Bears and wolves and foxes

We're back from the long Labor Day weekend. I'm happy to report that we didn't get eaten by any of the animals mentioned in the title, because that would've hurt a bit and screwed up my vacation plans for later this month.

Saturday morning we got up (not early enough) and drove to Duluth for their Pride festival. Let me rephrase that: we drove to Duluth so Terp could interpret at their Pride festival while I mostly avoided it by finding mundane things to do (got the oil changed in his car, checked into the hotel, take a nap). I did show up for a little while to see Martha Wash sing, and that was the extent of my attendance at Pride festivals for the year. I will say that Duluth has a nice setting for their festival, right on the harbor with a nice view of the lift bridge.

On Sunday morning we took the somewhat scenic route out of Duluth (Skyline Drive) and headed up the North Shore scenic drive. Along the way, we had breakfast at the Lakeview Castle (it was good, especially the bacon!) before continuing on. Beyond Two Harbors, we had to stop at Palisade Head - this is a small detached unit of Tettegouche State Park perched on top of the cliffs overlooking Lake Superior. I found an odd looking creature sitting on the rock wall. I took its picture, and then it kept following me the rest of the weekend.

From there, it was a long and winding road through Superior National Forest to Ely, the gateway to the Boundary Waters. The BWCA was not our destination though, as I have no real desire to portage a canoe and Terp has no real desire to be out in the wilderness to that extent. We camped 2 nights at Bear Head Lake State Park - we didn't see a bear head but did see a lake. On a side note, this is the same park I overnighted at in March as part of my winter camping expedition. You can see photo from that trip here if you're interested. (The BHLSP photos are a sub album under the Voyaguers album in case you're confused)

Anyway, in Ely we went to the International Wolf Center and the North American Bear Center. They were both cool, but I think it's a 2-0 vote in favor of the bears. Terp thinks wolves are just kind of like big dogs, and I would've been more excited if we could've played with (or even seen) the wolf pups. It didn't help my opinion that there were 2 arctic wolves that seemed very much out of place in Minnesota.

Meanwhile, at the Bear Center we walked in right as Ted and Lucky were walking around the viewing window/platform. Ted was raised by humans and is possibly the largest black bear in the world. Seriously. He's estimated to weigh 950-1000 lbs. Lucky is just a little guy born last January. Some people took him from his den when he was a cub to raise as a pet. Once they figured out he was too much for them to handle, they had to get rid of him. Unfortunately, he had already bonded with humans and wasn't a candidate to be released into the wild. Wisconsin DNR officials contacted the Bear Center and asked if they could take him, and lucky for him they agreed. He weighed 10 lbs. at the time, and about 14 months later he's grown quite a bit.

Honey also lives there. She was raised by the same couple that raised Ted, and arrived with him in April '07, shortly before the Bear Center opened it's doors to the public. I'm betting we'll figure out a way to go back up there next summer and see the bears again.

After hanging out there as long as we could, we drove to the state park and set up camp. The campgrounds were full but fortunately pretty quiet, possibly because we were in the RV section and most of them sit inside at night. We took a short walk through the woods and down to the beach for a nice sunset view.

The weather was unusual - a steady south wind kept the temps in the upper 80s during the day and mid-60s at night. We opted to keep the rainfly off the tent so we could see the stars, and Terp saw the Milky Way for apparently the first time in his life.

The next morning was our big hike - there's a trail that has been frequented by a fox family all summer, so we walked around looking for them. Sadly, they did not show themselves, but it was still nice to be out there. Then it was time for me to go kayaking and get a feel for what I'd be doing several weeks when I go up to Voyageurs again. I did alright, although it was a little unnerving at first and the wind pretty much sucked. I think I've got a better idea of what to expect now.

We headed over to Soudan Underground Mine in the afternoon for the mine tour. The tour takes you 2341 feet underground in a little cage - the same cage the miners used to ride to get to work every day.

Once down there, it's a brisk 50 degrees, which isn't so bad except on the 3/4 mile train ride to and from the mining site. We got to wear rockin' cool hard hats and saw a few stray bats, which managed to scare some of us (namely myself and the woman sitting across from us). Our guides did a good job and were very informative and entertaining. We even got a quick peek at the underground physics laboratory.

Back up top, we headed into town for some pizza. We drove around town a bit (which confirmed Terp's belief that he would die if we ever lived in Ely), and also visited Jim Brandenburg's gallery and a local paddling shop/bookstore. I looked around the downstairs at all the stuff I would need for kayaking, while Terp went to the upstairs bookstore and read for awhile.

Once back in the state park, we came around a bend in the road and there stood Mr. Fox, right about where we went hiking in the morning. He didn't seem a bit concerned with having an audience as he trotted back and forth, up and down the road for about 15 minutes before disappearing into the forest.

After a brief bit of kayaking before sunset, we sat around the campfire awhile and then got to sleep. The real world awaited as we had to be on the road by 8am so I could make it back for work, but hopefully we'll get back up there next year and have a chance to visit the area again.


You can see all the photos here.