North Shore, North Woods

A jet's contrail points the way along the Birch Hill Loop at Gooseberry Falls SP

On the first weekend of February we took advantage of a last-minute discount at the Baptism River Inn, located near Tettegouche State Park and Silver Bay, MN.  Although we had been in north east Minnesota just two weeks prior, the conditions for cross country skiing were now good, unlike previously. The weekend was relaxing and rejuvinating. We got in some good sking, ate some good food, and enjoyed the good life.

After a fancy breakfast of salmon scrambled eggs, aspargus, a scone and tasty coffee, we headed to the Northwoods Ski Touring Trail just outside of Silver Bay.  I skied this system with the Rovers in 2011; click here to see my 2011 trip report.  We hadn't been skiing much this winter so we opted not to tackle the long trip out-and-back to Tettegouche Camp. We skied exclusively on the Northwoods system.  We did take the 1.1 K spur trail to Bean Lake, something new for me.  Cristin really enjoyed the skiing here, which features a well-groomed, narrow, woodsy, single track on easy-to-moderately difficult trails.



The spur trail to Bean Lake





Bean Lake is surrounded by high ridges,
one of which includes the Superior Hiking Trail

After skiing, we headed to Beaver Bay for mid-afternoon meal at the Northern Lights Cafe. We had had an excellent meal here. We recommend the walleye sandwich and the cranberry chicken sandwhich!   The cafe is right off of MN Hwy 61. It has a pleasant back porch and an outdoor patio area with great views of Lake Superior.



Northern Lights at Northern Lights Cafe.

This gnome was of several on the patio at the unique Northern Lights Cafe
on Lake Superior in Beaver Bay, MN.

Rocky Taconite welcomes visitors
to Silver Bay, MN, a mining town. 

After a stop at iconic Zup's grocery store in Silver Bay, we headed back to the fabulous Baptism River Inn.  There are only 4 guest rooms at this newer B&B,  each one with a private bathroom with a jacuzzi.  We stayed in the River Room and felt fortuate as it was very quite and private, with great views outside and lots natural lighting during the day.

The Baptism River and the rugged terrain of the area is visible from our room's deck.

The sauna as viewed from our room.

On Sunday we skied the very nice Birch Hill Loop at Gooseberry Falls State Park.



Cristin herringbones her way up Birch Hill.

 

A 360 degree panarama of the area awaits at the top of Birch Hill,
including views of Lake Superior as seen here,

Jack appreciates the nice view, made even nicer knowing it
is all downhill now!  What goes up must come down.

THE END