Category Archives: Vacations

An evening in Grand Portage

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Finally got on the road about 11:30 this morning, had been planning for 10 but it seems there is always one last thing to do.

Had been thinking about stopping along the way to stretch my legs, but I saw the sign for Gooseberry Falls as I was passing – didn’t see any warnings, and it was raining as I passed Cascade Falls which was my plan B. So, just made a stop for gas in Grand Marais.

Pulled into Grand Portage about 4:45 and made a run past the marina I’m departing from in the morning just so that I know where to go. As the boat leaves at 7:30 tomorrow morning I opted to stay at the lodgecasino so that I don’t have to deal with breaking camp in the morning.

Had a nice salmon dinner with wild rice pilaf for dinner. Figured I’d better eat well tonight since the next 6 days until I reach Rock Harbor lodge will be trail food. Took a short walk after dinner and got some panoramic images of the bay the hotel sits along. All in all, a beautiful evening in the arrowhead.

Now back in my room to catch the premiere of the first of the final episodes of Breaking Bad.

I don’t expect to post any further updates till I’m home as there is no cell service even in Grand Portage – aside from an intermittent burst from a Canadian provider, so I’ve turned off my cellular radio to avoid getting stuck with international charges….

Backpacking Isle Royale National Park

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​Finally completed planning for my upcoming trip to Isle Royale National Park.  On Sunday, August 11 I’ll be driving up to Grand Portage, MN and staying at the Casino Lodge.  If I get on the road early enough and the weather’s nice, I’ll probably stop to stretch my legs at Gooseberry Falls and/or Cascade River.

Monday morning, August 12, the Voyaguer II departs Grand Portage at 7:30 am and arrives at Windigo on the southwest end of Isle Royale about 10 am.  A 6.6 mile hike will take me out to my first night’s campsite at Island Mine Campground.

Over the next five days I’ll average a little over 7 miles per day between campgrounds; most of which lie along the Greenstone Ridge, the backbone of the island.  The last two stops will drop off this main route in order to reach the Rock Harbor location from which I’ll depart back to Grand Portage on Sunday, August 18.

Looking forward to the adventure!

Zip Lines & Aloha

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​Last day on Kauai…

Jerry and I went on a zip line adventure today. It consisted of 8 zip lines and 1 rappelling line plus a T-bar zip over a natural pool that we both skipped. The longest zip line was 1800 feet long. All of them were a lot of fun. Only problem is that they are too quick to really enjoy the view so you have to settle on enjoying the ride!

The location of the zip lines was on Kipu Ranch where numerous movies have been filmed including Jurassic Park and one of my all time faves Raiders of the Lost Ark! The tour wrapped up just before 3 in the afternoon. From there it was back home to clean up and pack.

We had a very nice dinner, some ice cream at Lappert’s and then it was off to the airport for me.

Aloha!

Touring the North Shore of Kauai

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​Today Liz, John, Jerry and I took a tour up the north coast of Kauai.  The highlights included the Kilauea Point Lighthouse and a view of taro fields.  On the way back we stopped at the Spouting Horn, another highlight of Kauai.  From there it was off to an early birthday dinner for Jerry.

Kilauea Point Lighthouse
Kilauea Point
Kilauea Point Lighthouse
Island view
Taro Fields
Spouting Horn

A Little Paddling

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​Today Liz, Jerry and I went on a kayakhike tour.  We drove up to the Waipu River State Park area and met up with our guide at an historic Hawaiin village.  From there we drove to the other side of the river and pushed off in our kayaks.  We paddled upstream about 1 and a half miles and from there hiked about a mile into the Sacred Waterfall – finally a real waterfall!  Prior to meeting at the village we stopped at an overlook on another waterfall (the first images in the following gallery).

Watefalls
Waterfalls
Flowers
Careful!
Sacred Waterfall
Sacred Waterfall

Horsing around

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​Today Jerry, Liz and I went on a 3 hour horseback ride up on the north side of the island at Silver Falls Ranch.  We took the Silver Falls Ride which included lunch and an option to swim below the falls which we all passed on.  We were the only ones in the group and our guide Lorie was terrific.

Jerry was riding Keiki, Liz was on Nikoli(sp), and I was riding Wheels!

Silver Falls

​Waimea Canyon and Waipo’o Falls

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​Today we took a drive up Waimea Canyon which is billed as the Grand Canyon of the Pacific.  It’s a beautiful drive with several nice overlooks.  For anyone who has been to the actual Grand Canyon this is really no comparison, but it is certainly worth the time to have a look if you’re on Kauai.

After taking the entire drive we then drove back down and stopped at the trailhead to Waipo’o Falls.  It’s about a 3 mile round trip down partway into the canyon.  There’s actually very little water in most cases so it was a bit disappointing in terms of a waterfall, but still worth the effort.

 Waipoo-Falls
A view of the upper cascades of Waipo’o Falls in Waimea Canyon

Whale watching off Kauai

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​There be whales here!

Breach1

It was an early start to get to the whale watching tour – out the door at about 6:15 in order to get down to the launch set for 7:30.  We set sail (OK we motored) on the catamaran Lucky Lady for a tour of the Na Pali coast on what turned out to be an absolutely beautiful day.  Yesterday it rained off and on all day on Kauai, but Jerry picked the right day for this trip!

We saw several turtles, 3 bottlenose dolphins, a huge number of spinner dolphins, and lots of whales including several calves.  There was an option for snorkeling at the end but both Jerry and I opted out of that as the water was still pretty choppy and didn’t look to me like there was much to see.  The tour wrapped up around 1:30 and we headed back to house.

Tomorrow is a day without any specific plans so I get to sleep in!  Probably taking a short hike somewhere, but we shall see.

Hawai’i Volcanoes National Park

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​I was greeted in Hilo last night with a light rain shower. Several heavy showers woke me up this morning. Another brief, light shower welcomed me back to the airport this afternoon.

While at the park today it was nothing but blue skies! And wind. A lot of wind. Really, it never stopped. Which was probably a good thing as it would have been unbearable walking around on all that black lava rock.

About half of the crater rim drive is closed due to the current eruption causing excessively high levels of sulfur dioxide gas. But the views from the open part were enough to enjoy.

Kilauaea

From there I headed down the “Chain of Craters Road” which descends from the caldera rim of Kilauea down to the coast. It’s a stunning view once the ocean comes into view and you make your way down the switchback road.

The road ends, technically it’s still there but under a bit of lava, at the lava flow first created in 1983 and continuing to this day. From here you can hoof it a ways over the lava to get a distant view if the steam plume being created as fresh lava is flowing into the sea. Pretty cool (or hot?)!

All in all, well worth the side trip. As always however, a couple of days would be better in order fully explore the park. Guess I’ll have to make a return someday.

Now it’s off to Kauai!