Split Rock Lighthouse

This week for Travel Tuesday I am going to take you to one of my favorite lighthouses I have visited, and it doesn't even have an ocean view.

Although, in some ways it may look like an ocean.  After all, Lake Superior is the largest of all the Great Lakes in North America.

Just drive north from Duluth, Minnesota along the beautiful and scenic HWY 61.  Its about a 50 minute to an hour drive depending on the day.

There is a visitors center you can stop in first, and yes they do charge to go up and visit the light house itself.  At the time I went it was $9 per adults, seniors and kids were less.
If you enjoy history like I do, then take your time and enjoy walking around the visitors center and check out all the exhibits.

After head out back and make your way up to the lighthouse.  Yes, you do actually get to climb the winding staircase and make your way to the top.

You can laugh, but as I did I couldn't help but think about the old Disney movie I saw as a child Pete's Dragon and the lighthouse in the movie.

The views from the top are stunning.  Depending on the day, and the time you go it may be a little foggy, or it could also be crystal blue.

I never would have imagined the shores along Lake Superior would be so beautiful and have such large cliffs.

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When you are done, enjoy the surrounding grounds and take a little hike.  Just a quarter mile down, a trail and a lot of stairs will drop you down to some stunning views along the shorelines.

There is so much more to do and see in this area, lots of waterfalls and hiking nearby and along HWY 61.

If your a runner and you need an excuse to run a marathon and do a little hiking and exploring in this area.  Enter the Grandma's Marathon in/near Duluth, Minnesota.  It's an awesome and scenic marathon, great support and a great location for the adventure seeker!

Have you been to Split Rock Lighthouse before?
Have you run the Grandma's Marathon before?  If you did, did you take a few extra days before or after to checkout the sights?

Gooseberry Falls State Park

This week for Travel Tuesday I am taking you to an area in Minnesota near the shorelines of the beautiful and massive Great Lake Superior.  Gooseberry Falls, located right off of HWY 61.

Gooseberry Falls are about five different falls that come down from the mountain and cliffs and then go into Lake Superior.

It's actually pretty short and easy hiking, there is even a 1 mile handicap access trail that will take you down to the main section of the falls.
But there are actually 18 miles of trails, so you can take your pick and go as far or as short as you'd like.

Depending on the time of year, you can get right out and hike down on the cliffs around the falls, I had a fun time picking my way on these for different vantage points.  Also on a hotter day, it is a great way to cool off.

There is also a visitors center, bathrooms and picnic sites for those who want to spend a half to full day in the area.

I actually took a part of another trail called Castle Danger which also takes you out to some beautiful overlooks, it was actually a little over two miles round trip added to the Gooseberry Falls trail.

What will you get by visiting this area?  Waterfalls, lots and lots of beautiful waterfalls.  Not to mention some fun hiking and breathtaking views and overlooks.

If you're going to be visiting the North Shores area of Minnesota, I highly recommend taking an hour or two and visiting Gooseberry Falls State Park

IF YOU GO

* HWY 61 from Duluth to Canada is a beautiful scenic drive right along the coast of lake superior, a definite must do, if you have a day or two.

* Take water and a camera so you can stay out and enjoy the sights no matter where your feet take you around the state park.

* Its free, at least I was not charged to park or hike around the area.

* For my friends to love to run, The Grandma's Marathon held in June, is just down the road.  Great place for a racecation!

Travel Tuesday's - Take a Trip to Minnesota - Lake Superior Area

Today is the first of what will now be a weekly series I plan to call Travel Tuesday's.  I love to travel, and as I am working on my marathon journey across America, I am visiting some amazing well known and less known locations.  So I thought of an idea to share them on my blog, so others can decide if a specific place should be added to their "one day" travel list.

This series will feature a little bit of any of these things:  Fabulous places to visit, Spectacular travel destinations, Great hiking trails.  Some weeks I will showcase a destination, other weeks I may just pick a specific hike or location.  Most will be within the United States, but occasionally a few may not.  So as my readers I hope you will enjoy these posts, feel free to ask any questions you have, or make additional suggestions or recommendations.

Today I would like to take you on a tour of things to do in Minnesota - Specifically the Lake Superior Area near Duluth and all along the coastal region of Lake Superior northward toward Canada.

Splitrock Lighthouse - One of the most photographed
Lighthouses in the country I have been told.

Along lake Superior you can expect to see beautiful breathtaking views.  Several lighthouses of different kinds, some of which you can even tour.  Dramatic cliff side drops, waterfalls small and large hidden in lush green forests.

