Camping Trip #2

The family and I recently went on our second camping trip of the summer. This time we headed north, from the Twin Cities, towards Duluth. We didn't actually stay in Duluth, but instead stayed at Jay Cooke State Park, about 20 miles southeast of Duluth. Jay Cooke is a great park filled with crazy rock formations that seem to be slanted the wrong way, thick pine forests filled with a dizzying number of deer, and raging rivers that are quickly making their way to the the largest lake on God's Green Earth, Lake Superior. If you ever have the chance to head to Jay Cooke, I would highly recommend it!

The first view of the St. Louis River most people get. This is right behind the Visitor Center.

We did a lot of hiking throughout the long weekend, along with much climbing over the giant slate rocks that are everywhere. There are over 50 miles of trails in the park, and we hiked as many of those miles as we could with a 3-year-old hiking with us. Her little legs had to work hard to keep up, but she, and the rest of the kids, did a great job, and hardly threw any fits along the way. That in itself made it a great trip!

Another view of the St. Louis River.

I did not fish too much, despite the amount of water in the park. The St. Louis River is the largest tributary of Lake Superior in the U.S., and it is joined by several smaller streams in Jay Cooke. The St. Louis looks fishy, and is reported to hold smallmouth bass and northern pike in its waters, but I had no luck when I fished for them. There are also two trout streams in the park, Otter Creek and Silver Creek, but they are more out of the way, and I did not fish in either of them. To be honest, I caught just as many fish when I practiced my casting on the gravel road in the campground as I did when I was fishing in water. Oh well, we have a bunch of more camping trips planned this summer, so I am sure I will catch my fair share along the way.

Some swirling foam on the St. Louis River.

Otter Creek, where it pours into the St. Louis.

Otter Creek, upstream

The St. Louis.

I tend to think that I am quite the photographer whilst sitting around a campfire...

Same.

Casting in the campground, where I caught just as many fish as I did in the river...

The coolest fish of the trip, a wood relief carving titled "Brookie Move", by local artist Justin Dallas, on display at the Great Lakes Aquarium in Duluth. 

Did I mention that we saw deer? This was one of about a billion deer we saw throughout the weekend. They were everywhere.

There were so many deer that the other woodland creatures use them as Uber drivers. This little squirrel had just gotten a ride on an Uber deer after a drunken night on a pine tree.... 

My clueless dog, Toby, got within about 4 inches of this big ol' frog on the edge of the river, but never noticed it. I think maybe he's going blind...

The two youngest of our kids wanted to help mom stir up the pancake mix one morning, and ended up spilling it all over the ground. The crazy thing is that it was still there after it rained that entire afternoon! Just think how long it sits in your stomach!!! The pancakes were delicious, though...

Lonely campground road on a Monday morning, after all the other campers left. Makes me want to go back...