Voyaguers, Cascade River & Isle Royale

Hello from Voyagers National Park! So, this park was a little different than many of the others in that most of the park is water. A great spot if you have a boat or an even better way to see the park is with a houseboat that they have for rent. Book early as the campgrounds (using that term loosely since most are full of seasonal guests) fill up fast. 

 Our favorite part of the park was one that wasn't even recommended to us at the Visitor's center but that Dave just found on the map, Ash River Falls. It was a great day for a paddle and the falls were so cool. It looked like a root beer float coming out of the rock. The pictures don't do it justice.

More paddling around the park and we saw lots of wildlife...

...including this eagle, which was spectacular to see. Too bad he was so far up it was hard to get a good picture from the kayak.

Then from our campsite these deer came up right next to us. I'm sure the salt lick and the fact that the campground owner feeds them helped. They were so friendly.

On to Cascade River State park in Minnesota. This was our "home base" for several stops, including Isle Royale. This was a nice campground and we could hike right from our site. The Cascade River Falls was beautiful. You wouldn't think it would be that much of an increase in elevation, until you hike it!

 

It was a great day!

The next day started out beautiful too and the boat ride over went pretty well. The ride from Grand Portage to Isle Royale takes about 1 1/2 hours. We lucked out in that they boarded the boat in order of when your reservation was placed (BOOK EARLY!) so we got to sit inside. The temperatures are about 20-30 degrees cooler when on the lake.

We arrived in Windigo and made good use of our short time on the island quickly getting my stamp in my National Parks book at the Visitors center and then on to the hike! We followed the path along the lake and then up to the overlook for our almost 4 mile hike.

We didn't see any Moose but we did see evidence of them (this was the prettier "evidence" 😄).

 

It had been raining and the woods were so lush and green. The paths were pretty muddy and in several places walkways were built, some wider than others...

We made it to the top! Honestly it was a little anticlimactic as all we could see was the tops of trees and a little sliver of water but it was a great hike. Back at the dock and the weather had changed a bit from when we came across in the morning. The captain said prepare for a rougher ride back and remember to throw up off the rear of the boat...so I did!😰  It was a wild ride with 8 foot swells and the boat sliding sideways at times, plus it took over 2 hours. Glad to have that park checked off in the book!