On a calm day, the lake will appear similar to most other lakes (except much larger).  But on a windy or stormy day, you can expect fog, or waves crashing up onto this cliff side.  I have heard some of the worst storms bring these huge waves crashing in up to 30 feet high.  (Almost makes you feel like you are at an ocean:)

Along the coast of Lake Superior

Let's start in Duluth and work our way north.  When I visited Duluth I found a cute city town built on basically a mountain side.  For colder days, and winter days they have an indoor skywalk system that allows you to walk pretty much anywhere you would want to go from your hotel to other city locations and even lake front, while staying heated and dry but still being able to see the views of the city by window.

The town also has trails and walkways near the lake and city parks, that will allow you to go miles without getting bored.  You can sit and watch the famous bridge go up, and the large ships come in, or hike along the rocky shoreline.

Take the scenic drive along Lake Superior and only a few miles outside the city the forest and hiking adventures can begin.  I had a blast pulling out at the different stops, taking a short or longer hike to different waterfalls and lighthouse sights.  Upon arriving there, I had no idea how much there was to explore and how much more time I would wish I would have had:)

Make sure to bring your camera, and I recommend bringing a lens cloth, as it can be humid and foggy one hour and clear and beautiful the next.  (It's always good to be prepared:)






No matter if you enjoy a short hike or a longer hike.  This area provides both.  As you drive further north up the coast you will see many different pullouts for viewpoints.  Short hikes to breathtaking waterfalls that are less than a half a mile, to a couple miles round trip.  There is something for everyone who loves the outdoors.

Foggy river outlet into the lake - Early morning

Gooseberry Falls Area from a distance out on the hiking trail

Lake Superior Coastal View

I took well over 100 photographs on my trip, so it was a little hard to just post a few.  But I tried to select a few of different varieties and different locations along my time hiking and exploring the coastal area's here.

This is another view of some of the Gooseberry Falls

I did a little hiking a bit way up further north, about an hour
from the Canadian boarder.  I found this beautiful canyon with
Easy hiking trails, to moderate hiking (uphill).

This particular waterfall is visible right from the scenic
Hwy, so this one is perfect for anyone to see.

Although I am a bit more of a hiker, if I had more time I would have likely chartered a sailboat and went out on a lake cruise.  Additionally, for those interested they also have fishing charters you can take.

This is a large little slot canyon you can hike out to on a short trail
cross a few bridges and see the beautiful canyon cut from this
river as it makes it way into the great lake.

This is one of the views that you can see from the splitrock
lighthouse overlook.

I took a self guided tour in the Splitrock lighthouse, and then walked the State Parks trails, and many staircase cliff side wood walkways.  (Let me tell ya, there are a lot of stairs to go from the top of these cliffs down to the bottom of the lake:)  I actually hiked these a day before a marathon, so thanks to all those stairs my rear was a bit sore to start the race:)  But it was worth it!

I think if I can ever make it back, I'd love to stay in one of those
cabins you can see hidden in the woods above the river.
At least for a day or two, aside from the roaring river and waterfall
I think it would be absolutely peaceful!!!

It had actually just rained earlier in the day, which is why the river
water is so muddy in this picture.

Another view of Gooseberry Falls - There are lots of different
waterfalls that cascade down, you can hike out and around to all of
them quite easily.  There is a short loop trail (few miles) that you can
take that will allow you to see all the different sight views.

I had to hike back in a bit of a ways to see this set of waterfalls
But other than a little steep it wasn't bad at all.  Especially since
it was so beautiful and worth it!

This is was taken in the town of Duluth - I snapped this
picture one evening - This was actually my dinner view
Beautiful and peaceful, huh!

This lighthouse was about a 20 minute drive north of Duluth
if you can't guess, I love lighthouses!!!

Here is a little information on if you want to go:
*  You may be able to find a direct flight to Duluth - But if you are like me, it wasn't an option.  So I flew into Minneapolis and then took a short connecting flight to Duluth.
*  There are many places to choose from to stay, and great hotels. If you don't want to stay in Duluth, you can always stay in a nearby city or campground.
*  Also, if you go you are a hop skip and a jump from Wisconsin - It's literally across the bridge from Duluth:)
*  Although it takes a few hours from Duluth, you can drive the coast all the way up to the Canadian Boarder
*  If you like to visit National Parks - Isle Royale is in the Northwest Corner of Lake Superior - However, you'll need to take a boat to get there.  They have cruise options available.
*  They do occasionally get crazy weather here, and it isn't uncommon for heavy fog to roll in, so be careful if when you take your rental car out and bad weather rolls in.  It's smarter to pull over a few minutes and let the storm pass.  (I had to do this a couple of times.)  However, I also noticed it would pour and then be beautifully sunny a few hours later.  So be prepared for sun, rain, hail and fog.  (I was there 6 days and I saw a little of all of this.)
*  When hiking it wouldn't hurt to carry bug spray.  I didn't need it, but with all the water MN gets, I would imagine it would be better to be safe than sorry.
*  They also have Zoo's, museums, aquariums and many recreation attractions in the area besides just hiking and sightseeing.
*  Last if you are a runner, I highly recommend the Grandma's Marathon (or half) that they host in June in Duluth.  This was actually the race that brought me to this beautiful little gem of a hikers and explorers paradise.

