North Shore Skiing, February 2011

On the weekend of February 11-13, six Rovers spent the weekend on the North Shore. We stayed at a super deluxe townhouse in Beaver Bay just off the shore of Lake Superior. I found this rental via Vacation Rentals By Owner.  In addition to myself, those participating were John F., Luke B., Paul S., Mary Ann P., and Carmen L.  John noted that he had lived in some apartments that were smaller than the master bedroom he stayed in this weekend.

On the drive up Friday, Paul and I stopped and skied at the Two Harbors Ski trail, a townie trail about 1 mile from MN Hwy 61.  Nice system! 

(l to r) Luke, Mary Ann, Carmen, John, Paul

On Saturday AM, we all headed to the Northwoods Trail system that is just outside of Silver Bay.  It links up with Tettegouche State Park trail system.  Both systems feature single track classic trails in a classic north woods setting. The conditions were nearly perfect, temps in the mid-20s, calm winds, great snow coverage.  The only minor complaints were that the pole planting was very soft and in the pines on the Northwoods trail there was lots of litter of needles, bark, and pine cones, which gummed up Mary Ann's wax skis.

Jack on the Palisade Valley Trail

We skied 10K from the Northwoods trail head to Tettegouche Camp via Palisade Valley.  I had never skied this trail; it was outstanding. I did not feel like I was in Minnesota as there were steep ridges on either side of the trail. Spectacular.  We generally climbed, as several short but steep uphills were encountered but the majority of the mileage was more level.

We took a lunch break at Tettegouche Camp, which has a large enclosed log cabin style shelter with a wood burning Franklin Stove.     Luke and Carmen fetched some wood and started a fire. We then headed back to Northwoods, backtracking thru the Palisade Valley.  Now we were hitting the downhills, which provided several fun and exciting moments.

When we hooked back up with the Northwoods system, five of us decided to take Herringbone Hill, which is very steep up and a fast,long ride down.  One of our party decided to take the longer but more gentle bypass trail.  We then headed back to the parking lot, completing a 20K+ day of skiing.

When we got back to the townhouse, most took advantage of the sauna located in a nearby building.  We then had a nice dinner and later relaxed with one of Carmen's scrabble-like board games and a wood fire.

We departed the townhouse by 10AM Sunday, after enjoying Carmen's egg bake and fresh hot bread, and we all headed to Gooseberry Falls State Park for some skiing. We started at the Visitor Center and skied a short loop down to Lake Superior. We took off our skis and walked around the lake shore near the Lady Slipper pinnic shelter and Picnic Point.

Paul on the shoreline of Lake Superior at Gooseberry Falls SP

It was very mild, temperature in the low 30's, no wind, low clouds, and gray as can be everywhere one looked.  The sky, lake, and snow all appeared the same dismal gray color. None of us had much energy and we soon departed for home.

We all had a great time and lived the life of luxury for 2 days for a cost of about only $110 for 2 nights lodging, 2 breakfast, 2 bag lunches, and dinner Saturday.  It was so much fun we talked about a reunion trip in 2012!

The images from Palisade Valley are etched into my memory -- that is one cool place and I can't believe I hadn't been there before now!