US-61 and the Gunflint Trail, Minnesota, Part 1

US-61 and the Gunflint Trail Links:

Minnesota, Part 1
On The Road...	US-61	Grand Marais	The Gunflint Trail
Minnesota, Part 2
1990 Canoe Trip	Flour Lake	Hungry Jack Lake
Minnesota, Part 3
Hungry Jack Lodge	Critters	Sunrises and Sunsets	Fish!
Minnesota, Part 4
Seagull Lake	Honeymoon Bluff/Magnetic Rock Trail	End of Trail Campground

Gooseberry Falls along US-61, the Northshore of Lake Superior...

I first started going up to the Arrowhead in 1988. In June. The mosquitoes were so thick, they tried to pick up my car to keep me from getting away.

But I was back in September 1989, after all the blood sucking insects have gone dormant for the year. And in an 11 year span from 1988 to 1998, I was there 9 times.

It's 520 miles from my house, but you have to tack on another 85, since you have to drive around this obstacle called "Lake Superior". If they'd just build that bridge, or drain the lake, it could have taken an hour-and-a-half off my trip...

It's a fun place. Once you turn the corner around the Western edge of Lake Superior by Duluth, you follow US-61 along the Northern shore of Lake Superior. As Wisconsin fades in the distance as the lake widens, you enter another ecosystem. A friend said it reminded him of Alaska. I wouldn't know. (Yet.)