Sugarloaf Cove

We usually make a brief stop at Sugarloaf Cove on our drive up the North Shore. The fall colors weren’t much but there were some nice shots of the rocks in the water.

Minnesota Fall Leaf Tour – Gooseberry Falls

The first stop on our Minnesota fall leaf tour was Gooseberry Falls State Park. Conditions were not good for photographing waterfalls but I did manage a few shots.

Bald Eagles

This has been a great fall for photographing Bald Eagles. on the trip to Cornucopia I brought along my birding lens because we always see quite a few Bald Eagles along Highway 13. We weren’t Disappointed. The first one we saw was siting in a tree by a deer caucus. We found another one perched on a dead tree right by the road. I caught the last one landing on a tree in a cemetery. We probably saw close to a dozen eagles on the drive back to Duluth.

 

Another Duluth Shipping Twofer

The following day we managed to catch another Duluth Shipping Twofer. The American Integrity was coming into Duluth Harbor and the Paul R. Tregurtha  was on its way out into Lake Superior.

The American Integrity had a good deal of ice on its bow.

The Paul R. Tregurtha was listing to one side as it made its turn to line up with the Ship Canal. Several years ago it lost steering and grounded itself at Bayfront Park.

Late Fall at Lost Creek Falls

After photographing the beach we drove over to the Lost Creek Falls for a short hike into the falls. As we walked along the trail this squirrel posed for us.

We were the only ones on the trail and the first ones to make the hike since the recent snow fall. When I first started hiking into Lost Creek Falls there was no marked trail. Now there are signs along the road pointing to the trail head and someone had done a wonderful job of putting in boardwalks on sections of the trail. No more walking in mud to get to the falls. I’ve noticed that communities have take not of how important waterfalls are and have made every effort to make waterfalling an enjoyable experience.

 

Cornucopia Beach

As I mentioned in an earlier blog we had driven over to Cornucopia to meet some friends. They were photographing some property managed by the Nature Conservancy. The process involved walking along the beach but the previous photographs taken about seven years ago were nothing like what exists today. There is no beach. We had to bushwhack or walk in the lake. I managed to get a photos of ice and items on what remains of the beach.

 

 

Cornucopia Fishing Boats

We had driven over to Cornucopia to meet some friends. While we were waiting for them to arrive I walked over and photographed some old fishing boats that are on display by the beach.

Eagle

Ruby and Twin Sisters

Ruby

Twin Sisters

Liberty

Park Point Beach after the Storm

In late October the Duluth, Minnesota waterfront was hit by a ferocious storm. The lake experienced 28 foot waves. We decided to take a walk along the beach to see what changes occurred. Before the storm there was only a small sliver of beach remaining because of the high water in Lake Superior. After the storm 10-15 feet of the sand dunes behind the beach had been washed away making for a much larger beach. It appeared that the beach erosion had reached some of the out buildings and another storm of this magnitude would probably have an impact on some of the homes on the beach. Because of the high water in the Lake many of the homes on park point have water in the basement. The bottom photo shows what happened to the beach grass that was holding the sand dunes in place.

Duluth Shipping Twofer

When someone goes down to Canal Park to watch a ship come in and two ships come in and/or go out it is called a twofer. On this particular day the Michipicoten was coming in.

The Walter J. McCarthy, Jr. was on its way out of the harbor.

Bighorn Sheep Badlands National Park

Our original plan had been to drive to Rocky Mountain National Park from Custer but we noted storm warnings and heavy snow in the forecast so we decided to head back home. We stopped in Wall, South Dakota for a bite to eat then picked up I-90 heading east. We had gone just a short distance when we noticed I-90 was closed for some reason. We decided to backtrack to Wall and drive through the Badlands. Not much that we hadn’t seen before but we did find a large group of Bighorn Sheep. We found the Rams and a little further down the road the ewes and kids. The Rams work is done for the year.