Category Archives: Nature

Destination, Nature, Photography

The In-Between, Day 1 | Minnesota North Shore #exploremn

Fall 2013 MN North Shore series

Any long-time follower of this blog knows that with Cyndie and I; although destinations are great, it is all about the journey in between those destination that really stand as lasting memories through the years for us.  This trip tot the MN North Shore was no exception.  The in between was great on the MN North Shore!

Our first day we made it as far as Grand Marais.  This is by far my favorite area on the MN North Shore to be.  Its close proximity to The Gunflint Trail, Judge CR Magney State Park, Cascade River State Park, Temperance River State Park and all of the back roads, forest roads and loops you can travel are via car are phenomenal.  It’s beautiful country.

Along the way to Grand Marais we stopped at Temperance River State Park.  Later in the afternoon we made out way out to Honeymoon Bluff.  There was no sunset to be had as it was cloudy and overcast, but we made the best of it.  It was full day.  Even Though the color was 100% or past peak (in most areas), there was still some great color and likely 80% less people than a week ago.  Day 1 was pretty smooth sailing; Day 2 though, we were part of a 3 car traffic jam on a forest road.  The congestion cleared soon enough though.  Here are some shot from day 1.

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Destination, Nature, Photography

Grand Portage State Park – Gunflint Trail | MN North Shore #exploremn

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Fall 2013 MN North Shore series

A favorite destination along the MN North Shore – actually all the way up to the northern tip – is Grand Portage State Park where the Pigeon River flows over the tallest waterfall in Minnesota.  It is a pretty spectacular site.  It is one of the destinations along the shore that Cyndie and I very much enjoy photographing.  A great attribute of the park is that it is handicapped accessible with a paved trail, boardwalk and ramps to a viewing platform.  The path the falls is a short distance through the forest.  It was overcast that day, but that didn’t seem to dampen the glow of yellow and orange of the Autumn color – it was quite brilliant.

There is a 3.5 mile trail out to middle falls as well.  We found the third waterfall on the pigeon river too (Partridge Falls).  Partridge Falls is pretty good size, but it lacks a decent down-river vantage point.  More on that later…

Here are two views of the high falls and another of the pigeon river flowing toward Lake Superior.

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Destination, Nature

North Shore Abstracts – Gunflint Trail | MN North Shore #exploremn

Fall 2013 MN North Shore series

You can find yourself doing all sorts of things when you are out and about along MN North Shore.  We made good use of our midday going to and from locations.  The lovely Autumn colors provided some great backdrops for some abstract shots.  It is something different to do photographically and some time you get some pretty interesting shots.

For those of you who have never done anything like this, you can get shots like this with a small aperture (f/16 – f/32) and a slow shutter speed.  Click the shutter and move your camera either up or down from where you started.  Side to side works well to.  You can also zoom in or out to create a pretty neat effect.  Go nuts; there is no wrong method.

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Destination, Nature, Photography, Time-lapse

Sunrise @ Hollow Rock | MN North Shore #exploremn

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Fall 2013 MN North Shore series

Hollow Rock

resortlocationHollow Rock is located a handful of miles South of Grand Portage, MN on MN North Shore.  Hollow Rock Resort is situated in between Hollow Rock Creek and Hollow Rock Road.  The rock formation is located right off of the shore from the resort.  Cyndie and I stayed in Cabin #5 – Moose; Hollow Rock was right out the cabin’s front door.

Being right on location was certainly nice.  All that was needed was to wake up, have some coffee and then set up to shoot.  The in-floor heat was a plus; it made the cabin nice and cozy.  I was also happy to see the tank-less water heater.  It is always good to have hot water.  This is what I like to refer to as remote/comfortable.  There is no cable TV, cellular service or Internet here.  It was quite peaceful.  A great place to get lost for a few days.

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Here are a few other shots from the cabin and around the immediate area outside the cabin.

At this particular time of year, the sunrise lines up nicely with hole in Hollow Rock.  We had a picture-perfect morning for a sunrise.  The weather, clouds and color came together quite nicely.  Here are four frames from that magnificent sunrise shoot.

