lydamorehouse | Entries tagged with canoeing

We started with tippy canoe with Shawn and I and then Mason wanted to see what could be seen if we pushed past the place that we now call “Capsize Cove.” So, I think I spent maybe four hours in a canoe today. That maybe doesn’t feel like much, but we fought the wind home both times.

The more we stay up here, the more we get to know the people who run the place. The owners list used to just be “Bob and Sue,” but now it includes “Quinn and Katie.” Bob and Sue are very much still part of the daily life at Bearskin. I’ve really grown to quite like Bob in particular.

In fact, we happened to see Bob when we came back from our “adventure” with the overturned canoe, and when he heard that we’d flipped the boat, he sat right down to hear the whole story. He’s always willing to turn off his walkie-talkie and hear from people about their stay. If it’s not genuine, he does a helluva impression of real concern. I kind of love that about him? Plus, he laughed at us when we seemed so surprised by having tipped over and said, “Everyone always says: ‘But I’ve never tipped a canoe before!” It was said with kindness and a large side of ‘because everyone flips a canoe at some point’ and ‘there just isn’t much for it when it starts going over.’

Nice guy.

Our other big adventure today (Tuesday) was that because I was exhausted from so much canoeing, we decided to try… EATING IN A RESAURANT.

I know, right?

But, we decided that we needed to start trusting the vaccine and go out places, plus the food would just be gross if I drove it home. It’s only seven miles (? Kilometers) away, but even so. It was very distracting to be in such a busy place. We used to laugh at the people who sat in restaurants not saying anything to each other, but I get it now. Not only was I so tired as to be kind of loopy, but also there’s kind of a LOT?? It got more a lot when a whole bevy of three families came in, a whole posse of smols in tow. From going to zero to this was… honestly, a little tough, so we might not have been our usual chatty selves, but, man, the food was worth it.

And I didn’t have to do the dishes.

Today, we may hike to magnetic rock!

Since we were due for another grocery run, Mason and I decided to check out Judge C. R. Magney State Park and the (in)famous “Devil’s Kettle” waterfall. This year I picked up a guide to the waterfalls of Minnesota and so I had read that there would not only be a lot of uphill hiking, but also… stairs.

Image: so many wooden stairs.

I’d thought, given all my recent hiking, that I was up for this. I mean, I am asthmatic, I knew the stairs would be trouble (I am never without my recue inhaler.) However, I figured the rest of the trail would be fine. It was? But, with Mason along I really noticed just how slowly I tackle these hills. Luckily, my boy is deeply patient.

Image: my big smol, waiting.

This, however, was extremely worth it, from the start.

At the beginning of the trail head, you cross the rapids of the Brule River. There’s just something about a rushing river? I love the sound of it, if nothing else. Once up the steep trail and down the 117 steps, you come to the lower falls.

The lower falls are magnificent on their own. If this had been the destination of any of my previous hikes, would have been deeply satisfied with this view alone. When Mason was smol, we would likely have spent hours here, playing on the wet rocks and watching the spray.

Only another 700 feet to Devil’s Kettle, however, so we pushed on.

It was a tough 700 feet? But, we made it and, again, totally worth it.

The twin falls of Devil's Kettle. The infamous "kettle" is on the left.

The waterfall on the left is considered “Devil’s Kettle” because the water goes in at speeds and never comes out anywhere people have been able to discover. There have been several attempts to figure out where it goes—dyed water, a ping pong ball, etc. No one has ever found any trace of anything that’s ever gone down into the kettle. Lake Superior is not far away, so the best guess is that the water travels through a series of underground caves and empties somewhere out in the big lake.

Today (Tuesday) it’s 10 am and we’ve already had a big adventure. Somehow, Shawn and I managed to tip the canoe! We always hug the shoreline (and I’d stopped to pee,) but we were both safely back in the boat. Somehow, in our maneuvering out from the shoreline, ope! Over we went! Completely. It was slow? Like horror-movie slow? And, then we stood there in waist deep water wondering how the heck we were going to tip the aluminum canoe over and get the water out. Believe it or not, we managed it! I was soaked enough that I decided to take off my hoodie. I moved my phone from my shorts pocket to my bra (which was mostly still dry.) Shawn was in jeans and didn’t take anything off and she came back far more frigid than I did. Hot showers got us all in ship shape, however.

