It’s about the water; it’s always been about the water.” That quote from one of the park rangers at Voyageurs National Park stuck with me because it was the simple truth — the waterways between Northern Minnesota and Canada has been the lifeline since prehistoric times. It was the primary means for hunting and fishing for food, and later as a conduit for trade, initially in the fur trade and later for for minerals and lumber. It was the only path for trade until the railroad arrived in the late 1800s. This national park not only recognizes the importance of the many lakes that make up this zig zagged waterway, but also the people that plied them — initially the local indigenous people and later with the French Canadian canoeists (or voyageurs) that enabled the trapping of beaver for their pelts that were in such demand in Europe for hats until silk supplanted them. So, in making your decision about visiting Voyageurs, if you don’t like lakes, you are coming to the wrong place.
Given that we are in another wave of COVID, there were some remaining restrictions in the park — masks had to be worn in visitors centers and many of the park-run boat tours were canceled for the year. That meant adding in some other activities, and pursuing private sources for getting around the lake. On our first day at the park, the remaining park boat hit an underwater log, disabling it for a week or more. As a consequence, we did some hiking around Rainy Lake and then drove into International Falls, a rather industrial town on the border with Ontario. There wasn’t a lot to see there beyond the giant statue of Smokey the Bear and trying some of the local fried delicacies like fried mac and cheese. You can get practically anything fried here — cheese curds, pickles, stuffed tater tots, candied bacon; you can almost feel your arteries slamming shut.
On our second day, we headed out on the water for some walleye fishing. Some things strike you as you are traversing the lakes: (1) there are several large lakes that are encompassed in the park (Rainy, Kabetogama, Namakan, and Sand Point being the major ones of the more than 500 that are here, with a total of 655 miles of shoreline); (2) the border is very “confused” here, sometimes with the Canadian border south of you!; and (3) you have to travel long distances to get anywhere, and while there are a number of slow houseboats plying the lakes, the majority are “go fast” boats, scooting along at about 30-40 mph! As a person who lives in an area with a major border dispute, resolved by a war of occupation (see the Pig War), this “confused” border was settled upon using the traditional trade routes through the lakes, with the borderline being in the middle of those routes. This all became clear as our guide, Wiley, took us around 35 miles from our lodge on Lake Kabetogama in less than an hour to one of his favorite fishing spots. There we fished in 20-40 foot waters, using live minnows and leeches as bait. Nearly everyone did well. It turns out that the fish you can keep are in a range between too big (none of us got there) or too small (where I spent my day). Wiley’s expression for a keeper was “a taco” (i.e., at least enough for a fish taco). By the end of the day we had 14 tacos, which is a lot of fish. On the way back to the lodge, we stopped off at Ellsworth Rock Gardens, an area of the park that had been privately owned by Jack Ellsworth who turned their land into a giant rock garden. But more than that, the rock garden actually became a sculpture park and over the years, Jack allowed visitors to come and admire his work. It was amazing what one man could do. Anyway, when we returned to the lodge, the dock boy cleaned all our walleye and I cooked them up. There was so much fish, we ended up sharing our bounty with the fishermen upstairs. A great day!
The third day saw us back on the lakes; this time it was Rainy Lake on the way to Kettle Falls. These were one of two sets of falls on a spit of land that separated Rainy and Namakan Lakes, requiring travelers to portage around both sets waterfalls. This area had been inhabited for at least 5000 years and was a major trading location for much of that time. For many years, trade would involve Voyageurs and the Ojibwe Indians where much of the trading involved fish, furs, berries, etc. After gold was discovered, both the number of people and items for trade (e.g., lumber, ore)increased significantly. Due to the increasing popularity of the area, tourism increased with steamboats on both lakes meeting at Kettle Falls. A bustling transient community of around 200 people built up and, after the two dams were built (to facilitate easier passage of floating timber, the Thunder Falls Hotel opened in 1913 and continued to operate until 1977 when it was sold to the National Park Service, two years after Voyageurs National Park was established. Ultimately, the Park Service restored the hotel, modernizing it, but continuing some of the quirky elements of the past (e.g., the badly slanting floors in the bar). The trip out saw us transiting back and forth between US and Canadian waters, but free transit was part of negotiations that established the border. I have to say that it was pretty weird being in US waters and looking to the south at Canada. One of the other interesting.things we learned on our trip had to do with the rock cliffs in the area. They were formed 2.7 billion years ago when the core of North America was enlarged along its continental margin. Subsequent layers of soil and rock were eventually scraped away by glacial erosion leaving this core rock exposed.
On our final day in the park, we went to Ash River to hike part of the Kab-Ash Trail. This is one of the longer and highest trails in the park, and it provides really panoramic views of Kabetogama Lake. Unfortunately, after some cool and cloudy weather for most of our visit, the temperature climbed into the high 80s, with very high humidity. It made for some pretty sweaty hiking, but the views made it well worth it.
By the time we left Voyageurs, the border with Canada was open. However, the combination of needing to get tested within 72 hours of crossing and the 7-hour wait to get across, we decided to head back to Duluth for a few days. Overall, we really enjoyed our time here.
This entry was posted in Minnesota, National Park/Monument, Travel
I am a traveler and sometimes clay sculptor, following a long career working in consulting. My work allowed me to travel the world extensively and I was hooked. Today, I travel with my wife/best friend to explore new places, meet new people, and learn new things.
