Minnesota's North Shore: Waterfalls Galore

I spent most of this summer in Minnesota (more on that soon). Before we got started on our fieldwork, we went up to the north shore of Lake Superior, hiked in a couple of parks, and saw an astounding number of waterfalls for a single day trip.

We stopped first at Gooseberry Falls.

We proceeded northwards along the shore for a short ways to Tettegouche State Park and saw the appropriately named High Falls. At 70 feet (21 m) tall, it's the tallest waterfall that is entirely within Minnesota (the 120-foot High Falls in Grand Portage State Park is, like Niagara Falls, right on the US-Canada border).

Crossing the river right above the falls.

Looking upstream of High Falls.

In addition to the beautiful waterfalls, our visits to both parks involved nice walks through the woods, complete with a variety of wildflowers.

These pretty trees were in both parks. I think they are downy serviceberries (Amelanchier arborea).

These caught my attention immediately, although it was too early in the season for any of them to have fruit.

Woodland Strawberry, Fragaria vesca

Clearly a violet. I think a sand violet (Viola adunca).

Downy Yellow Violet, Viola pubescens

Wood Anemone, Anemone quinquefolia

Marsh Marigold, Caltha palustris.

Close up of the marsh marigold.

And I couldn't resist documenting this sign from Gooeseberry Falls.

This isn't the clearest photo, as it was taken from the car as we drove back, but among the trees you can see the Split Rock Lighthouse. Built in 1910, the lighthouse is no longer in operation (due to coast guard regulations), but the light is lit once a year on November 10th to commemorate the sinking of the Edmund Fitzgerald, the largest ship to have sunk the the Great Lakes (and, of course, the subject of the Gordan Lighfoot song).

On the way back we stopped for some delicious pie. We had noticed the signs for "Betty's Pies: World Famous Since 1956". How could we resist? Right across the street there was a nice viewpoint along the shoreline. The fog had been much heavier earlier in the day and we hadn't seen much of the lake until that point. I'm not used to lakes that look like oceans, but I certainly liked it!