My phone is currently working? We’ll see if that lasts.

A marshy view of the long-sought Rudy Lake

Image: the long-sought after Rudy Lake.

I made it!

I decided to walk before lunch, which may have been a mistake as I was slogging through the underbrush under a noon sun.

However, I did come across a family of… quail? Whatever they were the male puffed out his fan tail and bobbed around where I could see him while—peep, peep, peep—the babies ran for forest cover. I did not get a picture because I was too surprised (as were they!)

So now I’m trying to decide if I should push on with the same trail and make it to Flour Lake. Having chatted with one of the Lodge owners here, I am thinking that it’s worth the extra 1.3 miles. She says that in the winter the view from Beaver Dam Trail out to Flour Lake is one of the best that these ski trails have to offer. I am told it’s a little less impressive when the trees are in foliage, but, according to her, if I poke my nose through the overgrowth, I should still “get some scenery.” (Not sure what else it is I’ve been seeing, but I will take her word for it!)

Image: a sign that reads: Beaver Dam Ski Trail, my "dam" obsession.

When I told her I’d been walking Beaver Dam Ski Trail, she said that a lot of people don’t even know about Rudy Lake exists (there is no road access to this lake), “except the skiers.” So, that made me feel kind of special.

But, so, if I stick to this trail and manage to conquer Flour Lake, I am thinking I will next try the Bear Cub World Cup Ski Trail, since it will give me another destination: Bear Cub Lake… and the Lodge owner showed me a secret way to get out to the trailhead that doesn’t involve me having to figure out where to park if I were to drive out to the spot where it comes out near Gunflint Road.

Meanwhile, Mason is two-thirds of the way through his fourth book. In a very bizarre turn of events, he's decided to read my AngeLINK series.

Though I do think we’ll be headed out on a canoe ride tonight, since he complained a bit about missing all the early morning animal sightings (otters mostly, and turtles, plus a few ducks.) After all, I reminded him that the OTHER active times is twilight.

UPDATE: we did, in fact go out at night, and managed to see a beaver in the water. She slapped her tail and everything!

Image: my long-haired boy in his sunhat in the front of a canoe, drifting quietly and watching the shoreline for activity.

(WARNING: spider picture follows!)

Bearskin Lodge is conscientious because they only charge you for the things you use. We decided ahead of time that we wanted to have a canoe every day. Our family is, for the most part, dock-sitters, but occasionally, as I said, I get antsy and want to do All The Things. So it's nice for me to be able to hop into a canoe and tool around the Lodge end of East Bearskin Lake.

I'm not an expert canoer by any stretch of imagination.

I've been in a canoe plenty, but in the world of self-propelled watercraft, I'm probably best at a kayak. It was particularly noticeable this time how much I kind of suck at canoe. This time we had some days when the wind really pushed me around. Even with Mason sitting in the front, we'd get pushed so hard that the canoe would just go in a circle or slam up against the shore. Probably this had a lot to do with the fact that I'm crap at steering (we discovered on the last day, of course, that Mason is a natural!) but, regardless, it was both upsetting and hilarious.

As a bonus, we're pretty sure that the Bearskin web cam caught some of our antics.

Here's the view from the canoe:

We pulled off on a little island to tromp around a bit. Here's the wild explorer, Mason:

The views of the lake were spectacular:

Here's us heading off:

Plus, it turns out? If you sit on the dock all day, you might encounter one of these:

This is what Andy called a 'dock spider' which he gleefully announced, gets bigger--much bigger. The size of dinner plates by August, he said. To which Shawn replied, "That's why we come in May."

Apparently they're a a type of dolomites, a fishing spider. That's right... they can sometimes catch and eat small fish. Mostly they eat water skaters, though, which I saw plenty of, which is, I suppose, how our dock could support TWO of these beasts.

We kept seeing a snake around near our dock too, and according to Wikipedia, snakes and birds are dock spiders' main predators.

Ah, nature!

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Day in the Life of an Idiot

Journal of Lyda Morehouse

Entries tagged with canoeing

Tippy Canoe Tuesday

My Old Enemy…. Stairs!

Rudy Lake!

Up North, Ya Know (part 4)

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