Tag Archives: Gooseberry Falls State Park

Exploring, fall, State Parks, Troy's Blog, Waterfalls

Searching For Fall Colors

With a few days off at the end of September, it was time to head to Northern Minnesota in search of fall colors. Getting on the road for our three hour road trip, my wife and I got going before sunrise to drop our dog off for the day with a family member allowing us to spend most of the day on the North Shore. While driving, the clouds above us sent out a flash of lighting with thunder quickly rumbling. We both looked around for the storm as there weren’t a lot of clouds above when rain began to land on our windshield. It must just be a small could burst that produced a crack of thunder also just above us. As daylight began to reach across the horizon, we could see areas of spotty showers interspersed with clear skies on this early fall morning. It was a fairly warm morning with sunny skies in the forecast for most of the day making for some bonus shorts weather. Soon the sky began to light up with amazing pinks, reds, and purples making it more difficult to concentrate on driving without staring off into the colorful rising sun.

Morning Rainbow whilel driving north

Eventually the sun breached the horizon sending its warm rays across the sky. As I looked in the opposite direction, I noticed a bright rainbow arching across the sky from the small rain showers. What more could we ask for to start this beautiful fall day? A non-threatening thunderstorm followed by amazing sunrise colors only to be capped off by a gorgeous rainbow.  The rain continued to move east and sun moved higher in the sky making way for a nice day to do a little hiking in hopes of finding some beautiful fall colors which are often making their way by now in the northern part of the state.

Reaching Duluth, there was the grandest of the Great Lakes – Lake Superior reaching out across the landscape. A quick stop to use the bathroom and look out at the scenery in front of us and we were back in the car continuing north. Gooseberry Falls State Park was coming up and we decided to make a brief visit since it had been awhile from our last time here. There was definitely less water crashing over the cliffs as dry weather from the summer kept the river lower than usual, but it was still a beautiful park on the shores of Lake Superior.

Gooseberry Falls

Now satisfied with seeing some North Shore waterfalls, we climbed back into the car and made a short drive to Split Rock State Park. We had been anticipating colorful foliage to start appearing for much of our travels north and really didn’t find much. The landscape appeared to be pretty green and vibrant as if it was in the middle of summer. A small shrub or tree here and there produced something other than the deep green leaves but that was it. We looked along the shores of this Great Lake hiking several miles and saw very little as far as colorful trees were concerned. Fortunately it was still a beautiful day with great scenery along our way.

A very green North Shore

With really no colors along the shore, we hiked up on top of some cliffs to see if there were any changing leaves further inland. Sometimes the large lake tends to moderate temperatures keeping these leaves green longer while the inland trees experience different conditions and change a bit earlier. With clear views for miles and miles inland, green prevailed everywhere we looked. A little defeated in our goal of finding some colorful scenery indicating that fall is making its way, we enjoyed our time together and the opportunity to do some hiking on quieter trails. The morning was nearing the end indicating it may be time to start making lunch plans. We had a few miles to hike to our car which would take a little time and then some additional time to drive to a place to grab some delicious food.

Green leaves as far as we could see

On our way back to the car we talked about the disappointing fall colors from this year and some of the spectacular views from the past two years around this same time. Who would have guessed the colorful portion of our journey was right away at sunrise? Still a great day to enjoy with my wife. Here’s a photo from a year ago in the same area.

Fall Colors from 2021

Ice and Snow, Troy's Blog, Winter

Ice, Snow, and Frost at Gooseberry

Winter continues to have a tight grip in Northern Minnesota. I love exploring the North Shore of Lake Superior in the winter even if it means trudging through deep snow to hike anywhere. The landscape seems so peaceful resting from a summer of growing. As I take in each detail of the rocky, icy rivers and waterfalls, little ice sculptures begin to appear. They’re so unique and beautiful! It’s calming to watch water rushing underneath these while trying to imagine how they’ve formed over the past couple of months.

Frost covered ice formations

To see the caverns tucked under the deep snow warns of possible danger should someone decide to venture over this ice cold water. Yet a peak at the snow above and ice below connected by each pillar of ice begs for a closer view. Deciding to walk out on top of this rushing water, following trails of others, I kneel down next to a rare open spot on the river to see frost clinging to these icicles. It’s mesmerized me causing me to forget it’s a cold, cloudy winter day next to the big lake. Reaching for the camera and focusing on the ice formations allows me to see even more of the detail coming together capturing them to admire over and over again. If only I had a macro lens with me and could get even closer to these, I would be lost here for hours.

Viewing these ice sculptures from further away

At first sight, the rushing water grabs your attention. But after watching for awhile you begin to see details surround this small, open portion of Gooseberry River carrying it’s ice cold payload to Lake Superior a short distance away. The ice formations floating above the moving water connected to the snow above with small pillars of ice hiding the numerous caves just behind. Soon these will all be gone with spring quickly approaching. In the next couple of weeks, these ice sheets will begin to melt carrying these sculptures down the river. For today there is plenty of snow taking over the landscape creating a beautiful winter wonderland.

