Picture the North Shore

After leaving the St. Louis River I continued north to Tofte Minnesota where I met up with Joi. Our plans for a girls weekend were many. Kayaking, hiking and photography. We started with breakfast and made an itinerary...I have no idea why I even attempt to make an itinerary as I have never kept to one...but it gave us something to do while eating breakfast. We decided to try to photograph the wild wolf pack and then hike the Kadunce. We headed to the wolves den. I have seen Joi's photos of them from this summer so I was anxious to see them. Unfortunately they were not a home. Lots of tracks and scat but no wolves. Stops that morning included the Cross River and Sugarloaf Cove for a little photography. Then I thought I'd like to see the falls on the Caribou River. The Caribou was the first waterfall that I had ice climbed, or I should say ice bouldered because I wasn't using a rope. I was interested in seeing how deep the pool was at the bottom. The hike is stunning! I had never been to the top of the falls and found it to be well worth it. Joi and I were taking tons of pictures along the way. We had nothing but time. I used several different settings to see what was working and why. At the top we followed the river for a short time. I started to get a bit of a hincky feeling at the top and then Joi said she had heard something moving in the bushes up ahead. It could have been anything but we didn't see what ever it was. But...my devious mind was at work. I was thinking how freaky it would be if when we got back and went through our photos we saw a cougar in the background tracking us. Maybe even two. It would make for a great story. Now I know that the only thing in the woods that frightens Joi is cougars so I didn't bring this up until we were back down closer to the falls. Needless to say I totally creeped her out. The rest of the weekend while hiking I was doing the "here kitty, kitty, kitty," thing. That evening we had a nice paddle on Lake Superior and then demoed more kayaks in the pool. Sunday we were up before the sun and did some sunrise photos and then headed to the Split Rock. Joi had never hiked it before and wanted to see it. We spent another day photographing one of the most beautiful rivers on the North Shore. Time for me to start heading south. I made stops at Gooseberry Falls, The Knife River, and Stoney. By that time the sun had set on a great weekend spent with great friends. Just before I left I confessed to Joi that there really were two courgars in the woods...her eyes got wide with fright and she said "No!' I smiled and said "Yes there were...us." Enlarge the photographs by clicking on them...you may just see something else or maybe not.