Gooseberry Falls and farewell to the North Shore

Friday, June 9, 2017; Gooseberry Falls.

Flotilla & Fogbank

Fog on the Lake, but Sun in the Forest.

Grand Marais is lost in the mist on the distant point.

My last morning on the North Shore of Lake Superior, and there was mist out on the water.  The Trading Post at Grand Marais was a a reluctant stop, as I felt that I should be on the road, but it was a worthwhile stop.  I had it in mind that it was a gift shop like so many others, but I had forgotten how good a place it was.  It does have many giftie things, but more to the point, there are a great number of well thought out items for your time spent in the Northwoods; no gimmicky things that I could see.  I was happy to see that they had Swedish made Mora knives, which make very useful bushcraft knives, and are probably the best knives around for the price.  All in all, a very worthwhile stop, if just to remind myself of its value.

Middle Gooseberry Falls.

Left branch of the Lower Falls.

Right branch of the Lower Falls.

Turning left towards the Left Branch of the Lower Falls.

Closer view of the right branch.

Last gasp of the right branch of the Lower Falls.

And so south along the North Shore, stopping at Temperance Falls for a photo of Hidden Falls with the sun shafting into the chasm and lighting up the Falls.  Split Rock Lighthouse was an intended stop, but it was shrouded in fog, thus negating the intended photographs.  So Gooseberry Falls beckoned, and I proceeded on.  Gooseberry Falls is the first major North Shore Waterfall one comes to when driving North from Duluth.  On the way north a week earlier I had missed it completely as the whole aspect of the highway has changed since last I was here, eleven years ago.  You used to be able to park in spaces along the highway on either end of the bridge, but now they are gone, and now there is a road to a dedicated parking area out of sight of the highway, and an almost obscenely large visitors center.  There are three stages to the falls with the Upper Falls to the West of the bridge, and the Middle And Lower Falls to the east towards Lake Superior.  I spent an hour and a half here, so it was probably lucky Split Rock was socked in. An equipment stop in Duluth, and I bid farewell to the North Country of my formative years.

Upper Gooseberry Falls.

A Closer View.

Frontal View.

To the left of the Uppper Falls …

 a bit of the bridge in the upper right …

my knee encroaching lower left.

Waterfalls along the North Shore

June 5, 2017, Monday; Campsite at Horseshoe Bay near Hoveland, Minnesota

Up at 05:45 this morning soon after the Sun itself had risen through a thin morning mist above the lake.  Mist was rapidly burning off, and the day promised to be a fine one; excellent for the Waterfalls.  As I prepared to leave my home of three nights, four male American Goldfinches passed through my campsite.  Very yellow, these Goldfinches, and well deserve their name; so much flashier than the European Goldfinch, although those birds do have their own charm, with their red cheeks, but their paucity of gold begs the question of how they became to be named such.

Early morning mist rising off of Harriet Lake.

Lake Bed & reflections at Harriet Lake the boat launch.

After I left Harriet Lake, I stopped off at Hogback Lake only a couple miles down the road.  Glad I did as there were a pair of Loons, busily fishing, which made getting photos a little bit of an ordeal, but I did manage to get a few, and one quite nice and sharp.  On the way back the mile to County Road 7, a Spruce Grouse meandered nonchalantly across the road, I managed to get the camera out, turned on and pointed in the right direction, but just as I was focusing on it, the bloody bird dashed into the forest.  I shot anyway, and thought to myself, "the almost photo of a Spruce Grouse."  Upon close inspection, I see that I did capture a grouse shaped form fleeing through the undergrowth, but a portrait it is not!

Hogback Lake.

Loon on Hogback Lake.

All the way down County Road 7, I kept stopping to take photos.  A bit of a pity, to waste a great gravel road, that allowed you to get up to 55 MPH, at times ... must be that the Spring maintenance has recently taken place, and before the Summer road users have had a chance to turn it into a washboard.  And so to the Lake Superior North Shore and the first waterfall of the day; the Caribou Falls on the Caribou River.  It's a half mile walk to the falls, with the last few yards being a stairway down about a hundred feet or more, but the effort is worth it ... puff puff! Wheeze wheeze! 

