Falls, Falls and More Falls

Sept 25, 2011     From Bayfield, WI, we had driven less than an hour when we spotted a sign for Copper Falls State Park.  With hiking trails, a lake, rivers, and three waterfalls, it sounded like a place we needed to visit.

Arriving on a Sunday, we were able to easily reserve a campsite for the next five days.  With so many offerings in the park, it was hard to decide what to do first.  We started with the parks’ namesake, Copper Falls.  The trail up to Copper Falls and Brownstone Falls was constructed after WW I by Doughboy crews, which worked for two years constructing the flag stone steps, walkways, and packed trails up to the falls.  The workmanship is clearly from another time.  We are not talking Niagara here, but the falls were still beautiful. 

Loon Lake

Loon Lake was next on our agenda.  We had enjoyed the experience of kayaking with loons in the Adirondacks.  We wanted to do some kayak fishing but also hoped to glimpse and hear the mysterious loons once again.  The loons were never present; perhaps they had already migrated to warmer climes.  Fishing until the sun was barely over the horizon we called it quits, even though there was plenty of action we were departing empty handed. 

Trail to Red Granite Falls

Red Granite Falls trail led us up to a slightly higher elevation.  It was as though autumn was unfolding in front of our eyes.  The maples were turning orange and fiery red the further we traipsed up on the hill. The gravel crunching beneath our feet, the wind blowing through the maples and birch and the river along parts of the trail below us made for a lovely trek.  A couple weeks from now this will clearly be a most spectacular hike. 

Weather once again played a factor in our activities.  The lows in the 30’s and 40’s and highs in the 40’ and 50’s led us to desert our planned pursuits on a couple of the days.

Fishing along the Bad River

While hiking on the Copper Falls Trail on our first day, we had noticed some prime trout holes.  We waited for the temperature to climb up to 45 degrees one day and headed back up to the Bad River to find the trout.  We had been told the fishing had been slow and it turns out that was the case but Alan was still able to nab a nice native brook trout. 

Now, we are heading west and a bit north into Minnesota to check out the North Shore region.

Doughboy Trail