Kawishiwi Falls

As we travel we see many unexpected treasuries and one such is Kawishiwi Falls near Ely, Minnesota. Just east, on 169, a left turn takes you to a gravel parking lot and the trail head. Its only about half a mile through the dense northern forest to the falls.
As you hike the short trail the roar of the falls gets louder but you don't get a glimpse through the foliage until you reach the gorge. The falls splits into two ribbons of water as it cascades over a fifty foot drop. There the water makes a short trip to Fall Lake. As we reached the stream, below the falls, I spotted four otters playing in the water, but they quickly headed downstream to the lake, too quickly for me to take an image. Red head ducks were paddling around, well being ducks, and they ignored the people enjoying the falls.

I wanted to get below the falls and wade up to the cascade but there didn't seem to be an easy way down so instead we walked along the path and scrambled out to the edge of the river. You could see that the water flow was reduced from the spring torrent that usually sprays one as you reach the gorge, or that's what our new friend Gail says happens..Just above the falls a large cement dam looms where a power plant was built that's still in use today. Thank goodness they built the dam above the falls and didn't destroy the beauty of the place.

All in all a nice short hike, a beautiful place, and a beautiful falls, just don't forget the mosquito lotion! Clear skies

A Family Reunion at Fall Lake, Ely, Minnesota

It is surprising how fast the years go and they even speed up once you retire. It had been too long since Renita and her brother and sister had all been together and so Pam set up a reunion at Fall Lake, near Ely Minnesota. Reunion time for the Chandler kids!
The drive was pretty easy from Wyoming to Minneapolis, but as we got north the roads deteriorated and Highway 169 was as bad as any Louisiana road. We arrived at Fall Lake to discover that our extension for our counter top had broken and was hanging from the other metal hinge. A few trees had to be cut down to drive into our campsite, we are staying at Phils Mother in Laws land, but there was enough room to park our fifth wheel along side the garage.

We were soon catching up on all the news and other families and as we sat there a bald eagle landed on the island right in front of the house. The eagles here are pretty used to people and we even later had one try to take a duck that was sitting on the beach within fifty feet of us!
Of course I had to unload the canoe and so our days have been filled with visiting, canoeing, swimming, and basically just enjoying the beautiful lake and its surroundings. The fishing is great but the catching is slow and we haven't added any fish to a planned fish fry, but cornbread tastes good as fish when you don't have any fish!

My highlight so far has been a morning canoe trip with our daughter Jenny. We paddled down to the power plant and waterfall, passing eagles perched high atop red pines. We weren't able to see the waterfall near the plant but we did see a flock of young grebes and a mother redhead with her ducklings.
This is our second time, this year, in Minnesota and we have driven more this year then any other, but the drives have been to family outings and so we have been truly blessed. From here we are heading back to Wyoming and the Escapee Rally, but we are going to avoid South Dakota and the nightmare of the Sturgis so it looks like we will cross North Dakota. Clear skies.

Lake Superior Agates, Duluth, Minnesota

As we left Dave and Jane's we  mentally flipped a coin and headed northwest to Duluth, Minnesota. There we thought we would take a trip along the north shore of Lake Superior and hunt the fabled Lake Superior Agate. The drive was easy and the traffic light as we traveled along US 2.
Mile after mile of trees and we even caught a glimpse of Lake Superior as we passed through Ashland. Renita got out the Woodalls and she found a nice place near Duluth,(She not only is our navigator but also our accommodations director and of course our jewelry color coordinator, etc...).

The next day we headed north along scenic highway 61 and passed rocky beaches, where streams emptied into the lake and promised that their bed load contained agate, if only we would stop. Our plan was to drive to the Split Rock Lighthouse and then slowly wind our way back looking for agate.
Now we have been along the north shore before, but never seriously agate hunting and so we enjoyed the scenery as we hunted unsuccessfully for the mythical agate. We tried to go to Gooseberry Falls but there were so many people there we couldn't find a parking spot.
Passing through the town of Two Harbors, Renita spotted a rock shop advertising Lake Superior Agates and we found a parking spot,(It was Memorial Day)/ The shop had beautiful pieces and lots of interesting stone with reasonable prices but not reasonable for us to buy and then resell. Too rich for our tastes, we didn't buy any but at least we got to look at some beautiful agate and learn the color of the stone.

Further south we stopped along a small beach and Renita even found a real Lake Superior Agate, amazing! We picked up some wannabes but left most as they were simply leaverites, (after I cracked a few open with our new crack hammer and discovered they were not agatized).
Returning to our fiver I took Molly for a walk and found two Lake Superior Agates in the gravel of the rv resort road. It was a nice day and we enjoyed our hunt but if you want Lake Superior Agate you are better off to look anywhere else then look in the heavily picked shoreline of Lake Superior. Clear skies,