International Falls, Minnesota, United StatesAugust 25, Hilltop Lodge, 2002 2nd Avenue, International Falls MN us
- owners Ryan and Amanda Schmidt
Well, last night I was at the Woodenfrog state forest campsite and it was pretty nice.
I sat out on a rock above the water and watched the trees and water as the daylight dimmed. I don't think I heard or saw any wildlife, including birds, but I did hear a clicking that sounded as if it were coming from a broken tree trunk. (Now I hear something sort of cawing, but not like a crow - I am at the Hilltop Lodge in International Falls now.) After I came back up to my campsite, i brushed my teeth and walked to the little brown house with my phone as flashlight. I came back and settled down in the car. It isn't too bad - a bit hard, maybe. I will put down Kara's sleeping bag for extra padding next time. It isn't easy getting in and taking off my shoes. I c an't really sit up once I am up there. But I was snug and warm. I went to bed sometime around 9 pm. I read by the little battery lantern for awhile. My neighbor was nice, calling over, "Miss, is my music bothering you?" I told him not at all, but it seemed to stop shortly afterward. I got up once and then I noticed a red light flickering on the dashboard - do cars still have dashboards? Anyway, I tried various things but it kept flashing. It was a red car - I got out the manual and my glasses and had to get into the front seat to try to see the image clearly - no open hoods or backs, or side doors. I was driving myself crazy...finally I covered it with my down vest and hoped against hope that it wouldn't drain the battery. I figured I would have to visit a garage to have it diagnosed.
So finally I went to bed. I should have looked for stars and the aurora borealis. Although I thought the possibility of northern lights unlikely with the added presence of the smoke from the Greenwood fire.
(It is a bit odd that I didn't address the fire situation more while I was traveling because it had been an issue from the start of the trip - in that I wasn't sure whether my route would be possible because of all the fires across the western part of the country. So the day that I left the campsite in Tower MN, I hit the first signs of fires but I thought at the time that it was just hazy and rainy weather. When I arrived at the first Voyageurs Visitor Center, the ranger affirmed that the haze (and smokey smell) were from wildfires and that they were on alert. She cautioned me to be alert in case I had to evacuate the campground.)
I woke up earlier but decided to get up at 6:45 am. Some others were beginning to make noises by then. I saw the flashing light was still going so I tried to hurry. I made my muesli and read some of the Louise Penny mystery and then hopped in the car after getting the stuff from the front drivers seat into the back where I had slept. I had put on the hand brake because I was on an incline and the picnic table was behind me so I had to release it to drive out My first attempts failed. The car would not move so I had to get out the manual again. First I had to find the page under brake somewhere.
As I read, it said that it could be released by pushing down on the accelerator but you had to have your seat belt on and meet some other conditions. It worked!! Then I was on my way - the long way out of the campground. I tried to get rid of some of my recyclables, but they only had a bin for aluminum cans so I decided to wait for the national park.
I passed several of the roads and places I had been to the previous day and then headed north on rt 53 toward International Falls and the Rainy Lake Visitor Center of Voyageurs NP. I spoke to a very nice young woman ranger who was from Maine. The man she had just spoken to w3as from NJ. Later I asked a young man about birds and he apologized on his ignorance and said he was from Brooklyn. Anyway, she suggested a 12-minute film on the origins of the park, and two trails leading from the visitor center as well as an ethno-botanical garden right by the center. I first walked around the small ethno-botanical garden and saw the wild plum tree that the young woman ranger was enthusiastic about.
Then I did the trail with two loops and met her along the way, then I met her a second time when I had taken a wrong turn and was doing one of the offshoot loops a second time. I have not been so good following maps this trip. I did tell her that it would help if the maps they placed a certain points on the path showed where you were at that point. She said other people had problems as well and I was not the only one. She had mentioned how she runs on the bike trail. I thoought it might not be as interesting since it runs partly next to the road, but I found it quite nice: I didn't trip over roots or rocks on it, there was a pleasant breeze, and I did see some flowers and other things to take photos of. I am still looking for wild life. The ranger said she saw a deer on the path I met her on, but I think I will probably never see a deer on a path - since I always have to look at the ground so as not to trip. I heard few birds but one or two calls - one short, shrill and the other tweety and almost melodious.
I did see a squirrel flit by when I was talking with the ranger on the first path.
In between the first path and the bike path, I had my lunch of olives, pita chips and olive tapennade overlooking the lake and docks. There was a little bunch of rocks sticking up in the water maybe 70 feet from shore and I thought I saw a bird sitting there. A man walked by telling his son he saw a loon out in the water. I took a bunch of photos, trying to zoom in on the bird. I decided to take a few more - it hadn't moved - to show the rangers so they could identify my one wildlife sighting. Then I zoomed in on one of the photos and looked more carefully. The bird was not a bird, but rocks disguised as a bird. When I came back from the bike path, I took one more look at the beautiful scenery from the dock area and walked out on the docks. As I was coming back, I looked....and thought I saw a bird. I looked more closely - it was a bird. I took whole bunches of photos and brought in my phone to show one of the rangers - it turned out to be the one from Brooklyn - self-admittedly no bird expert, but he thouhgt it was a cormorant and showed me some pictures in a bird book of a cormorant that looked much like my photo but the bird still remains mostly unidentified. This bird did not spread out its wings to dry as I have seen cormorants do.
I had also asked the young woman from Maine about lodging nearby. She said most of the cabins and things were around $200 and up. In International Falls, there were less expensive options but they tended to be seedy. She felt that a State campground in Ranier on the beach was a good bet. The man this am where I got my coffee and ice said it might rain tonight and possibly be a thunderstorm so I really wanted indoor accommodation tonight.. I got on Hopper and found 2 possibilities. Then I checked Booking.com which seemed to have them all over Minnesota. When I went back to Hopper there was only one available so I booked it. It turns out that this place has been renovated by a young couple and they have done a really nice job. They even have Peet's coffee for the coffee maker. I couldn't get onto the wifi with the netbook (although I could with the phone) and first Amanda, then Ryan tried to help me. Ryan did get the cabin wifi to connect for me outside but, after connecting, it disappeared again so I am doing this in wordpad once again.
2025-05-22