Day Seven: Cloquet to Voyageur N.P. (265 mi)

This is the entry for yesterday, Oct 7.  One week out and we finally had our first day with clouds.  We even had a pretty good shower to go to sleep by; fortunately, by then our tents were up and supper was already out of the way.  Don't get me wrong, though.  The weather was still unbelievably unseasonal, at least regarding temperatures.  As a matter of fact, I'm pretty sure we were the warmest yet for nighttime conditions, in spite of being the furthest north.

The drive to International Falls, on the Canadian border, was beautiful.  We were off the interstate all day, with much of our journey on two lane state highways.  It was obvious that most of the trees had already turned color prior to our arrival, but that is not to say the leaves were off the trees; such was certainly not the case.  The aspen and birch trees were at their zenith, showing forth a brilliant shade of golden yellow.  The wind was quite gusty (up to 35 mph) upon our arrival at the national park which gave the impression of driving through a rainstorm of leaves.  Little whirlwinds of spinning leaves were a common sight.

But other than a few deer, as startled to see us as we were to see them, we did not come across much wildlife.  No moose, no bear, no wolf.  I guess we'll have to make another trek to America's Northern Woods to witness any of these critters up close and personal.

To give an idea of the limited number of fellow travelers we've faced this trip, our camp was a state park just outside the national park.  Though planned with 59 sites, there were only two other parties besides ours camping by Lake Kabetogama (pronounce that any way you want; it's not as though anyone in Waco will know the difference!).  No flush toilets or showers -- this was a somewhat primitive campground -- but at least there were pit toilets available for use.  Incidentally, if you want a good laugh Google "vaulted" or "pit" toilets and read some of the homespun definitions and comments you'll see listed.  Dail and I have not had our giggle boxes turned on to this extent in a very long while.

This is Veritas -- discovering our world, making a difference!