Last trip we loved a sign on a semi: Don’t like trucks, don’t buy stuff. We are very humbled by, and no longer take for granted, all the transportation vessels and vehicles that bring us our building supplies, food, gas, water and blingy items we all buy! Thank you to the distribution system in the USA!

OK, back to the Voyageurs Journal : )

We stopped in Orr, MN at the Voyageur County Visitor Center to pick up a Voyageurs NP map and hiking trails guide. Almost all the park’s visitor center and info center staff are very helpful, knowledgeable and friendly.  They are often retired park rangers and retired forest service employees or volunteers. The current parks staff, from the landscapers and bathroom cleaners to the office personnel that we talk to, are hardworking, needed and underappreciated for the day to day labor they perform for us who visit these public parks for free or a nominal fee.

Next stop, Ash River Visitor Center, inside the park. We were aware it was not open for the season yet, but there are different NP signs we always like taking our picture at. We will be visiting two other visitor centers for sign pix as well. Kabatogama Vistor Center is closed till Memorial Day, this weekend, and the other, Rainy Lake VC is currently only open on weekends. We also enjoyed, and were careful while driving, all the deer crossing or beside the road grazing.

The Voyageurs NP area is flooded to the point where homes, boat houses and docks have been seriously affected. But beyond that, the tourism in the summer will be extremely low due to the flooding. A lot of Voyageur NP business cannot open all their cabins on the lakes and rivers due to high water; restaurants and stores are flooded out; there are no docks for boaters to pull into and spend their money at the lake side businesses, and parking lots are now “swimming holes”.

Ash-Ka-Nam Restaurant, just beyond the Ash River VC, on the Ash River, was a perfect example of making the effort to go off the main path to meet some good people. They allow dogs on their large patio, the food was good, it was privately owned and the woman, Mary, working there (her son owns the place) and I hit it off quickly (I know…surprising…I make friends everywhere! Tee hee). She feels very sad for all the business that are going to take a huge hit this year, including their own. 1) Due to limited services mentioned above and 2) With this year’s possible low tourist income, they will not have the capitol to fix Mother Nature’s damage.

The local firefighters and National Guard are filling sand bags to hold down the waterside boat sheds, docks and floating patios as well as sand bags being used as low dams around homes. Unfortunately the forecast is for more of the northern and Canadian lakes and streams to continue pouring an additional 12” of water down into the Kabetogama Lake and Voyageurs NP for a few more days : ( It could take several months for this water to eventually trickle into Lake Superior. Sadly, after the peak tourist season is over.

On a good note: Our cabin is up off the lake and we are dry : ) Elaine, Birch Grove Resort’s owner since 1972, is a wonderful “old fashion” business woman. I called her several weeks ago to make a reservation. She informed me she doesn’t take “plastic”. We were already on the road and without checks so we went to the nearest bank and got a money order for the $200 deposit she required. I called her a week later to confirm she received the snail-mail check which she had. I am guessing she’s well into her 70’s. She made sure we knew the water was high all around her property and throughout Voyageurs NP. When we arrived, she took me in a golf cart and gave me the choice of two cabins. She went inside the one I preferred and showed me how to turn on the propane heater. She said to let her know if there was anything we needed, as her home is on the property. The old fashion and welcomed way around here is no need to lock doors. We were not even given a key.

The cabin, being right on “Kab” Lake as the locals call it, is in Voyageurs NP. We had plenty of dirt roads to walk on with Rangeley and we are surrounded by water as Birch Grove is in a small inlet of Kab Lake. The first thing I did was to take my camera outside to spot wildlife.  I was by the lake just outside our cabin clicking away for hours. I saw a camera-shy otter arching up out of the water and diving again, through the reeds at the end of the bay. I watched a wood pecker flit from one pine tree to the next. Pelicans were in and out of the bay; Canadian geese honking at the tip of the peninsula across the way; a bright yellow bird taking a bath in the high waters by the partially submerged boathouse. Mallards and a Goldeneye duck (I think it was) floated, flew and returned in front of me. The privacy, quiet and warm 70-degree day was a gift. The weather is supposed to be cool and over cast tomorrow so I took it all in.

Before the day’s light ended Gary, Rangeley and I walked the roughly ½ mile to the Arrowhead Resort and Boat launch and were entertained by those taking their vessels out. “No Wake!” the restaurant owner beside the launch yells to a pontoon boat coming in too fast. “Stop!” shouts a husband to his wife driving the trailered truck while the husband is guiding the boat, still in the water, onto the trailer. “Take off the emergency brake first!” he hollers. The next guy calls for his buddy to pull the boat back out of the water immediately after he launched it…”I forgot to close the drain plug, water’s coming in!”.  A retired gentleman stands a distance from all the comedic happenings and says to Gary and I, “Know why I don’t lift my cane higher than this?”, as he stops at waist height chucking. “If I lift it more, I’d be Raising Cane!”. We all laughed and agreed boat launches are a great way to get a good belly laugh! We returned to the cabin, baked chocolate chip cookies and turned in about 10PM.

The next day we awakened early as the daylight begins at 4:30AM with sunrise at 5:20AM. Sunset here is 9PM. Longer days than what we are used to in the southwest (Phoenix). The thin cabin curtains and lots of windows makes for fabulous lake viewing but not great for sleeping in : )  Gary, Rangeley and I walked to the boat launch area again. Not for the humor like the night before but for the complete solitude sunrise on the point in the wooded area just above the launch site. We had baked French toast, yogurt and fresh strawberries for breakfast after our early morning walk. The day was gray and windy but no rain in the forecast until later. We drove to Echo Bay for a short wooded, marsh side hike. We saw a beaver lodge, deer and a couple of park rangers using a chain saw to clear debris. We drove to Sandy Point and saw the continued devastating flood damage. We returned to the cabin for a mid afternoon cookout. Gary started a fire with wood cut recently from the winter storms, I readied salad and baked beans as Gary cooked hotdogs.

We spent the rest of the day enjoying the cabin but feeling sad as the water levels increased in the bay. The easterly winds picked up and we watched, helplessly, as the resort’s dock began to break free. I spoke with Elaine, the owner, asking if there was anything we could do to help. We moved a few items further up the bank, away from the water, in a futile attempt to feel useful. I told her to let us if there was anything we could do to help. Her reply, “Tell God to stop the winds?”. I wish I could.  Agreeing it’s a situation when you want to swear, and cry, we assured Elaine we would be here for her if she needed us. Her phone rang and a neighbor said he was coming to take her out to dinner. Elaine thanked us and as she walked away, said in a good natured tone, “I’m going to have a stiff drink!”.

We have four days of westward travels, mostly on route 2, through northern North Dakoda and on into Montana.  Our next, and last, park of this seven-week trip is Glacier National Park in Montana!