Recently I was able to spend a week exploring Minnesota’s North Shore with my wife. This was planned back in February before the pandemic became a global crisis. As the spring went on changing into summer, I wasn’t sure it would happen as so many places closed. Thankfully many of the parks re-opened allowing camping as well. We had three nights planned at the Split Rock Lighthouse State Park  to camp. I was certainly nervous before going as it can be quite cold near the end of September. In the days leading up to this trip I became a little more relaxed as the weather forecast was for beautiful days for much of the time camping. With this nice weather, we were able to watch the colors of fall drape over the area. Unfortunately I did not capture photos every day of the same location to reveal this change from our first night to the last morning.

In the top picture, you can see the yellows, oranges, and reds as they had already began to show significantly on Ellingsen Island but much less so near the lighthouse early in the week. In this next photo above, the colors seem to be even more vibrant the next day on Ellingsen Island contrasting beautifully against the evergreens also populating this little island. In the next picture below, you can see more of the yellows near the lighthouse. Unfortunately it was cloudy limiting the amount of light to really give you a good comparison from the top photo, but the colors are definitely stronger just three days later. I was absolutely amazed at how noticeable the change was in such a short time but very thankful to be able to enjoy this time with my wife while relaxing in such a beautiful spot.