I love to travel, and explore so I hope you will come by each week and check out my new Travel Tuesdays.  No matter where you have plans to go, I hope you are able to get out and enjoy the outdoors!  There is so much beauty and a lifetime will never be enough to see it all!  Happy Tuesday All!

My Minnesota Marathon

Split Rock Lighthouse

     So Minnesota was my 25th marathon state on my goal and it was a fabulous race!  I ran the Grandma's Marathon in Duluth along the beautiful coast of Lake Superior and lush tree lined roads.  It was a decent size marathon, I believe around 7,000+ entrants and an amazing group of volunteers and race organizers.  Also to clarify for people like my sister, it was not a race just for Grandma's.  Well I maybe for a few, but not me:)

     We were pre-warned in the days leading up to the race to expect temps in the 70's and horrible humidity up in the 85% range.  The temperature was expected to be perfect, but add the high humidity and it had the possibility of being a REALLY hot race.  They also warned us about a chance of rain showers.
Having run a lot of HOT races this year both with and without humidity, I prepared fully and I was perfectly hydrated going into it.

Northern Coast of Lake Superior

     The race had a shuttle bus that actually picked me up right in front of my hotel.  Guess that is one of the benefits of staying at one of the race recommended hotels.  Truthfully the only reason I ended up at the Radisson in Duluth (which I swear was the highest priced hotel in the city).  Wasn't because I wanted to pay a small fortune each night, but I was an idiot and left booking my hotel until a few months prior and basically I didn't have a choice.  When you wait too late, you are basically stuck with places that have prices others tried to avoid.  That aside, it was a nice hotel and I did have a fabulous room that overlooked the city and Lake Superior and their famous Ariel Lift Bridge

    So after a short 30 minute bus ride into the small town of Two Harbors, more specifically I believe it was a car dealerships parking lot:)  Right next to the railroad tracks and on the Scenic North Shore Road.  When I arrived at first I just noticed that it kind of felt like it was getting hotter by the minute,
When it came time for the race to begin someone sang the star-spangled-banner.  I was in line for the port-o-potties which more often than not ends up being my location during the song in a race LOL.  Then the fighter jets flew over, and I have to say it was AWESOME!  One moment nothing then they were there and if you blinked you'd of missed it since they were so fast and I swear flying as low as they could so it was even louder for us.
Right after the jet flew over they played the theme from Top Gun "Highway to the Danger Zone."  I loved that touch!  At that point I was seriously hooked and finally caught on to the race energy and I was ready to go.

Gooseberry Falls

     The first few miles went pretty good, I eased into the race having some weird pains in my calves and ankles which I think were from my new shoes that might not have been as broken in as they should have been.  I adjusted my pace and mixed things up a bit and by mile 3 the pains seemed to be gone completely.  I was sweating A LOT from the heat on the so far not really a cloud in the sky day, and my stomach was growling because I didn't eat enough that morning.  But other than those two things, I was feeling pretty fabulous!
The race was so well organized, medical support at every mile (which I didn't need, thank goodness!)  Water every other mile starting at mile 3 and a very happy and energetic group of volunteers.

Two Harbors Lighthouse

   



The first 12 miles for me were pretty hot, the sun was full out and there was little to no breeze.  But after that the clouds started to roll in, and drop the temperature a little.  Then the winds started kicking up from the lake and hitting us with cooler little breezes of air, so to me it was absolutely perfect for running.

     Not only that but the course was just beautiful, pine tree's and other kinds lined the street completely forest like.  All traffic was stopped so it was only us runners out on the road and the occasional group of spectators who came out.
When the tree's weren't to my left, the beautiful lake was.  While the sun was out the lake was just beautiful and blue.  When the sun went behind the clouds and the winds kicked up, you could hear the waves crashing along the rocky coastlines.  (In my opinion the lake was like being next to the ocean, when it was wavy.)
I don't run with headphones anymore so I just enjoyed nature sounds, runners talk and the occasional stereo or band out on the course.

