Bear Head Lake State Park and Ely-September 13-20, 2011

We moved from Temperance River to Bear Head Lake State Park for another week of fall camping. We had a choice campsite right by the lake. Making reservations far in advance is a good thing!

After the warm temperatures we experienced during our stay on the North Shore, we noticed a bit of a change. That's alright, though. It is supposed to be fall.

We tested our furnace and it works well. We even spent a cozy day inside, playing Scrabble, watching movies and reading while it rained. No problems, except my Scrabble scores.

In fact, we even experienced our first snow of the season while we were at the International Wolf Center in Ely. Shortly after Paul took this picture, huge snowflakes started to fall.

Isn't he handsome?

The nice thing about spending a full week in one location is that a day or two of cold, rainy weather doesn't spoil the whole experience. We still had plenty of great weather to get out and do some hiking and canoeing.

We drove northeast of Ely on Fernberg Road and hiked the Blackstone/Secret/Ennis Lakes loop trail.

What an incredible hike.

It makes one wonder how many lakes like this there are to hike around in this great state.

We saw several beaver swimming in these lakes.

And very few people.

I'd love to go back. It was a "grand" day!

We toured the Dorothy Molter Museum, located on the outskirts of Ely. She was known as "The Root Beer Lady." Notice the root beer extract under her signature sign.

She lived by herself on an island in the Boundary Waters for years and made root beer to sell to the canoeists who passed by her place. After she died, they moved her main cabin and belongings to the present museum site.

Another day, we drove up the Echo Trail and hiked the Bass Lake/Dry Lake loop. The BWCA fire continued to be a presence in our days. However, we were on the other side of the smoke now, as opposed to our hazy days on the North Shore. We obviously avoided this spur of the hike.

If you are ever in this area, we recommend this hike. This lake has an interesting history. I'm not going to tell you what its story is, but encourage you to make the trip! No spoiler alerts here!

Of course, we had to spend time out on Bear Head Lake. We were camped right by it!

It's a good thing we weren't depending on a meal of fish to fill out our menu plans.

But, it didn't stop us from enjoying the better part of two days out in our canoe.

I told Paul that out of the 52 weeks in a year, I hope to be able to continue to spend at least two of them camping in northern Minnesota.

It is where we have shared some of our happiest memories.

And, I'm telling you, this Air Stream deal is the best! Next? We take the tin pickle north of Chicago for a BBQ weekend.

I'll talk to you soon.