Good morning gardeners! I know all of you are immensely grateful for your gardens at this terrible time, as am I. But there is not much happening in my garden yet, and we are staying home, as I am sure many of you are. In this terrifying and uncertain reality, it is good to remember other times and other places — happy places we can visit in our memories and in our photos, and even though the title of this diary is a stretch, I hope these photos from a semi-wilderness will entertain you for a while. Please forgive a detour away from my garden and flower photos as I invite you to come along with me to my other happy place: Voyageurs National Park in Northern Minnesota. If you’d like to join me on my virtual vacation, the only vacation I’m likely to have this year, grab a cup of coffee or tea and get comfortable because this is going to be a LONG trip!
Covering over 218,000 acres, 84,000 of which are water, and sharing a 55 mile long border with Ontario, Minnesota’s only national park was established in 1975.
Voyageurs is a water park, and much of the park is only accessible by water. It has been a summer playground for the Mimers for the better part of a quarter century. Three hundred miles north of the Twin Cities and west of the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness, the four large lakes of the park, Kabetogama, Rainy, Namakan and Crane, are a fisherman’s paradise. Along with over 270 campsites on hundreds of islands, the fishing and the remoteness from urban life have always been the great attraction for us. There is nothing better than a quiet summer night on a remote island campsite, with a little campfire and millions of stars in the sky.
Our camping days are behind us now for the most part, but we still enjoy the flora and fauna, and, of course, the fishing.
Our day on the lake starts on the Ash river. For years we rented a cabin on the river, which is on the southern boundary of the park and flows into it. The Ash River can be seen slightly below the center of the map below. These days we have a spot in an RV park along the river and our boat stays at the dock there all summer.
The river is outside the park, and there is a no-wake zone on the river, so it takes about half an hour to slowly meander down the river, past resorts and private cabins, to the end of the no-wake zone, where the water widens.
Often in the spring after snow melt or after heavy rains, there may be little waterfalls along the river. We used to see a lot of otters in the water, and they used to steal our minnows from our minnow bucket in the boat, but we have seen fewer of them in later years.
Sometimes in the mornings there is a mist on the river.
Leaving the no-wake zone, we speed up and after a sharp left turn we are traveling across the inlet and into the park.
We cruise across Sullivan Bay and through a narrow passage that leads us to Namakan Lake on the right or Kabetogama Lake on the left. The Ash River Visitor Center is to the near left; we launch our boat there if the water level in the river is too low.
Through the years, we have become most familiar with Namakan Lake, and that is where we do most of our fishing. Mr. Mimer is the captain, and he chooses our fishing spots based mostly on wind, following the bait. Most (if not all) of our fishing is done by trolling slowly along the shoreline or on reefs, using live bait, either worms, minnows or leeches on Lindy rigs, depending somewhat on the time of year and what the fish are biting on. (I myself fish solely with minnows all year round, because I can bait the hook myself. I refuse to touch worms or leeches.) Besides, I catch lots of fish on minnows.
And since this is a gardening blog, it’s time to bring in some plants!
Voyageurs National Park lies in a transition area between the southern boreal forest to the north and temperate deciduous forest to the south and east. It is composed of a variety of ecological systems, including conifer forests, hardwood forests, bogs, swamps, marshes, rocky outcrops, and lakeshore environments. The park is home to over 50 tree and shrub species, over 40 fern and moss species, over 200 grass, sedge, and rush species, and over 400 wildflower species.
www.nps.gov/...
Mostly we fish and eat shore lunch, but stopping to stretch and walk around on one of the many islands, it’s impossible not to observe plants and flowers. Over the years, I have taken photos of some of them. In the spring there are the beautiful Bunchberries and our state flower, the rare and endangered Showy Ladyslipper, which I’ve never seen in the wild, but there is a collection at the Kabetogama Lake Visitor Center, where I took this photo.
Other wildflowers that I have photographed in the park include the native columbine and the Northern blue flag iris.
I have always found the variety of lichen and mosses in the park fascinating. Many grow on the exposed rocks and boulders or on the trees. There are about 400 species of lichen in the park.
My favorite of the over 50 species of shrubs and trees in the park is the red pine. The red pine also happens to be Minnesota’s state tree. Here is a huge specimen, somewhere in the park.
The bark and cones of the red pine are a delight as well.
And even trees can be “tree-huggers.”
There are aquatic plants in the park too.
One of the most fascinating facts about the flora of the park is how shrubs and trees are able to grow and establish a foothold in the very thin soil. There are many examples of trees that appear to be growing straight out of the rock.
And about those 2.8 billion year-old rocks:
Voyageurs National Park is one of the few places in North America where you can see and touch rocks half the age of the Earth...
At one time, massive, explosive volcanoes deposited layer after layer of ash and lava. Subsequent uplifting, folding, tremendous pressure, and superheating created igneous and metamorphic rock. Over time, erosion wore down the volcanic mountain range and the ice ages brought glaciers that moved rivers of ice and scoured away the younger rock layers. This action exposed the roots of the ancient mountains- the granite, migmatite, and biotite schist you see today.
As the glaciers receded, torrents of melted water filled low-lying areas, creating the lakes and bogs of today's landscape.
www.nps.gov/...
All that activity has led to many awesome rock formations that never cease to fascinate us as we troll slowly by in our fishing boat, waiting for a bite.
