Tag Archives: Duluth

Lake Superior, Troy's Blog, Winter

Ice Breaking Up on the Big Lake

A warm late winter afternoon on Minnesota’s North Shore highlighted what time of year it was. Spring would soon be here bringing warmer days. Ice along the shoreline of Lake Superior was beginning to break apart as evidenced by little islands made entirely of ice floating out to sea. Plates of ice littered the shoreline from previous days when it broke apart. Probably from a windy day creating waves on the big lake. These plates were stacked up in all different directions as the waves washed them up on top of each other. Overnight a light snow fell covering much of the rock and ice making up the shore line just north of Duluth. It’s really a beautiful winter scene!

Vertical plates of ice

The sun was high overhead on this bright afternoon showcasing each shard of ice. Each step must be carefully placed lest you break through this often fragile puzzle or slip and find yourself face to face with an unforgiving piece of granite coated in frozen water. Worse yet, you could land in this very cold body of water. It was a warm winter afternoon but that only means the temperature was just above freezing and a dip in the water could bring on hyperthermia. This is a good opportunity to use ice cleats to help secure each step allowing the user to spend more time enjoying each barge of ice as it floats by, slowly disintegrating.

Ice floating away

Focusing more on the shoreline brings a myriad of shapes and sizes of ice plates thrown on top of one another. How did they get like this? Many of the boulders and beach were covered in ice. That is easier for me to figure out as the spray from each wave crashing into the shoreline ends in an eruption of water coating these rocks in water which quickly freezes.

The suns strength was not enough on this day to break through most of that ice protected by a thin layer of snow. Strolling along the shore brought a relaxing beautiful late winter view. But for only a short time as there was still the long drive back to the big city before heading to work the next day. A visit to the shores of Lake Superior is always a great way to spend a day no matter what season it is.

Shoreline covered in ice

fall, Lake Superior, Photos, Troy's Blog

Late Fall Colors of Lake Superior

Image

Early in November there was an afternoon trip to Duluth to pick up my daughter from college for the weekend. I never like to just go there and turn around to come home. There’s too much to explore along the Great Lake which comes to a point in Duluth. I stopped at a park on the North side just to get out and breath in the air flowing off this Great Lake. Surprisingly there were some magnificent fall colors still painting the shoreline. Fortunately I had the camera with as I’ve learned to never go to this area without it. While the grand landscape of fall colors had disappeared, there were trees here and there showing off their fall displays. Most of these were Mountain Ash Trees with a few Maples mixed in.

Fall colors of Mountain Ash

Mountain Ash were showing off their incredible shades of orange and yellow, depending on where in the tree you looked. Topping off this display were beautiful orange clusters of berries which complemented its foliage for such a striking fall arrangement growing next to the dark granite shores of the lake. Taking pictures of the overall trees seem to lose the vibrancy of these oranges and yellows. In addition, the trees that surrounded them had all lost their leaves and now only had bare sticks to show making for a much less interesting picture. It was a cool fall day with a light breeze blowing off the lake and the sun covered by clouds. Yet it was relaxing to stroll along the shore to take in the fading show of fall, capturing a piece of the show here and there with the camera.

Mountain Ash hanging out over the water of Lake Superior

As I continued to photograph the Mountain Ash trees, a birch tree kept distracting me with it beautiful white bark interrupted by dark scars as the tree repaired areas damaged previously. Eventually I turned the camera towards this birch tree working to capture this interesting bark. When I used the right angle, Mountain Ash leaves and berries would contrast beautifully with this bark allowing the photograph to show the white bark beginning to peel from the trunk as birch do. Areas where branches once danced in the breeze were now covered in dark, rough bark making an interesting view next to this white bark. Having taking a few shots and now satisfied with the pictures I captured, it was off to explore more areas of this park.

Birch bark patterns

Heading towards Duluth, there’s an amphitheater with the historic lift bridge residing in the distance. Here a young maple tree continued to hold on to its blazing red leaves while all of those around it had recently lost theirs. This created a bed of red and yellow on the ground as if to pay homage to this last tree holding on to it precious life giving foliage. A beautiful final fall display as winter snows will soon cover it all in white. Off to campus to reunite with our daughter and prepare for the long drive home as darkness would spread across the freeway.

