I had to stay in Minnesota for several weeks after my in-house time at law school was over to care for my grandparents. As a result, I was able to work ahead on my online assignments and squeeze in another fall trip. Camden, one of my friends from Washington was likewise riding on some free time and made the trip out to the Midwest to see family and join me on my adventure. I originally wanted to do the Saganaga-Red Rock-Alpine-Seagull trip, but Deb from Seagull Outfitters recommended that we try to get out to Ogishkemuncie. This was an excellent suggestion. Grandpa wasn’t able to come this time since he was recovering from a routine cataracts surgery, but he wished us a good trip and covered us faithfully in prayer while we were gone.

On the morning of September 15, I drove out to Hayward, WI to pick up Camden where he had been spending some time with his grandmother. We then picked up Interstate 53, drove to Superior, WI, and crossed over to Duluth and up the North Shore as usual. Cam had never seen the big lake or the North Shore before so he enjoyed the drive immensely. We grabbed some gas in Grand Marais and headed up the Gunflint Trail, stopping at the Laurentian Divide scenic overlook to stretch a little on the way up. We arrived at Seagull Outfitters at about 3 PM, and I settled up with Deb. Cam got his first baptism into the world of canoe tripping with the Leave No Trace video!

We got our things organized and drove back down the Gunflint Trail to Trail Center where we enjoyed a burger and malt. I highly recommend the maple syrup malt. We saw a black bear by the side of the road as we were driving down to that night. Back at the paddlers’ lodge, we hit the hay after a few card games.