- Trip start, Duluth stopover, and the International Wolf Center
- Duluth Round 2
- North Shore of Minnesota
- Isle Royale National Park
- Bayfield, Apostle Islands, and Hayward, WI
- Waterfalls, the Porkies and Bond Falls
- Pictured Rocks and the Great Lakes Shipwreck Museum
- Mackinac Island
- Dunes, friends, and the end of the trip
We are off on our next adventure — visiting the only three states in the “Lower 48” that I have never been too (Minnesota, Wisconsin, and Michigan). I’ve wanted to go there for a number of years, but it always seemed just out of reach being literally in the middle of the continent. Planning this trip was challenging with the uncertainty of COVID restrictions and, as I write this, there are spikes of the Delta variant popping us all around us. We don’t travel far without our masks these days, but at least in the wilderness, you can breathe freely. As with recent past road trips, this one is focused on national parks, monuments, lakeshores, etc. We are making steady progress in checking them off our list.
Determining the starting point for our was somewhat problematic. We decided not to drive our rig because of the distance and repetitiveness of the route from previous trips. However, as any of you who have tried to rent a car lately, the availability is scarce — even when you booked months in advance. While we wanted to start out in International Falls, MN, we ultimately had to fly to Minneapolis to get the minivan we wanted that could hold four of us. Ultimately, our friends (and traveling companions) from Colorado agreed to drive their Jeep, thus eliminating any of the worry associated with potential rental car disasters.
Our first stop for the evening was in Duluth. It was on our way to our first destination — Voyageurs National Park. We are going to be returning to Duluth for a few days as a “Plan B” after we decided not to attempt going to Thunder Bay, Ontario, which was on our original itinerary. Hence, I will talk more about Duluth on a later post. Suffice it to say, it looks like a great city to explore and we loved walking on the waterfront trail along Lake Superior.
There are a few big topics to talk about in this part of the country — water as the lifeblood for the livelihood of the region, and wolves which live in the highest density in this region than anywhere else in the country. The story of “water” will flow through (::rimshot::) the rest of this trip narrative, but the wolf story will start here and continue on Isle Royale National Park. Where we live in the Northwest, it is the Southern Resident Killer Whales that have been the subject of ongoing study for 40 or more years. In this area, there has been a similar long term study of timber wolves, primarily led by Dave Mech (pronounced Meech). He is known for his multi-year study of the wolves on Isle Royale and their interaction with resident moose, deer, etc. His goal has been to de-stigmatize wolves and educate people about them. As part of that, he founded the International Wolf Center in Ely, MN., which is dedicated to advancing the survival of the wolves through education. There is no question that this organization has done excellent work, working people and organizations across the country to ease the fears often held by ranchers, etc. But part of the Center’s mission is to maintain a live wolf exhibit, divided into the main exhibit, a “retirement” enclosure, and a nursery. Yes, it’s probably good that the public gets to see the wolves, but it started to feel incredibly like a zoo. The wolves were quite lethargic and slept a lot. There was also a great deal of “socialization” that took place with the pups, helping them to overcome their fear of people, but ensuring they could never be placed in the wild. Many of these wolves are born in captivity, and as “socialization” starts to shake out the social structure within the bred packs, several are separated and sent to other wolf centers, etc. We left feeling a bit disillusioned, but still looking forward to learning more on Isle Royale.
After leaving Ely, we drove a few more hours up to Ranier, MN, that is adjacent to International Falls and the border crossing into Canada. While non-essential travel has been shut down during COVID, the essential travel has been going on non-stop — as we found out by the parade of trains crossing the border all night long. Did I mention that our hotel is next to the train tracks?! The giveaway was when they gave us earplugs when we checked in. Anyway, Ranier was a cute little town and we enjoyed a relaxing evening before heading into Voyageurs National Park.
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.
