Two Harbors to Silver Bay Water Trail Campsite

It was calm all morning though the marine forecast called for south winds 5 to 10 knots. That never happened..the only wind was a north wind light up until the final 5 miles then it was 10 to 15 knots I'd say. The 8 day break didn't accomplish anything. I've got overuse scenarios in both elbow now. It took 8 hours and 20 minutes to do about the same distance as I did yesterday in about 7 hours. I've not had any overuse problems with my elbows before?
As I'm writing this in my tent we have some thunder storms moving through....
I paddled through areas I'd not scene since I was offering kayak trips on the new at the time Lake Superior Water Trail. They became lodging packages after a couple of seasons. I had lunch at the mouth of the Gooseberry River right at the Water Trail campsite there.. Doesn't look like it gets much use.
As I paddled by the Twin Points boat launch there seemed to be a lot going on with a few kayaks and 3 SUP... Stand Up Paddleboards. More from the beach west of the launch. I just paddled on by so it was pretty hard to tell if it was any kind of 'commercial venture'.
Paddling past Slit Rock Lighthouse State Park, I found myself reminiscing about various kayak tours and groups through the years.
I passed the Nadine Backlock Lakeshore Water Trail site and there were 2 wood strip kayaks and tent there. Not a very good beach at all.. Big jagged rocks mainly.
As I continued up toward Beaver Bay, the light north wind began to pick up... Where was that south wind I was looking forward to? As it turned out this last part was kind of a trudge ...again.
Tomorrow begins with the familiar palisades, caves and arches of Tettegouche State Park. It will be the first I've paddled there in a while. Even longer since I've paddled by the mouth of the Manitou River with the arch and waterfall..
I'm planning to camp at Temperance River State Park tomorrow.

Packed and ready

Silver Cliff dominates the view .. The Silver Cliff tunnel .. Heading past the Silver Cliff point, Lafayette Bluff and Encampment Island ahead.

Silver Cliff .. Lafayette Bluff tunnel and Encampment Island.

Heading towards Gooseberry River

Almost to the mouth of Gooseberry, Corundum Point in the distance .. The 'Mouth' .. Water Trail Campsite where I had lunch.

Twin Points Boat Launch .. Where I saw the 3 SUP's

Corundum Point

Slit Rock Lighthouse

At the base of Lighthouse cliff .. Overhang/cave below lighthouse .. Gold Rock Point, where the shipwreck Medira lies

Nadine Blacklock Lakeshore water trail campsite

Beaver Bay Point .. Rock at end of Silver Bay breakwater...

Paddling by the taconite plant .. The Palisades of Tettegouche in the distance

Almost to the Water Trail Campsite .. Beached .. I'll camp here

It's official .. Campsite .. It got cloudy...and it rained a little

4th of July

Well I left 'campsite' at McLain State Park on the 4th. I wanted to do another long day and get to Ontonagon.. Or at least try. Early in the afternoon the slight ENE wind seemed to be creating waves bigger than it would seem. I heard distant rumbles but never saw anything. Then as I was headed for Fourteen Mile Point the sky ahead did begin to look dark.. I decided I best head for the beach in the bay and pulled into the mouth of the West Sleeping River. I took a swim in the river and then turned on the VHF radio.. They had this special marine warning going on so I started to prepare. Plenty of time an I waited and watched until I figured I might as well go in the tent? As much as I've always wanted to see a waterspout I hoped that portion of the warning wouldn't develop..and it didn't..that I saw. Anyway..it felt much better to be prepared than that much worse stormy night I spent in a changing room with no pad or sleeping bag..wondering if my boat and tent would still be there in the morning...

Leaving the north canal breakwaters .. The shore along the way...

The river mouth .. Preparing m boat for waterspouts?

Tenting in the woods

A storms a coming!

Windbound...weather or not ?