Reds and yellows from Sugar Maples

Lake Superior, Travel Photos, Troy's Blog

Mansion on the North Shore

On the North Shore of Minnesota, an old mansion sits on the shores of Lake Superior. Glensheen, built by the Congdons in the early 1900’s, is a great historic place to visit in the Duluth area. As September continued into it’s last weeks, my wife and I decided to take in a day at Glensheen exploring the mansion, gardens, and Lake Superior. Thankfully it was a nice fall day, almost requiring some time lounging by the shore taking in the views of Duluth off in the distance. The trees were just beginning to show the brilliance of fall yet to come. Our first order of business was to take a self guided tour of the main house. It’s always interesting to see the extravagance put into some of these wealthy homes.

Extensive details in the stair banisters

While wondering through the entrance and into the living room, so many details where evident such as little knickknacks purchased from far away places. It seems that the first level of many of these large mansions are dedicated to entertaining and this one is no different. Guests are obviously an important part of those able to afford such a place. I’m sure these entertaining spaces help instill confidence to fellow business associates justifying there need. Many pieces in this place caught my attention but the most impressive to me was the staircase railings. Details put into this woodwork are things you just don’t see very often even though they should be easier to make with today’s technology.  Studying the patterns and designs of the staircase, and stained glass windows illuminating them, could take awhile as they are so intricate and interesting. But there’s more to see so a few pictures to study later and it was off to the next level.

Shower with multiple shower heads

Entering the living area of the house provided a view into the Congdon’s personal lives and how they lived. Another surprise to me was the use of multiple showerheads in their showers. I didn’t realize this was a practice at the time this house was built. It seemed to be more of a modern incorporation but clearly has been around much longer.

Probably my favorite place in this huge mansion was the breakfast area. This was certainly designed for a relaxing start to the day with its wood ceiling and numerous stained glass windows which appeared as though tree branches were hanging down over the entire room. Through the glass are some of the beautiful gardens with Lake Superior as a backdrop. Almost every meal should be spent here in my opinion but there was a grand dining room in which to eat the last meal of the day nearby. Both of these dining areas had a nice view overlooking the landscape and lake.

Breakfast room

Moving on through the house, another room that surprised me was the infirmary. A house with it’s own hospital room? How often did people get sick? I wondered if this would be an effective place in 2020 with the Coronavirus pandemic continuing. However back when this place was built, the personal care given while at home was likely better and more comfortable than at a hospital. After exploring each level consisting of bedrooms, studies, and places of entertainment, it was off to grab some food on one of the beaches of Glensheen. Listening to the waves crash against the shoreline creating a rhythmic, peaceful sound almost lulling someone to sleep under the September sun.

Beautiful views of Lake Superior

Upon the completion of our meal, my wife and I headed for the gardens of this estate. Many are still kept up in similar fashion to when the Congdons lived there. There are fruit trees, vegetables, and several flower gardens filling the grounds around the mansion. Near their vegetable gardens are tennis courts and an area once used for lawn bowling, a popular past time in the early 1900’s. Greenhouse also existed for fresh winter produce which have since been taken down. A stream runs nearby with a stately bridge built over it leading to walking paths. Unfortunately those paths are now gone so once you cross the bridge you have to turn around. While walking around the property, we had noticed preparations for an event to be held that night which appeared to be a wedding. This would certainly be a grand location for such an ceremony. With many areas of this beautiful estate explored, we returned to the beach, which had chairs and a firepit, to enjoy more of the afternoon sun while gazing out over Lake Superior and the Duluth canal and lift bridge. As the afternoon wore on we decided to say goodbye to Glensheen and find a nice place to eat before the sun set behind the hills of the city. A wonderful day to spend at the Congdon’s residence!

Fall colors beginning to arrive

Exploring, State Parks, Troy's Blog

Spur of the Moment New Years Trip

1 Comment

As I was finishing my day of work on New Years Eve day I began to look to the rest of the holiday weekend and wondered how to best celebrate the end of 2016 and the beginning of 2017. One of the thoughts that kept running through my mind was a desire to enjoy winter. For the last couple of years I’ve grabbed the camera on New Years Day and went hiking at nearby parks. Unfortunately there wasn’t much in the way of good snow this year so began to explore different options for a winter wonderland to start another year.