I continued to practice my time-lapse photography at this location as well.  I had the same issues as before, but I am pleased with the results.

Part One

Part Two

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Destination, Nature, Photography, Time-lapse

Honeymoon Bluff – Gunflint Trail | Minnesota North Shore #exploremn

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Fall 2013 MN North Shore series

Honeymoon Bluff

There is a very picturesque place not so far away from Grand Marais, MN; just up the Gunflint Trail approximately 30 miles on MN North Shore.  Honeymoon Bluff overlooks Hungry Jack lake; if honeymoonbluffmappyou are lucky you will witness a beautiful sunset.  This site is easily accessible by a well-mark and maintained trail.  Steep as it was, it is over very soon.  A quick 1/2 mile and you are looking out over pristine wilderness.

Our first attempt during our stay in Grand Marais/Grand Portage was met with cloudy conditions – not optimal for a sunset.  You come all this way and you sometimes make do with what is available.  I took the opportunity to shoot some time-lapse photography.  Since we were relatively close the second day we decided to have another go at it.

Time-lapse is interesting to play around with; clearly I need to perfect the process more.  The output is a bit crude as I had some dust and dirt issues and I still have the trial version of the software.  Sunset I think is easiest as you just end up with a black frame eventually.  Sunrise is a whole different thing; more on that in a future post.

Cloudy version

Sunset version

Here are my shots from both days – clouds and sunset.  Cyndie and I really enjoyed this spot.  It is easy enough to reach if you are in the area and it looks like there may be a good sunset.

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Destination, Nature

The In-Between, Day 3 | Minnesota North Shore #exploremn

MN North Shore

day3

Grand Marais to Grand Portage

Ahhhh beautiful Grand Marais, MN.  This (and points North) is my favorite area of the MN North Shore.  We got off the beaten path and explored a few forest roads on our way to Judge CR Magney State Park.  The wild flowers were incredible as were the butterflies.  One of the forest road dead-ended out in the middle of nowhere.  That wasn’t terribly convenient and it forced us to backtrack back to where we started.  It could have been worse; we could be at work.

We spent a fair amount of time at Judge CR Magney State Park and generally took it a bit easier than we had in the last two days.  That pace we initially set was pretty aggressive pace initially and we were both starting to slow down some.  We arrived in Grand Portage in the early afternoon.

Lodging

Cabin lodging in these parts of the MN North Shore typically insist on a 2-night say minimum.  We had hoped to stay at Hollow Rock Resort so we could just wake up at sunrise and walk out right onto the shore for sunrise, but the two-day stay stamped that plan out.  The Grand Portage Lodge & Casino is a suitable solution to your one night stay needs.  Hollow Rock Resort is part of the casino and there wasn’t an issue gaining access to do a sunrise shoot there.

We checked in and then explored the surrounding area some as a late afternoon thunderstorm rolled on through.  An early dinner at the Casino and some much-needed shuteye seem like the perfect end of another full day of traveling the North Shore.

Here are my shots of the MN North Shore – The in between, Day 3

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Destination, Nature

The In-Between, Day 2 | Minnesota North Shore #exploremn

The In-Between, Day 2 | MN North Shore

MN North ShoreThe second day started much like how the first ended – heavy think fog blanketing our surroundings.  The fog certainly added an extra element to the photos though.  After a bit of breakfast at the lodge we made our way out to the fish house and then out to the point.  The hike was great – especially in the fog.

After leaving Cove Point Lodge we went back South to visit Split Rock Lighthouse State Park.  It was too late the previous afternoon to go to Split Rock Lighthouse.  We spent a great foggy morning there before heading back North and stopping at Palisade Head.  There essentially was no view at Palisade Head, other than a ship heading for shore in some very dense fog.  Tettegouche State Park was the next stop.  We ended up skipping Gerorge Crosby Manitou State Park.  The entrance isn’t right off of Hwy 61 and we just plain missed the turn.  We continued on our way and visited Temperance River State Park as well as Cascade River State Parkbefore arriving in Grand Marais.  We secured a room for the night at The Shoreline Inn and made our way to My Sister’s Place for a much anticipated evening meal.  Traveling & photography are hungry business.