It was quite a feeling to discover my VHF radio had gotten switched on and had a dead battery. I really was curious if the last forecast I'd listened to just before leaving Grand Marais MI had been updated..hopefully changed. It called for Sunday to have 10 to 15 knot NW winds gusting to 25 with 3 to 5 foot waves. Not the conditions wanted to have a nice paddle along the famed Pictured Rocks. Sunday morning the winds were very light from the north, there were some dark clouds north and east but the sun shined at Beaver Creek. I decided its only a 3 hour paddle to get to Mosquito Creek where I was not supposed to be until Monday night to camp.. But I heard you could get cell signal there so could get a marine forecast off the iPad. I took down my tent and hauled one load of gear down the sand bank. Just as I was about to go back for the rest of it, the weather changed drastically with an increasing NW wind and dark clouds and fog moving in and suddenly the Grand Portal Point which had been glowing in sunlight was hidden in the clouds and it began to rain.. I grabbed a few things and went back up. I had left the tarp up so sat there a while realizing I'll be staying here another night after all. The rain was brief but the wind was here to stay a while...just like the last forecast I'd heard. The 'flies' which had been around the afternoon before though not real bad were now completely gone!
The father and son who'd hiked in the evening before were already packing up to leave. I asked if the might happen to have a weather radio but no such luck. It's only about a 3.6 mile hike to the trailhead and there were just out for the night. The tent that was here when I arrived showed signs of life. It was a nice couple from Ann Arbor who come to this National Lakeshore Park once or twice a year. They were packing up to head home having camped about 6 days. I asked them about having a weather radio but again no such luck. As they continued camping I hauled up more gear and hung my tent to dry..it had been a rainy night. They had the obvious best site at Beaver Creek and I planned to move to it when they left. I was looking at my map wondering about hiking past Grand Portal Point to try for a cell signal for my iPad and noticed a drive-to campground near the trailhead...about 3.6 miles away.. Maybe it had electricity? I asked the couple about it but they had never camped at it but did drive through once and the girl said "I think I saw a sign indicating WiFi at that campground" I figured if it did it must also have electricity. I got my VHF charger and radio and iPad planning to hike there..I'd want to hike anyway being windbound.
As I was waiting for the couple to finish packing these 2 guys came up.. One pretty fit but one quite overweight and soaked in sweat.. They frantically asked if I knew which trail goes to the trailhead.. I said I'd not been there but that couple over there are heading there once they pack. They asked the couple and said thanks as they hiked by. A half hour later the couple were off and wished me luck with the campground electricity quest. I began to set up my camp and grabbed my chart case from my boat down below. I had lunch and was on my way. There were 2 options.. Go inland to Beaver Lake then to the Trailhead/Campground or follow Lake Superior and then head inland.. I figured to do it as a loop..Beaver Lake there, Lake Superior back. It had been at least 2.5 hours since those 2 guys frantically hiked by the campsite.. Heading toward Beaver Lake they encountered me again now both quite sweaty and asked if I could please help them find the parking lot.. I said well I'm going to the campground on Little Beaver Lake but the couple said you just get to a trail split that says .5 to campground and .5 to trailhead.. The had been halfway along Beaver Lake but somehow were convinced it was the wrong way and had backtracked when the ran into me. The fit guy was keeping up with me but the other guy fell behind regularly and then you'd hear...!Joe! !Joe! Joe would shout back I'm here keep coming? Not his real name I can't remember but talking with the fit guy he said the trip was his idea as he thought it might help his friend realize he should maybe get in better shape. I would just stop and take photos of the lake to let his friend catch up. At the trail split they thanked me as if I'd been their guide though some mystical wilderness?
As I arrived at the campground I saw right away that there did not seem to be electricity. I began to ask campers if they might have a weather radio. Soon I added whether they might also have an inverter for 110 volts in there car.. No luck. One girl said there was a weather bulletin on the information board. I had a look but it was not a marine forecast and was old. As I walked around the small drive in campground I figured I may as well see if there is a Verizon Network signal. No signal at all..even Beaver Creek showed one bar but would not connect. That's when I notice the referred to sign indicating maybe the campground had WiFi? It sure looked like one..but I knew what it was.. A short walk into the woods showed that it was an Amphitheater where a Park Naturalist would do programs at times... HaHa. I was about to head back on the trail but one more group of 3 had just come back to camp from a short nature hike. I asked about a radio or inverter and to my happy surprise they did actually have an inverter in their car!! The started up there car and plugged in my VHF radio.. We had a nice conversation and they played music on their iPods with this little speaker and started a fire to roast hotdogs and fed me. It must have been maybe 2 hours of running their car to get a good charge on the radio! I feel so fortunate to have run into them.. Thank you Doug, Stephen and Keirstin!! They were all future doctors.. 3rd year med students. Interestingly as I was telling them of my kayaking around the lake they said they'd just taken a guided kayak tour the day before, Saturday, with Northern Waters in Munising.
Back at camp there were new people. I never got their names but it was two couples and one hiked it later after getting off work. He works Law Enforcement for Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore. It sounded like his main task is search and rescue. I enjoyed taking with him about the frequency of kayakers needing rescue. Sounds like the number of incidents has increased in recent years mainly of clueless people out in the little recreational kayaks.
This is much much longer than most blog posts.. Now for some photos : )

The weather beginning to change

My kayak dragged up high on the beach again .. My new and improved campsite

Hiking over Beaver Creek .. Beaver Lake .. Little Beaver Lake

Interesting rock formations on trail near Little Beaver Lake Campground .. The campground kiosk

Hmmm? Must be WiFi here somewhere?

....or is it this Amphitheater ?

The friendly future doctors who had an inverter to charge my VHF radio. Thank you Doug, Stephen and Keirstin!

Along the hike back .. At Beaver Creek beach again

Near sunset

The Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore Park Ranger (law enforcement) and friends I talked with Sunday evening.

Sunset