The last sunset of 2016

Quickly I arrived at the idea of going to the North Shore of Minnesota. That should be far enough to find a snow covered landscape. While driving home I called the rest of the family and ran the idea past them to see if there was any interest beyond my own. Since it was very spontaneous it took a few moments to explain my ideas. Taking some time to digest this they soon determined it could be fun and phone calls were quickly made to take care of responsibilities at home for the next 24 hours as well as secure a place to stay.  Once I returned home from my last day of work for the year we all packed and gathered winter gear, loaded the car and hit the road for a short 2 hour drive to Duluth taking in the last sunset of 2016 along the way.

Enjoying hundreds of Goldeneye ducks

Our arrival in Duluth was met with slightly icy roads as they had just received some fresh snow that morning and a nighttime view of Lake Superior which remained mostly ice free to spite some very cold temperatures the week before. We quickly dropped off our stuff and headed for a favorite place to eat while in Duluth – Old Chicago. After celebrating the change of years it was off to bed. The next morning I awoke ahead of everyone else so decided I should grab the camera and hope for a beautiful sunrise over Lake Superior. Unfortunately, as you can see from the top photo, there was very little sun but there still was a great view as light increased on the morning. There was about a half dozen people out near the canal trying to do the same thing I was, photograph the first sunrise of 2017!

The upper frozen falls of Gooseberry Falls State Park

While the sun failed to make a bright, fiery appearance, several hundred Common Goldeneye ducks swam in the open waters of the Duluth Canal for anyone willing to be up early to enjoy. I’ve never seen this type of duck before so it was a nice treat to watch them for awhile before heading back to the room to gather up the rest of the family and continue north to Gooseberry Falls State Park. A short time later we pulled into the winter wonderland I was hoping for to bring in the new year. Surprisingly most of the waterfalls and river at this park were frozen over making for some beautiful natural ice sculptures covered in fluffy white snow. Not very many people take the time to explore these frozen falls so it was a nice treat to see them in an an unusual way.

The river is frozen over while Lake Superior remains open in the distance

After a couple of hours playing around in the snow and ice of Gooseberry we wanted to continue further north towards Tettegouche State Park. Fortunately this is not a long drive from where we were giving most of the afternoon at one of my favorite parks on the North Shore. Arriving a little while later we got out of the car, put on our winter gear – boots, hats, gloves, snow pants and began our excursion to the high falls of Tettegouche. Along this 1.5 mile trail we became enthralled with this winter landscape enveloping us all around. So peaceful and very few people around giving most of this quiet winter scene exclusively to us. I kept waiting to hear a wolf howl in the distance confirming our picture book arrival to Northern Minnesota but no such thing happened.

The low sun in the horizon shining through the tall trees

Plowing through the snow we arrived at our destination to find that this river and waterfall were also mostly frozen over allowing very different viewing perspectives than I’ve every witnessed before. Now we could walk almost right up to the falls and feel just how large it actually is while listening to the water run under thick walls of ice making us less certain about standing on what would be water during much of the year. A very serene moment looking over this tall wall of ice surrounded by mostly undisturbed snow.

Exploring the High Falls of Tettegouche State Park

As we examined the great ice wall all of the different formations started to jump out. Different clusters of icicles joined together creating an ice filled curtain concealing fast flowing water behind which was only visible in small iceless windows. Closer examination of the frozen water surrounding these falls showed how unique each one is. There were different colors, some were opaque while others almost crystal clear only interrupted by air bubbles frozen inside combined with various shapes. Many were frost covered while others where topped with snow. In other areas the ice formations looked as though they were creating a stairway to the top of the water falls although I would never climb it without proper equipment for fear of slipping into surrounding stone ledges.

Looking at some of the cool ice formations created from the water falls

As daylight began to soften we decided to take in the last bit of sunlight to return to the parking lot to avoid being stranded on icy staircases in the darkness. As the sun dipped lower into the horizon we could feel the cold seeping into our heavy layers of winter protection. Fortunately we had enough hand warmers to accommodate until we made it back to the warmth of the visitors center and our car for the journey back home.

Only a tiny portion of the river is still running free in Northern Minnesota