Minnesota North Shore of Lake Superior

Our Baptism River Inn breakfast was good. Are B&B breakfasts ever bad? This particular morning the menu included French toast with orange cream. We left after breakfast with plans for a day of hiking. We first had to stop at a little quilt shop Kathy had noticed in Illgen City in a little ramshackle building—one of the few structures contained within this “town.” Kathy perused fabric while I waited in the car. Eventually, she seemed sated, and we drove to Tettagouche State Park for a hike. Our hiking route took us over some moderately rough terrain through mixed hardwood and pine forests and along a couple of lakes. We revisited the Baptism River High Falls and then hiked to Nipisiquit Lake, followed the north side and west of the lake & then cut down to Mic Mac Lake. We followed the shoreline of Mic Mac to the Tettagouche Camp & then hooked up with the Superior Trail and went through some hilly terrain back to where we started. It was starting to get dark by the time we got back to the car. The whole hike was probably seven or eight miles and took us the whole afternoon. I was worried beforehand how my foot would hold up and in fact the foot did OK, but my knee gave out and was sore for the rest of the trip. I’m not sure what the knee thing is about— I had issues with it in Miami in January when we walked around a lot. I probably just need to use it more frequently to build up some resiliency - too much sitting at a desk!

Getting Started on Tettegouche Hike

After our hike, we drove back to Baptism River Inn for a rest. It was getting dark and we were tired, but since it was my only opportunity, I took a short walk down to the river behind the B&B to take a few pictures and also took a picture of their unique sauna.

Then we drove down to Beaver Bay for dinner at the Northern Lights. I always enjoy eating there. We ate in the open area in the back and it was a little chilly, but I warmed myself with some spicy wings washed down with a South Shore Red Lager. I followed this with soup and the salad bar. Kathy had the hunter’s pie; elk meat and vegetables in a rich gravy over mashed potatoes, covered with a layer of Monterey Jack and baked. It looked good, and I would have sampled it, but I was having problems handling all of my own food.

Then it was back to the inn for another night. After the hike and the big meal, our sleep was sound. Were there wolves again? We will never know.