Tag Archives: Honeymoon Bluff

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.

Honeymoon Bluff – Gunflint Trail | Minnesota North Shore #exploremn

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.