North Shore Camping

Every year I go camping in northern Minnesota. A campground that I usually stay in is on Nine Mile Lake in the Superior National Forest. The Nine Mile Lake campground is very unique, offering campsites on the lake with their own private dock (it's a little one, but it does the job) and water front. It's a very nice and quiet, private, backwoods campground. The sunsets on the lake are simply incredible, each year I visit I can't not take pictures of the sunsets, they are simply gorgeous (like the one above). When camping here I go out on the lake and enjoy the clear water or go for a drive towards Tofte then to Grand Marais to hike and enjoy Lake superior. Last time I was in Grand Marais the weather was perfect. The sun was shining and there was no wind so it made for a glass-like Lake Superior. You could see right through the water to the lake rocks and the lake and sky were like one.

In Grand Marais I went to the Pizza and Custard shop, which was amazing. I highly recommend the chocolate. You could sit on the roof overlooking the lake. I sat on the roof and a couple of women were enjoying a delicious looking pizza with their dogs at their sides. That's something I enjoy about northern Minnesota, or Minnesota in general, people like dogs and dogs are accepted and enjoyed in public. 

Driving south on good ol highway 61 there are lots of hiking areas. I went just south of the split rock lighthouse and walked along the pebbly beach towards Ellingson Island. Walking toward the island with my dog (a puppy at the time) you see split rock to the distant left. I saw that other people were wading across the water to the island so I decided to navigate the algae coated rocks with a curious puppy. I was finally at the islands shores, which were rock walls that would take some climbing and my dog just jumped up and started climbing it like it was nothing, so I picked up my pace and climbed up. The island had trees in the middle but was rocky on the edges. First, me and Lincoln (my dog) went on the rocks and watched the waves roll in, they were not to big that day so we got bored. We navigated around the tide pools and made it to the edge closest to the lighthouse view. I snapped a few photos and was soon in a hurry to leave because the woods had so many horse flies, which make enjoying a view very difficult. Me and Lincoln walked back to where we climbed up and I made the decision that Lincoln could not get down by himself, or I would at least hold him back and he would somehow get hurt, so i scooped him up and I very slowly descended the wall praying that i would not fall and hurt myself and the pooch. Thanking god, I reached the bottom and made my way back to the parking lot a sweaty mess. 

I enjoyed more beautiful sunsets back at camp, laying on the dock.

Little camper.