Aerial Bridge in Duluth

     I felt pretty good until around mile 17, that is when my feet started to really begin the soreness coming back, which I think was mostly due to the fact that possibly I didn't give them enough of a rest since 2 weeks ago when I ran my last marathon...

Temperance Falls

My stomach was on empty and I probably ate more during this marathon than I ever have before.  Thank you oranges, banana's and the yummy Dum Dum suckers I took...  To be honest, I am just thankful that they all agreed with my stomach and didn't cause me any other problems.

     I had a first in this marathon, I was cut off by a deer.  Seriously, a doe came out of the forest line around mile 21.5 and made a run for it, towards the lake.  It was fun to see happen!
I have seen deer before out running but this was the first one who crossed my path in a race.  I laugh because now I have been cut off by not only a deer.  But in the past I had a huge bull moose come run side by side a few steps with me before cutting me off.  I also had a mountain lion come out of the bush once and cross the road path in front of me and I have cut off a coyote while out on a run before.
Guess I have just been lucky to get these opportunities!!!

Upper Cascade Falls

     I was really starting to feel it by mile 23, I really didn't care for that mile not a bit.  I think the steepest hill of the course was during this mile, and in a distance down the lake I could see the Aerial Bridge (the finish line) it looked close, but with still a few miles to go it couldn't have felt further...

     However, eventually I snapped out of it I guess I can thank the weather for that.  The cooler breezy temps turned a bit colder and the rain was drizzling down on me.  When I reached downtown and the red brick made streets I got a little burst of energy.  Well it was that or the fact that I was starting to freeze and I just wanted to get the pain over with as soon as possible and get off my feet.

Lower Cascade Falls

Eventually I reached Canal Park area and after running around a huge ship (over a 1/4 of a mile at least, you notice these things when you are hurting, LOL)  After coming around the ship I could see the finish.  Some guy says to me at mile 26, "It's just the easy part left now."  Famous words I often hear by someone who I can assure you has NEVER run a marathon before.  As the last .2 of the course is in my opinion the worst and sometimes seems like it lasts forever.  (Especially when you can see the finish:)

     Thrilled to have finished state #25 and my 32nd marathon overall, I accepted my medal, my finishers t-shirt (love when they give them at the finish rather than before the race!  See then you don't have a bunch of first time marathon runners running in a shirt they haven't yet earned.)  I gladly welcomed the foil blanket that was wrapped around me (I was wet and freezing!!)  I decided to skip any food or drink at the finish, I wanted off my feet and I had a long walk back to my hotel still to go.
Luckily the city is equipped with a skywalk system that connects miles of the city together through climate controlled walkways above the streets and through buildings.  I had a little over a mile walk through them before I came out of one that exited right into my hotel.  (Also thankful for signs and directions in them, since I really had no idea where I was going or how to get back on my own!)

Lake Superior Coastal View

     When I finally was able to sit on the bed and kick off my shoes, ahhh it was fabulous.  Still very painful, but finally I was off of them.  It was so soothing I just laid down on the bed still in my foil blanket and didn't mean to but crashed for a few hours.  When I got up to walk to the shower, the foot pain was like it never left and like walking on bruises...  Luckily this race I didn't get any blisters, and had only a couple of spots on my body with bad chaffing.

Duluth Lake Walk

     Duluth and the drive along the Northern Minnesota Superior Coast is just beautiful!  Green and lush, a beautiful lake that I learned is so big if you spread out all the water it would cover not only the US but all of Canada, Mexico and all of South America with 1 foot of water.  (Thought that was interesting enough to mention:)  Great lighthouses and sheer cliffs.  Huge rivers and some amazing waterfalls.  The pictures you are seeing in this post are what I took as I visited the area, some were taken right along the race course we ran.

     Being a country girl, obviously Minnesota is a great place for someone like me to visit!  Plenty of places to see and so many trails to hike.
Also I am not going to lie, I loved what I call the MinneSLOWtaLK. LOL  I just wished more of them had that long slooooow drawn out way of talking, I loved it!  They were my favorite runners to listen to while in the race too, LOL LOL LOL..
Great trip, I'd love to make it back someday!  Also, this is one of those races that is put on so well and has such a great course that I wouldn't mind running it again!

Trail in Split Rock State Park

     Well a few weeks off racing for me now, this running wedding decorator is beginning the start of the busy summer wedding season:)  Then one more race this summer before I am going to take a couple of months off marathons.  Let my body heal a little and give it some well needed relief before September when I have a super big fall line up of races set up.  Well maybe not too much relief, since I won't be racing I am going to work on a few other things and see if I can gradually work on dropping my marathon time a little:)

Stormy day Superior Lake View

Northern Lake Superior Cliffs