Kent and I spent last weekend up in Cascade River State Park, about 20 minutes south of Grand Marais, MN. We packed in about a mile late Friday evening (in the dark!) and spent Sabbath hiking the Superior Hiking Trail up the east side of the Cascade River and down the west side. We stayed in the same campsite on Saturday night and packed out Sunday morning. We carried our packs all day Sabbath though, so it was like we were “really” backpacking! We need to get in shape…my knees are still sore! The leaves were mostly off the trees, except for some aspen and some low bushes, but it had rained a lot, so the river was in springtime force! Very spectacular! We had good weather, thankfully, and no injuries. All in all, it was a wonderful, peaceful weekend and one I’ll want to repeat soon! So here’s a list of memories from our trip…
Eyes in the dark
First snow (yes, really!)
Flaming aspens in the evergreens
White birches and blue sky
Purple hills across the water
A camp under the pines by the river
A flight of steps down a mossy cliff
Our little friend — a marten!
Hemlock trails
“God’s love is like a river”
Fallen Log Camp
Exuberant water
Wintry morning sky — bands of pastel clouds above the water
96 steps
“difficult terrain” ski hill
“stockpile” of tinder
faux-painting ideas
cheese pizza
Pippi Longstocking
Shoe swamp (mine)
Backwards tent
Burning gloves
Split pea “water” soup
purifying water by a washed-out trail
“Was that Little Marais?”
Mushroom house for sale (Frank Lloyd Wright-style)
Cleaning sticky rice from an aluminum pan
No spoons!
Dromedary Kent and the aching feet
Snowshoe rabbit
Calzones
Kent wants bread!!
Queen of the Night in the dark (to scare away the eyes, you see!)
“setting a perimeter”
fuzzy pitch trees and birchbark (wet wood galore!)
lost in St. Paul — 35 E??
maple candy guy
SDA fudge lady with a chainsaw-carver husband
As you can see, we had great fun, and even if some of the entries don’t make sense, I’m sure you envy us! Now if only I could get my kids to be as calm and peaceful…
Ramblings of a Ragamuffin Child 