Circling Lake Superior--Entry 1

Sat. Aug. 31—Sept. 4: We began with two long days of driving. On Saturday we drove to Naubinway to stay at Ross & Pat’s cottage. After a Happy Hour with one of Gustafson’s smoked whitefish and a nice dinner of brats, Marv & I walked down to the Lake and along the shore for a while before Ross & Jake joined us. I hoped to see the Blue Moon (+ 1 night) rise, but it didn’t come as soon as I expected. It made its appearance within a half an hour of our returning to the cottage. We had a good night’s sleep and left the next morning before 10:00 after a yummy blueberry pancake breakfast. The drive to Rabbit Blanket Lake campground in Lake Superior Provincial Park took until late afternoon with a couple of stops along the way in Sault Ste. Marie, MI & Ontario, for a lookout over Agawa Bay, and for lunch at Lori’s Breakfast and Burger, where each couple shared their half pound cheeseburger. We got to the campground and found out that most sites were available and that the next day was the last that there would be someone in the gatehouse. We set up on the lake (#14) without electricity, across from Ross & Pat, who prefer to plug in. We had Happy Hour on their campsite with cheese & crackers, then dinner on our campsite with smoked chicken. We cleaned up the dishes and then all took our kayaks down to paddle on the lake as the sun set. The hills around us are just beginning to show the colors of Fall. The lake is small and easy to paddle, even with the slight breeze. Ross & Pat made an early night of it but Marv & I sat on our “veranda” overlooking the lake through the trees until it got dark and too cool. We finished the evening in the camper, continuing to get set-up for our time here.

It hadn’t gotten as cold overnight as we thought it might because a cloud cover had moved in. We got up and took coffee down to the big rocks on the lakeshore to enjoy the 64° morning. But we were distressed to realize we were hearing distant thunder. After half an hour or so we had a quick bowl of cereal and packed a lunch. Pat & Ross joined us with their lunch and we set off in our truck back to the southeast to see the Agawa Pictographs, which we had passed on our way. It’s a perilous climb down through an ancient volcanic fissure and then out on a slippery, rock ledge to see the ochre paintings on the cliff running down into the chilly Lake Superior waters. But it was worth it to see them. Marv went the furthest out and got the best pictures of these sacred spirit/dream renderings. We made our way back up to the truck and then drove on to the Lake Superior Provincial Park Visitor’s Center at Agawa Bay. It was built in 2003 and gives one the impression, when entering the exhibits, that you are going into the waves of Lake Superior. It is very well done with lots of audio snippets and videos to educate the visitor on the history and geology of the area. As we finished up a large group came in wearing damp raingear and we realized that the threatening clouds had begun to sprinkle. Back in the truck, we hoped to stop by Sand River to climb on the large boulders in the waterfalls but, since it was raining in earnest by then, we regretfully decided to return to Rabbit Blanket, where we each ate our lunches in our own campers. Then we all played “Hand and Foot” (cards) in their trailer until the rain stopped. Marv & I walked around the tent loop as the sun came out and things began to dry out a bit. Then we rode our bikes back to the entrance and went across the highway to hike for a while on South Old Woman River trail. It is a moderate trail of rocks and roots along the babbling trout stream. It was very pretty. We only hiked for 45 minutes or so because we were making tomato and basil pasta for Meatless Monday dinner. As we thought about relaxing for a bit before boiling the pasta Ross & Pat came by with their paddles so instead we decided to join them for another trip around Rabbit Blanket Lake before we finished making dinner. After enjoying the pasta, Ross & Pat headed to their trailer for the night. So we did the dishes and wrote & read until bedtime.

Early morning reflections