Here are my shots of the Minnesota North Shore – The in between, Day 2

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Nature, Photography

The In-Between, Day 1 | Minnesota North Shore

day1This was a complete impromptu kind of trip.  Being the planner that I am I still put together an itinerary of possibilities.  We did plan to focus on photographing waterfall in the state parks this trip.  We no sooner made the plan and were met with a potential hurdle.  Just outside of Duluth on I35 we were met with a wall of fog.  If you have ever been to Duluth or been there multiple times, there is a good chance you have experienced this king of fog of epic proportions.  Visibility was nil.  All was not lost as Duluth was not the destination, but rather a blip on the trail of this particular journey.  Little did we know the fog would run the whole length of the North Shore and only really clear one morning during our visit.  It made for an interesting trip photographically, that is for sure.

This post and the next few after will recap the details of each day of our trip to the North Shore.  I will highlight where we went, what we did and saw and where we ate and stayed.

Knife River, MN was our first stop.  You couldn’t see much of Lake Superior, but you could smell the fresh air and the lake.  Russ Kendall’s Smokehouse is always on the itinerary.  Cyndie isn’t a fan of smoked fish, but I am.  I got a quick fix in the parking lot and even shared a bit with the seagulls.  Just down the road from Kendall’s on the opposite side of the road are some fantastic old vehicles.  I photograph them every trip.

The first day we milled about in Two Harbors a bit and then made our way to Gooseberry Falls State Park.covepoint  It was this first day that we noticed the abandoned building, but we didn’t photograph it until we returned later in the trip.  This was a long day filled with many miles and great sites.  Cooter Pottery  and Two Island River/Taconite Harbor were great destinations of the day.  We settled in at Cove Point Lodge for the night.  We had a wonderful dinner just up the road at Cove Point Crossings Bar & Grill.

As you can see by the satellite view there is a nice point to observe the bay and lake from.  There is a trail all the way out to the point.  This was an interesting and picturesque hike after breakfast the next morning  in the fog .

Here are my shots of the Minnesota North Shore – The in between, Day 1

 

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Nature, Photography

Two Harbors Waterfront | Minnesota North Shore

It was a beautiful morning with a touch of fog rolling about on the lake.  A quick visit to the waterfront and a stroll out along the breakwater was in order.  From this vantage point it was easy to get a better view of the exterior of the abandoned site we just came from.  The left behind Polaroid made you wonder – who was she, where was she from and what did she think about the beautiful place.  The lone fisherman set against the lake and fog was interesting as well.  The stroll was short, but pleasant.  There is only one bad thing about traveling the North Shore of Minnesota; that is realizing it is time to head back home :-/

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Destination, Nature, Photography

Hollow Rock Point Sunrise | Minnesota North Shore

While in Grand Portage, the fog cleared enough on the morning we were to depart long enough, to get a sunrise shoot in.  It was early and the mosquito’s relentless in their desire to rid us of our blood.  It is not exactly in the forefront of your mind to get up at 4:30 a.m. while on vacation, but some days it is worth it.

We stayed at Grand Portage Casio instead of Hollow Rock Resort because we were only going to be in this location for a day (two-day minimum stays :-\ boo).  I get it, though, why mess up a cabin for only one night.  I definitely want to get back here and stay the minimum two night or more.  We inquired at the front desk if it would be o.k. to go to the resort and shoot the sunrise; it wasn’t an issue.  Drive in, park, be quiet and get your shoot on.

Hallow Rock is right out the front door of most of the cabins as are wonderful views of the lake and shoreline.  It is a beautiful location to capture a sunrise.  I consulted the Photographer’s Ephemeris for details.  There would be no sunrise alignment in July, but you can catch the light in the hollow rock.  If you are looking for absolute alignment and want to see the sun rise through the hollow rock, sometime between October 13 – 20 is likely your best opportunity.  There is some room for variation of position on the shoreline, but I think that would be the most ideal window to work with.  Sunrise is at a more reasonable hour (7:15 a.m.) and there would hopefully be less skeeters then too 🙂

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The Photographers Ephemeris

Here are my shots of that lovely morning sunrise.

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