Another relatively sleepless night for me (what IS it with me and sleepless vacations?!), but I got out early and took some lovely shots of the foggy lake at dawn, loons, gulls, and even got snaps of a resident otter! He made his rounds and then swam under our dock and I haven’t seen him since! It makes me wonder how otters sleep? John fixed coffee and brekkies for us, got everything packed for our day of hiking because he’s awesome! We were on the road by 8:00 and went for a nice, chilly hike at a nearby bog, then drove to Crane Lake and realized there were no hiking trails there (but a bustling retirement community), so we headed for the Ash River post at Voyageur’s National Park. We had lunch in a pristine little outcropping with water and wild nature surrounding us, eagles soaring over our heads and the gulls ever-circling. The view was spectacular, and it’s hard to believe there are places this amazing still left on earth. After lunch, we set off on a very serene and challenging hike among all the giant trees. We didn’t see too much wildlife except for a bunch of the tiny red squirrels, flitting birds and a couple of elusive grouse that I tried but couldn’t get photos of. At the tip of the trail is an incredible, still bay with a huge community of gulls all crying and diving for fish, and a few ducks gently drifting on the crystal clear water. We sat for a while and marveled at this undisturbed beauty. There was also a nice overlook further down the path where you could see for miles across all the cute little islands that lay among the water. Meandering back on the long drive to the cabin, we were really ready for coffee and lounging.
Foggy dock
One of the two loons we'd see every morning
Fat little gull!
What I thought was an otter turned out to be a muskrat
Woodpecker
Eagle
Scenes and Schmoopiness!
We grilled some pork chops seasoned with the dried sage, thyme and pepper that we brought, and a little veggie medley with brussell sprouts, mushrooms and bell peppers in lemon-butter, salt and pepper. It was a fantastic meal!! One of the resident dogs, Oz, came running down for a visit as John was grilling, and he went to stand on our dock and stare at the water. Apparently the otter I thought I saw is actually a muskrat that Oz is fascinated with. The two dogs that live here are called Oz and Bear, and they are Belgian Tavern’s, and I’m hoping to get a photo of them because they are very unique looking dogs, and they are HUGE, but very sweet and gentle. We were then visited by four female ducks who frequent the area, quacking all the while. They came to feast on all the seaweed at the shoreline, and then preened themselves on our dock. We’ve come to calling them The Four Little Biddies!
Three of the Four Biddies
After watching the first half of the Viking’s game up at the lodge, we turned in for the night. We were both so tired, we just couldn’t stay up to stargaze or have a fire. We’ll have to save that for tomorrow, our last full day!
More to come!
Love, R&J
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