Iron country  Caribou River bottom.

Caribou Falls.

Top of Caribou Falls.

Bunchberry Blossoms on the Caribou Falls Trail.

The next falls going north, on Hwy 61, is Cross River Falls, and this one is right next to the road bridge going over the river.  This makes it hard to photograph effectively, but one does what one can.  Cross River is so named in memoriam of a harrowing canoe journey across this part of Lake Superior from Wisconsin to the mouth of the River on the Minnesota shore, during a storm, by Father Baraga and his traveling companion, in the early eighteen hundreds.  He erected a wooden cross at the river's mouth in thanks for their safe crossing.  Father Baraga was a Jesuit Missionary to the Anishinaabe (Ojibwa or Chippewa) Native Americans of the Lake Superior area.

  

Cross River Falls.

My final Waterfall of the day was Hidden Falls on the Temperance River.  I have always called this Temperance Falls.  The Temperance River is so named because this is the only river on the Minnesota shore that has no bar at its mouth ... thus Temperance ... think about it.  The river plunges in a series of falls through a narrow chasm just a few feet wide, as it drops 168 feet in about a quarter mile.  I will let the photographs speak for themselves.

The plunge pool of Hidden Falls, Temperance River.

The plunge pool and the first falls in the canyon.

The next falls up the Canyon of the Temperance River.

Yet further into the Temperance Canyon.

The 4th  falls on the Temperance.

The 5th and final falls before the river levels out.

Lichens on the rock walls of the Temperance near the outflow into Lake Superior.

Fisherman on the Lower Temperance.

I realized that I had no time to stop at my most favorite falls on the North Shore, Cascade Falls, about ten miles south of Grand Marais, and would have to save for later; perhaps Wednesday or Thursday.  I decided to have fish 'n chips take away from the Angry Trout in Grand Marais ... Lake Superior Whitefish ... mmm, mmm good.  I thought I would take advantage of cell reception in Grand Marais to look up any free campsites in the interior as I ate me supper.  It wasn't so urgent, as while waiting for my food, the girl who took my order, asked if I had come up from Duluth, and when I told her about my free campground out at Harriet Lake, she told me of a single free campsite right on Lake Superior, about 20 miles up the coast ... she even had a photo on her phone of the tiny island just off shore there.  I did look up an alternative site, should the Lake Superior site be unavailable.  It was right where she said it would be, and a lovely aspect, as it is just a few yards from the water's edge.  A good day of photo-recon, followed by a fine locally caught Lake Superior whitefish 'n chips, and a great campsite. realized that I had no time to stop at my most favorite falls on the North Shore, Cascade Falls, about ten miles south of Grand Marais, and would have to save for later; perhaps Wednesday or Thursday.  I decided to have fish 'n chips take away from the Angry Trout in Grand Marais ... Lake Superior Whitefish ... mmm, mmm good ... eleven years ago this restaurant and take-away is the site of one of the two best fish dinners I have ever had in my life.   

I thought I would take advantage of cell reception in Grand Marais to look up any free campsites in the interior as I ate me supper.  It wasn't so urgent, as while waiting for my food, the girl who took my order, asked if I had come up from Duluth, and when I told her about my free campground out at Harriet Lake, she told me of a single free campsite right on Lake Superior, about 20 miles up the coast ... she even had a photo on her phone of the tiny island just off shore there.  I did look up an alternative site, should the Lake Superior site be unavailable.  It was right where she said it would be, and a lovely aspect, as it is just a few yards from the water's edge.  A good day of photo-recon, followed by a fine locally caught Lake Superior whitefish 'n chips, and a great campsite.

The view from my Horseshoe Bay Campsite.

Thunderstorms in the Afternoon

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 June 4, 2017; Sunday; Harriet Lake, Superior National Forest, Minnesota.     