Of course it is always exciting to catch and release a big fish, but we aren’t really sports fishermen; we fish to eat. Specifically we fish to eat SHORE LUNCH. Shore lunch is our most cherished tradition, really almost a ritual for us. It is imperative to catch one or two 14-16” walleye in the morning so that we can have our traditional shore lunch! Our camp stove and cooler with potatoes, onion, peppers, lemons, salad and white wine are almost always in the boat when we leave the dock in the morning. Most fishermen include fish, potatoes and beans in their shore lunches, but we swapped out the beans for salad years ago and haven’t looked back. In addition, elitists that we are, we require a certain amount of elegance for our leisurely lunches.
There are over 270 campsites in the park, some with docks. They all have tent pads, bear lockers, picnic tables, a fire ring and a privy. Permits and a modest fee are now necessary for reserving a campsite, but for years it was first come — first served, and free.
All the comforts of home! Some considerate campers leave a roll of toilet paper in a plastic zip bag next to the privy, weighted with a rock, as a courtesy for the next group of campers. If the campsites are open this summer, there probably won’t be any free toilet paper this year!
When we are ready for lunch, we find an open campsite and prepare our lunch. Mr. Mimer cleans the fish while I slice potatoes, set up the camp stove and set the table.
A few years ago, the park built a really lovely new day site on Namakan Lake for boaters to use, no camping allowed. The site has two picnic areas. The top one below is nicely sheltered. When the campsites are full, this is a great place to have shore lunch!
The day site includes a fine sand beach for swimming near the other picnic table.
Just a few photos of some of our many shore lunches over the years:
Lunch usually takes at least two hours, from preparation to the last bite of fish. The rule is: all the fish that is cooked must be eaten. This is a leisurely process, we drink some wine, eat, watch the boats that go by on the lake and sometimes see animals that make the park their home.
It is quite common to see bald eagles soar overhead. As of 2015, there were 42 breeding pairs in the park. I was not able to find a more recent statistic.
We have noticed that we do not see as many otters, mink or turtles as we used to; undoubtedly climate change has impacted the creatures that live here. There are still many white-tailed deer.
For several years we saw a large number of pelicans on the lake. We do not see as many of them now either, but there are still plenty of seagulls that often swim not far from the boat, hoping to catch a minnow when we re-bait our hooks.
Of course we are always happy to see and hear our Minnesota state bird, the common loon. Their haunting wails are an integral part of the magic of Voyageurs National Park for us.
So mostly we fish, BUT at least once in a summer we visit the Kettle Falls Hotel, about a ten mile boat ride from our usual fishing grounds. For many years we spent two or three successive nights in the hotel each summer, with a group of friends.
The Kettle Falls Hotel is the only lodging enterprise within the park, operated as a concession from the National Park Service. It has a fascinating history, including shady characters and a ghost.* In summer, it is only accessible by boat, miles from the nearest road. There are hiking trails and paths through the woods and an overview of the Kettle Falls Dam where you can look south into Canada. The Kettle Falls staff also portages boats between Namakan Lake and the vast expanse of Rainy Lake, a service we have utilized several times.
We have spent many a boisterous evening in the bar and on the veranda of the Kettle Falls Hotel. If you weren’t tipsy when you enter the bar, you soon will be, since the floor is several inches higher on one side than the other. Evidently there is a boulder under the floor. Hold onto your drink if you sit in a booth or it will slide. Order a “pink thing.”
Half of Rainy Lake is in Canada, but there are marvelous fishing spots and campsites on the US side. Some years ago we had shore lunch at Hanson campsite on Rainy. This was our view
We don’t fish Rainy often; the portage is expensive, even if you are staying at the hotel, and it is often windy and rough on that big lake, but it is worth a trip every once in a while. The waters of these large northern lakes stay pretty cold even in summer, but what a treat to cool off on a hot summer day on a beach like this
Of course, the weather isn’t always bright and sunny in Voyageurs, and the distances from our favorite fishing spots back to our dock on the river can take an hour. We have full canvas for our boat, to cover up when we see signs that rain (or worse: a thunderstorm) may be on the way.
In thunderstorms we find a place on or near shore, but for the casual spring or summer shower, we just keep fishing as long as the wind is not too brisk.
We only visit the park in spring, summer and fall since our RV park closes the first of October. Our last fishing trips take place in September.
But the park is open year round and people enjoy ice fishing, snowshoeing, cross-country skiing and snowmobiling in winter.
After a morning of fishing, shore lunch, and more fishing in the afternoon, it’s time to head back home before dark and before the mosquitoes begin their dusky poking. We never fish at night because there can be too many unseen rocks or pieces of driftwood.
Some residents of Northern Minnesota have asked cabin owners and seasonal visitors to stay home this spring because they do not have the medical facilities to care for many ill people. The Governor’s Fishing Opener in Otter Tail County has been canceled, but walleye season is scheduled to open May 9. (We never fish the opener; too many people, and it’s often quite cold.) We do not know if our RV park will operate as usual. As of now, Voyageurs is still open although the visitor centers are closed. We had planned to take our grandchildren camping in August, and have reserved a campsite. It remains to be seen if that will be possible.
Thank you for coming along to my distant happy place; I shall now return to spring clean-up in my other very happy place, my garden — now more than ever my refuge and my therapy. What is happening in your gardens and where is your happy place to retreat to in your memories and your photos?
* Some years ago when staying at the hotel, I caught a whiff of gardenias in the empty bedroom that is supposed to be haunted.