We traveled yesterday from Ely, MN to Grand Portage, MN in the eastern most, upper portion of MN. We are right on the banks of Lake Superior and only 6 miles from the Canadian border, set up at an Indian Casino run by the Chippewa or Ojibwe tribe. The RV park is spacious with full hook ups and a decent cell signal that enables us to get internet service for the things we want and need. We sensed a calm joyful peace over this place as this rock cairn seems to punctuate.
Travelers take note: Yes the road from Ely (MN 1) to the lake road up the northern banks of Superior (MN 61) is rough in case you are considering it, but it was nothing compared to the Yukon roads to Alaska last year; you’ll not hear any complaining from us.
The town of Grand Portage gets its name from a 9 mile trail running westward from Lake Superior where the Voyaguers, or fur traders, from the 1700 and 1800s actually carried their goods and canoes over land to avoid large waterfalls (as you will see below) and dangerous river rapids.
After we set up we took advantage of the rest of the day and went out to find what the Grand Portage National Monument was all about. The answer is the fur trade and the history between the French, English and other Europeans, and the many tribes of Indians here in upper North America. The Park Service has done a fine job of documenting this history and we enjoyed it’s presentation very much. To better illustrate the origin of Grand Portage they built a replica trading post called a Heritage Center on it’s original foundation to showcase many aspects of this history including a canoe shed where these critical modes of transportation were built and the Great Hall where the important trading of the day took place. One of the items traded was Vermilion from China. We were surprised to learn this is actually just mercury sulfide, not a particularly healthy chemical, albeit quiet colorful and useful in dyes.
Next I wanted to see High Falls. This is the highest water falls in the state of Minnesota with a drop of 120 feet. It is within Grand Portage State Park which is on the Pelican River, the formal boundary between the US and Canada. We took a nice cool 15 minute hike and as you can see the falls were indeed beautiful.
We also took a few pics of Lake Superior along the way, listened to Loons calling on the water, and found a few sunset shots to top off a busy but very enjoyable day.
Tomorrow it’s off for an adventure in the boundary waters of northern Minnesota, a treasure hunt of sorts. Stay tuned...
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