Sketchbook Drawing,

pp 74-75,

Harriet Lake, Superior National Forest, Minnesota

Graphite on Fabriano Ingres Paper, 160 gsm,

Heightened with Chinese White and Naples Yellow Watercolour

5” x 14”

                                      

Details of the Drawing

I awoke at 06:05 to a cloudless sky, and decided to stay put for the day and get something done today ... an Oil Sketch perhaps, or a drawing, and move on tomorrow to recon waterfalls along the Lake Superior North Shore.  Familiarizing yourself with an area, even for only a second day always is a good thing when it comes to the work.  Besides, the weather says thunderstorms this afternoon in the Minnesota Arrowhead.  After pulling myself together, and a bit more organizing of the art supplies, I decided upon a drawing of the Lake from my campsite, as the cloud had come over, although there were some sun breaks, enough for me to get my suitcase solar array out, and attempt to top up my AGM Battery, even with the cloud cover ... I did manage to do so as the sun breaks were frequent enough.

Halfway from my campsite to the loo at the boat-landing.

Violets along the way.

After the first storm has passed.

By the time I got set up for drawing in my medium sized, Blue Fabriano Ingres Paper Sketchbook, it was 12:20 and I even had to get my sketching umbrella out to keep the Sun off me when it broke through the broken cloud ... I don't like to use Sunscreen when I'm drawing, for fear of greasing up the paper.  I have had my Sketchbooks hand bound with paper of my own choosing ... two blue grey papers: Fabriano Ingres paper, 160gsm, and the other Turners Blue, 90 lb., by Ruscombe Mill, out of France.  A third buff or off-white Fabriano Ingres paper has also been bound as well ... each paper into its own sketchbook.  The Fabriano papers are laid papers, which I love for the pleasing (to my eye) textures given by the chain & laid lines of the paper.  They are sold as Pastel or Drawing papers.  The Turners Blue is a heavier (than the Fabriano) Watercolour paper, and has a woven, Not surface (meaning cold pressed, to the Yanks).

Campsite between storms, further storm building … the Lake is behind us.

Beaver on his way home; hand-held telephoto shot.

Male Ring-necked Ducks; hand-held extreme telephoto … I am quite astonished at the possibilities with this camera, and even though this is not a pristine shot, being hand-held, I look forward  to tripod-steadied telephoto shots.

I have digressed. The pencil drawing was completed, in 1^h 20', with thunder rumbling closer for the last half hour ... I dared not turn around in case fear cut short my drawing.  As it was, when I deemed the pencil was more or less completed, I got my drawing, and drawing implements, sketching umbrella, and camera into the SUV; next my camp chair, and lastly my Solar array.  I then began to properly stow my sketching brolly into its case, when the first heavy rain drops aborted that.  I quickly rolled up my still open windows, and sat back and watched the rain; saw no lightning, but heard plenty of thunder.  It was a tropical downpour for 15 minutes, and then light rain for about another 45, even with a few sun breaks.  I had a snack, and dozed all the while.  When the rain ceased, I completed the stowing of my brolly, took some photos, and was about to begin the heightening with Chinese White & Naples Yellow, when another downpour began almost without warning ... this time complete with hail up to 3/8 inches.  This soon passed as well, and I was able to add the colour heightening to the drawing in 1^h 25'.  Then after more photos, I dug out my fixitive and was about to apply it, I was forced to retreat for another, but lighter passing shower.  The fixitive finally applied, I got all my supper preparations out and ready to go, when yet again I was hounded into the truck.  That was the last of the rain save for a few worrying, but ineffectual drops, and as I finally prepared supper, I watched the cloud move off to the East ... more photos taken periodically.  Thus endeth my second day on Harriet Lake, not far from the BWCAW (Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness), sipping my after dinner camp coffee, and writing this blog post ... tomorrow, some Waterfalls!

And the shadows lengthen …

… and the afternoon’s storms are now but a memory …

…as the Sun sets …

… and the evening mists …

… begin to rise.