On the Road is a weekday feature spotlighting reader photo submissions.
From the exotic to the familiar, whether you’re traveling or in your own backyard, we would love to see the world through your eyes.
frosty
We headed west through the UP to the first new National Park of this trip: Isle Royale. First thing to note: it’s an island and you can only get there by boat or floatplane. Second thing: Except for one trip from the Minnesota side and for the floatplane trips ($360 round trip!) you’ll need to stay overnight, either in a tent or a room in the lodge. This was all so complicated and expensive to arrange that we didn’t make it any farther than the Visitor Center. But we decided that it would count.
After an overnight stop at a Wisconsin State Park we made our way to a private RV park on Rainy Lake near Voyageurs National Park. We’re not tent campers or kayakers so to see a little part of this 218,200 acre park I booked a 2 1/2 hour boat tour of the nearby islands. The captain told us that all the tours were specifically planned to avoid being a 3-Hour Tour. Probably pulling our legs but hey, we didn’t get stranded!
Lake Superior from FJ McLain State Park in the UP where we camped. This was the first time either of us had seen it, completing the set of all the Great Lakes.
We saw fields of lupines by the roadside, purple, pink and white.
Amnicon Falls State Park in Wisconsin. The campsite was nice but as soon as I went outside I was swarmed by SO MANY MOSQUITOES!!! Ms F, who is our mosquito magnet, stayed inside. I gave up trying to walk to see the falls. The Ranger at Voyageurs said it was the worst he’d seen them in four years. We were assaulted all through the UP, Wisconsin, Minnesota and Manitoba.
Our tour boat at Voyageurs
A typical island. The area reminded me a lot of the Thousand Islands on the St Lawrence River. Islands of solid rock covered with thin soil and trees.
We stopped on Little American Island to learn a little history. Gold was discovered in 1893 and played out by 1898. It wasn’t easy to recover – hard rock mining for quartz, a ton of which held a $10 to $20 of gold. This is what’s left of the largest mine, a 210 ft deep vertical shaft.
A mine entrance on another island
Two of the four bald eagles we saw
Overnight USA Open Thread: That’ll Show Those Freeloading Penguins
Baud
I associate mosquitoes with the south but northern mosquitoes are vicious.
Swiftfox
Speaking as a current employee (probably not much longer) IR is one of those places where you have to plan a year in advance if you want to see it properly. Same with Gulf Islands in Mississippi.
Trivia Man
I also like to try for complete sets (46/50 states so far!), i will allow the check off on your list. Ive been to superior several times, truly an epic spectacle. I have a friend who has done about 80% of the Superior circuit road, they go up every chance they can.
Jerry
McLain State Park! yay! Attended many family reunions at that site. Bummer if you did not have the time to drive up to Copper Harbor. It’s one of the most beautiful drives you will have the pleasure to experience; especially in the dead of the winter where you can see the majesty of winter along Lake Superior.
Quicksand
That first picture is very, very inviting. But frosty — clean your sensor! It is sad! (Look in the sky above the trees on the left.) ;-)
S Cerevisiae
You were up in my old stomping grounds, I grew up on the North Shore and know Isle Royale well. You really have to plan a year ahead for a proper visit as Swiftfox said. It’s one of the least visited parks but also has the highest number of repeat visitors.
frosty
@Quicksand: I know about the problems with my camera. Oops. I’ve cleaned the lenses but I’m nervous about touching the sensor. We have a local camera store (really!) that I’m going to take it to.
mvr
Thanks for this!
I still remember the mosquitos from Blue Earth Minnesota when I was hitch-hiking out to Portland for college in 1978. Nearly drove me completely crazy.
FWIW, the new permethrin treated clothing works pretty well, though that doesn’t help with exposed skin.