We are now leaving the Great Lakes behind us. Our next stop is Voyageurs National Park, land of even bigger bugs and endless lakes, inland waterways and skinny pine forests.
We thought we had already experienced northern Minnesota during our adventures at our last stop (Grand Marais, Grand Portage and Isle Royale National Park), but for this stop we head even further north into Minnesota.
As far as crows fly, the distance is not far, but because there are limited roads in this neck of the woods, we have to drive back to Duluth before heading back northwestward to the Lake Kabatogama section of Voyageurs National Park.
Voyageurs National Park is one of the parks that we are completely unfamiliar with before this trip and we haven’t had time to research it before we arrive. En route, we start to read about the highlights of Voyageurs National Park and what to do there. And guess what? It’s all about the water! Over the past few weeks we have already taken multiple boat trips to fully experience Niagara Falls and the Great Lakes and we really feel we have had our fill of boat trips for a while but apparently, more boat trips are in our future!
Opting for the small, family-run Ash Riviera resort (in lieu of the no-hook up national park campground we had originally booked) so we can have sealed windows and air-conditioned comfort (remembering the midges that infiltrated our Airstream in Mackinaw City), we remain conveniently close to the Ash River Visitor Center. Again, no midges, but there are hordes of mosquitoes here so we were happy with our choice. After we get ourselves settled at the campsite, which was a nice spot with views of trees and open fields, we drive over to the Visitor Center. It turns out to be closed for the day, but nevertheless we are duly rewarded for our effort when an enormous black bear lumbers across the road, right in front of the truck, as we are driving out! Our first bear sighting of the trip! Of course by the time we grab the camera the bear has disappeared into the woods.
The Ash River area is remote, with just a handful of restaurants, mainly fish fry/hamburger joints. The nearest real grocery store is nearly an hour away in International Falls; there is only a small convenience store nearby. We are lucky we arrived with ample provisions. Also, this place turns out to be one of the few stops with absolutely zero Verizon coverage. So we are truly unplugged from the world (for better or for worse).
We return to the Visitor’s Center the next morning to get Elle’s Junior Ranger booklet, to stamp our passport and to watch the very interesting and informative park film about the Voyageurs (fur transporters during colonial times).
Voyageurs National Park and surrounding area is really meant to be explored on water by boat, canoe, kayak or other floating vessel. Hiking options are limited and the inescapable horse flies, dog ticks and man-eating mosquitos make such endeavors a challenge – we try valiantly but have to give up after half a mile on the Blind Ash Bay Trail.
We dutifully book our sixth and FINAL big boat excursion (the Grand Tour on Rainy Lake on the northern edge of Voyageurs National Park) for the next day. Driving back to our campground we have our second major wildlife sighting when a gray wolf runs right across the road in front of us! Again, we are not quick enough with the camera and we only get a photo of the wolf’s rear end disappearing into the woods.
We return to the Airstream for the afternoon when, pleasantly and unexpectedly, our neighbors at the RV park invite us for an afternoon jaunt in their pontoon boat (conveniently moored right at the Ash Rivera resort’s own private dock). We accept and have a really fun and memorable time exploring the nearby waterways.
The next day is our Park-sponsored cruise on Rainy Lake and we are fortunate to have a sunny, calm day for the half-day cruise. Along the way we learn about the 1890s gold rush in the area and visit some historic relics from that era (with a brief stop at American Island), but the highlight for us is numerous bald eagle sightings since the tour passes through multiple nesting areas for these majestic birds.
To our great dismay, we discover another nail in one of the truck tires, another slow leak! There is nowhere close by to get the tire repaired and it seems to be a very slow leak so we re-inflate the tire and plan on getting it fixed at our next stop (Detroit Lakes), a one-night stopover en-route to North Dakota and Teddy Roosevelt National Park.
After having completed three weeks touring the Great Lakes and Upper Midwest, we are now turning inland (no more boats other than the occasional canoe) and headed to the Wild West, a region of the country of which we have little knowledge or experience. We are excited to soon see our first buffalo and the outlines of majestic mountains on the horizon…