Itasca State Park, Minnesota – contains the headwaters of the Mississippi River and beautiful Lake ItascaOur campsite“Here 1475 ft. above the ocean the mighty Mississippi begins to flow on its winding way 2552 miles to the Gulf of Mexico”Yes, this is the Mississippi !!!!… and Andreas can cross it on the first bridge with a few steps 🙂Beautiful Lake Itaska… and many beautiful smaller Lakes in the park The little chipmunk comes every morning to pick our fallen down bread crumbs.Paddling Lake Itasca almost to the headwaters. Next stop is Scenic State ParkMany beautiful lakes – and a “ridge in the middle”.Our “harvest” on the trails – some wild raspberries – hmmmm very good!Our little friend here is a Franklin SquirrelFrom here we drive to Voyageurs National Park – a true water wonderland full of exposed rock ridges, cliffs, wetlands, forests, streams and huge lakes – right at the Canadian Border. Yes, of course – we have to take a short canoe trip here – soo beautiful.Mister Beaver was very busy here !Next stop is Cascade River – right on Lake Superior.Lake Superior – just soooo beautiful!Cascade FallsCascade FallsA trip to the Grand Portage State Park.High Falls at – Grand Portage State Park. We saw video from the falls at spring this year – 4 times more water – amazing.And Grand Portage National Monument – almost at the border to Canada – very very interesting history. During the American fur trade times – the 8.5 miles long portage was used between Lake Superior and the Pigeon River. Small canoes brought fur from Canada and in huge Canoes it was taken via the Great Lakes to Montreal.History of the Grand Portage from way back.The depot.Birch Bark CanoeWhere the large canoes arrived …Our next stop was pretty rough – but super nice!Our campsite – just next to the lake.The lake in the forest.The National Forest is right next to Boundary Waters. Over 1,098,000 acres in size (5 mal so gross wie Berlin ), it extends nearly 150 miles along the International Boundary adjacent to Voyageurs National Park and Canada’s Quetico and La Verendrye Provincial Parks. The BWCAW (Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness) contains over 1,200 miles of canoe routes, 12 hiking trails and over 2,000 designated campsites.From the top of Eagle Mountain – a view to the Boundary WatersEagle Mountain – the highest point in Minnesota with 2,301 feet.This time we “harvest” some blueberries 🙂
