Today, we got up extra early and were out of the hotel in Ashland before their weekend breakfast hours began at 7 (even though it was included–not usually my cheapskate ways!). We wanted to get to Duluth early to get a little bit of a chance to explore it before another long drive. It’s about an hour and a half from Ashland to Duluth, where we parked at one end of the Lake Walk that stretches for about 8 miles along the banks of Lake Superior all the way along downtown Duluth, a city nestled into the hills along the banks of the lake. It was clouding up later, but still sunny when we got there about 8:30 am; perfect for a walk!
We walked along the Lake Walk for only a mile or so, including along a giant (tourable) ship, across a (famous but tiny) aerial bridge, and along the waterfront to a couple of little lighthouses and a strange structure, a former warehouse that never got the harbor the builder hoped would be constructed around it, and is known as Uncle Harvey’s Mausoleum. We then took a shortcut towards downtown and took a quick look around just at the outermost street of the 19th-century shopping-and-banking area, and then found our way back to the waterfront via the Duluth Skywalk, a system of walkways that are a handy way of crossing the enormous freeway and the train tracks that separate the waterfront from the Lake Walk (they must come in VERY handy during the brutal winters!).
The reason we were rushing a little bit was that we still wanted to go to explore a state park that a friend had recommended before leaving the area. About 15 miles or so south of Duluth is Jay Cooke State Park, which has a fantastic set of trails along, over, and up and down the Saint Louis River where it has all these little waterfalls and rapids thanks to some granite formations that make the water cascade into these giant pools and bathtubs. The trails allowed for clambering all over the rocks, and there was a swinging bridge across the river–I was in my element! Thanks to a good dose of heavy-duty bug spray, the mosquitoes did not devour us. And thanks to my ignorance until later in the day, I also didn’t know that the river has historically had an enormous pollution problem because of all the early industrial development around here, and that is only partially resolved. There are still a lot of toxins (mercury, especially) that affect the fish in the river and downstream in the lake, and I am still a bit in shock that an area that looks so beautiful and pristine can still have such serious issues lurking invisibly within this gorgeous landscape. (The color of the water is not an indicator of pollution anymore; that’s the tannin in the water from all the pines and leaves further upstream!)
It was a wonderful last stop on our brief Minnesota day! Around 11, we took off from the park and drove 400 miles with brief picnic, gas, and bathroom brakes, a few podcasts and news articles, all the way to the outskirts of Des Moines, where our friends Amy and Drew live. They had invited us to stay overnight, and Amy had made us a lovely dinner of salmon and fresh salad from their garden (not to mention strawberry cobbler with ice cream!). We sat on their deck together, chatting and watching the birds in their back yard. It was about 10 degrees warmer than it’s been during most of our trip and just lovely outside. Mark and I went for a short walk around their neighborhood, all lush and green, with winding paths, playgrounds, and lots of dogs being taken for their evening walks, and then called it a day!