I swear we are in New England! Fog, rain, cold. But locals say - this is normal for this time of year. Out we went yesterday regardless. Traveled up Route 61 (North Shore Scenic Drive) until it comes to Grand Portage. Traveled in fog, knew Lake Superior was beside us, but could not see it. The main reason to go there was to find where the ferry leaves to go to Isle Royale National Park - at first when we pulled into the area, we thought, no this is not it. So, we continued on past the Ojibwa Indian casino and went about 5 more miles - to the US/Canadian borer - where Grand Portage State Park is located.
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| Within the welcome center, learn about the Ojibwa culture |
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| Beautiful building! |
This park is on Tribal land but the Ojibwas in conjunction with the state run the visitor's center and the state park (all in one). Got information on exactly where the ferry is (it was that place we first pulled in to), and then decided to hike to High Falls, Minnesota's highest waterfall.
Wheel chair accessible, nice little walk to see the falls. Quite impressive. While at the visitor's center I took a picture of what the falls looks like in winter. Brrr. As we looked across the falls, and the Pigeon River which carved out the falls, we were looking at Canada. Pigeon River is the border boundary of the two countries.
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| Brrr |
When the North West Fur Trade Company was here in the mid 1700's, they realized that in order to transverse up stream to other forts and bases, there had to be a way around the falls. There are a series of falls within 5 miles of this High Falls, and the voyagers carved out a 9 mile detour around the falls and hence - the North West Fur Company became the most powerful fur company for many years.
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| After viewing High Falls, walked along the Pigeon River back to Center |
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| Always looking for moose |
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| Seven clans of the Ojibwa |
The town of Grand Portage is located within the Ojibwa Indian Reservation. Beyond the border you can travel to Thunder Bay.
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