North Shore Wanderings - Day 6

We woke early on May 11th, the 6th and final day of our North Shore travels. We packed up camp and decided to take a quick trek down to the lake before heading out.

Deborah and I have both been to Tettegouche many times, and done a lot of hiking there, so decided to opt out of hiking there too much on this particular stay. But we felt like we needed to do a least one little hike before we left!

The sky was pretty hazing, and it was a bit of a chilly morning.

There were some guys down at the river inlet doing some fishing.

No matter how many times I see these views, they still always take my breath away!

It wouldn't be a trip to Tettegouche if you didn't walk up and down a whole bunch of steps! ;) 

While reading through some information at the Visitors Center about the state park, we had discovered a waterfall not far from the exit of Tettegouche that we wanted to stop and check out. 

All we could see on the side of the road was this tiny little sign, and then this cabin once we walked through the woods a little ways. 

We walked a little further and came upon the Illgen River and  only had to walk a little further to see Illgen Falls.

It was a pretty simple waterfall, but still really pretty from our high vantage point. 

There are probably trails that lead down to the river were you could see it from down below, but we decided just head back to the car and leave that hike for another day ;)

Before getting back on the road, we decided we needed one last North Shore waterfall hike selfie together ;)

We got back on the road around 10:30am, and made good time with only a quick stop at Aldi again in Grand Rapids on our way home.

We met up with Deborah's parents in Bemidji, and got all of her stuff loaded up and went our separate ways towards home.

My little piece of paradise I call home, is still just as beautiful in it's own way, as anywhere one could travel ;)

I pulled up my country driveway that evening at 4:45, and discovered the snow had melted, the grass was green... spring had arrived while I was off exploring. I was not too disappointed ;)

As always, thank you for following along on my little adventures and taking the time to look through and read my posts! 

North Shore Wanderings - Day 5 - Part 2

Here I am finally getting to part two of our fifth day on the North Shore. If you need a refresher, make sure you take a look at my previous post to see what we were up to in part one ;) 

After leaving Onion River Falls, we drove a few more miles down the road till we reached Temperance River State Park. I had been there several times before, but Deborah hadn't been there at all. So it was really fun to look at the maps and rediscover the hikes I had done before and share them with her. 

Our first trek was down to the gorge to see the falls and the beach, where the river pours into Lake Superior.

The sun was out and it was a simply gorgeous afternoon! We were happy hikers :)

This is a rushing river that just shoots through the gorge and out into the lake, its a magnificent sight!

The foaming, brownish water of the river looks so neat as it flows into the lake.

 I love seeing all the foam and air bubbles mix with the water.

The sky was just as beautiful as the scenery surrounding us, it was perfect weather!

Here you can see the stark contrast of the river and lake water, it's like a smaller version of fresh water flowing into the salty seawater of the ocean haha.

We walked around on the beach for a little while before heading back up the steps towards the road.

If you cross the highway, there is another set up hiking trails that take up up the river a ways, and you can see more of the river as it flows through the gorge. 

There are some interesting theories surrounding this area, and how it all was formed. Take a few minutes to check out the info on these signs.

Most of this path is just walking along the rocky gorge, but there are some steps carved out a few places.

I think this is my favorite view of this trail, seeing the water rushing below the bridge... it's so pretty!

 There are some trails that go along the river for miles, and are so fun if you have a whole day to spend here. But we had already done quite a bit of hiking for the day, so just did the one mile hike and called it good. 

The pussy willows were in full bloom, it felt like spring decided to come that very afternoon :)

It was around 3:30 by the time we got back to the car, and we were pretty tuckered out. So, we decided to head towards Tettegouche, and see if we could find a campsite there to spend the night.

We drove around the campground to see what sites were open and looked good, and found a walk-in site that Nathan and I had stayed out a few years before and totally loved. So we went back to the visitors center to use their WiFi and get it booked. We stayed up there for a while and just chilled for a bit, looked at some pictures and took advantage of the cell reception and WiFi, before heading to set up camp.  

If you ever camp at Tettegouche, walk-in site 23 is the place to be, but don't tell anyone ;)

With their walk-in sites, you park out in a little parking section by the outhouse and walk about 50 yards down a wooded path to the campsite. You feel so secluded and like you're in the middle of nowhere, it's wonderful!

It was starting to cool down a bit, so we spent a while collecting branches and sticks to build a fire. Since it was technically the off season, their wood building was closed, which actually made starting a fire a fun adventure. We explored some surrounding sites and had a total blast digging through the woods to find what we needed ;)

Once our fire was going, we warmed up some chili I had brought from home and enjoyed our evening sitting in the woods by the fire.

It was a perfect end to a perfect day :)