One last picture of frost covered icicles floating above the river

Moving up and down the waterfalls, there are many areas I would like to explore but the afternoon is moving quickly and daylight will run out. Time for a little hike along the river banks enjoying the views. I had hoped to get out and see the lake shore at least for a few minutes but no such opportunity today. There was still the long drive home to come. I could see Lake Superior through the canyon carved by this river from a distance. Ice covered near the shore with that familiar open blue water as you looked out over the lake. That would be as close to it as I would get for this trip.

_DSC1760-1

Walking along the river, I was amazed at how much ice and snow was on top of the water. You could only tell by small areas of open water rushing downstream. The snow had to be four or five feet above these open areas. I couldn’t recall a time when I’ve seen the snow that deep. Once this all begins to melt I’m sure these waterfalls will be furious with all the water running over top. I’ll have to return in early spring to see it first hand.

A lot of snow covering Gooseberry River

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

Adventure, Lake Superior, Troy's Blog

The Frozen River

After a day snowmobiling through Northern Wisconsin we (my cousin and I) wanted to take in a waterfall or two coated in fresh snow so off to Gooseberry Falls we drove. That was the last weekend of the season the trails were open for snowmobiling as it worked out. How fortunate for us?! I was expecting the river to be flowing freely surrounded by fresh snow for some very picturesque landscapes. To my surprise the ice was still well intact over much of the river and waterfalls. For a comparison I’ve included a photo of these same waterfalls during the summer.

Surrounded by Ice

I’ve never been to this area during the winter to see what the waterfalls look like iced over so this was interesting to explore in a completely different perspective. Seeing the waterfalls frozen made me wonder what the process looks like during the winter as the ice gets thicker and thicker. I was also surprised how many people were visiting the falls and taking in a beautiful winter day exploring this state park.

Gooseberry Falls in the summer

Most of the visitors were hiking around the falls, which is what we were doing while some were there to photograph the ice covered waterfalls and one individual was climbing up and over the frozen portions of the falls. Taking some time to talk with him, he says this is his winter version of rock climbing, an activity keeping him out and about enjoying life. It was fun to watch as he picked through the ice with axes and cleats.

Climbing the ice walls

While hiking through the state park I discovered trails in locations I wasn’t aware of trails before. I’ve been to this state park a number of times and never discovered a trail on the opposite side of these waterfalls on top of the cliff overlooking this gorgeous landscape. The views from this newly discovered trail are well worth the extra distance required to get to them. That’s were many of these pictures were taken from. You can see the different angles between most of the waterfall photos and the summer shot.

Peering inside the layers of ice covering the river.

Because one of my goals for 2016 was to photograph snowflakes, I’ve started to look more closely at some of the details in the ice and snow this year. Especially melting ice and snow. The picture above shows the layers that make up ice covering the river as portions are beginning to melt. Some of the freshly fallen snow was beginning to melt and gliding down the ice creating interesting trickles across the several inches of ice still coating the river.

More layers of melting ice.

As we continued our hike around a portion of the Gooseberry River I found a few other locations providing a snapshot into the layer upon frozen layer of water making up this thick sheet of ice. In the above photograph you can see the layers underneath the top layer which is still coated in snow. The darkest portions are running water flowing underneath all of this ice. I believe the water depth in this area is several feet so while it looks relatively shallow, that look is deceiving.

Waterfalls frozen in place

Making our way to the lower falls you can see the magnificent rocks covered in all of this ice. in our explorations we confirmed water running under much of this as there were a few spots open to the water underneath as well as sounds of rushing water muffled by layers of ice. There were some great shapes created from the freezing and thawing during the recent days. It’s interesting to look at all these little details that combine together to make this amazing ice walls. Sometimes I forgot I was standing over running water as I was attempting to photograph these small icicles and crystals and their curious shapes.

One of the many icicles making up this huge ice wall.

Darkness was approaching on this already cloud covered light and the wind was growing colder so it was time to exit this beautiful ice river and falls. Before we did I was amazed further by the resilience of trees that grow out of these rock ledges as in the winter they are also ice covered. How they continue to grow surprises me and I work with plants almost every day. These tree roots and icicles clinging to the side of this stone wall made for a sight you don’t expect to see.

Tree roots growing through ice and rock

Gooseberry Falls State Park has a beautiful visitors center with great information about the North Shore of Minnesota but was unfortunately closed as we were exiting. In the absence of park personnel, we were sent on our way by some of the park residents. Although they seemed to prefer our departure instead of wanting to be interacted with.

Local resident deer sending us on our way