I made my first trip back to Minnesota’s North Shore since 1999 this past Wednesday and Thursday. While some things have changed at Gooseberry Falls and Barker’s Island in Superior, Wisconsin, the serene beauty of this area of Minnesota is still very evident. I can’t wait to go back there again!
My friend Joe and myself went on this two-day trip to primarily go Geocaching. It was the perfect way to get off of the main drag for a while, and hit some areas on the North Shore I have never been before. On some caches like Troll Bridge, there are beautiful waterfalls just a few couple hundred feet off Hwy 61, but without turning on a short gravel road, you’ll never see them.
Besides finding about 12 caches or so, we toured the SS Meteor on Barker’s Island in Superior, Wisconsin, and took a cruise of the Duluth Harbor on the Vista King, which I haven’t done for many years. It was also Joe’s first time aboard a decent sized ship.
I also found myself getting emotional stopping by Iona’s Beach SNA, near Gooseberry Falls. When I was a kid, we used to go to a place called Twin Points Resort twice a year. After the owner, Iona Lind (we called her Grandma Lind) passed away, the operation folded up. In memory of her, and her son, the DNR preserved the area as a Scientific Research area, and also built a very nice boat landing nearby. The area holds many great memories for me. We used to stay in Cabin #2, which was the closest cabin you could get to Lake Superior. Our family used to have campfires down on this beach until sunset. The cabins were very quaint, but were priced right. Today, there isn’t anything left of the hotel or cabins, or the big 60s style “Twin Points Resort” sign that hovered near Highway 61, except for “Cabin #1”, which after 20 years, is STILL standing right on the beach. On Wednesday, just standing down on the beach, and throwing rocks in the lake, brought back an eerie yet welcome presence, as if I was replaying a part of my childhood that I will never live again. It took me several minutes of just standing there and taking in the view before I felt like I could talk about it, and then found myself choked up recalling my childhood experiences here to Joe. This area brought much happiness to my whole family.
Grandma Lind, if you’re reading, thank you.
