National Parks: Superior

Superior National Forest is one of my favorite! I'll admit it doesn't make much sense. The first night I ever spent there, it rained all night and our tent leaked. My Vet was livid. Every weather forecast for the area had clear skies and sunshine. He just kept repeating it all night long, and into the next morning. 

I hadn't camped much by yet, I think he was worried that he would never get me to try it again.  

I am getting ahead of myself though. Every August since I was in high school I have gone out and watched the Perseid Meteor Shower. When the girls were little I would wake them up get hot fudge sundaes from McDonalds and drive a bit out of town to sit and watch them. My Vet thought that getting me away from the light pollution would be a great way to get me into camping. He was right.

After a night camping at Fourmile Lake, where the rain didn't stop and there were too many trees anyway, My Vet was ready to pack it up and head home. I hadn't seen my shooting stars though! In the morning we ate and packed up, then headed in to the rangers station to get signal and check the radar.

Radar indicated it would eventually clear up, so we spent some time on the shores of Lake Superior and by the time we headed back in to find a new sight, the sun was coming out, and there were plenty of camping sites to be had. The rain had chased away others!

The camp sites at Fourmile where close together and a short walk to an outhouse. Harriet Lake is more spread out. Who doesn't love jumping on a 4 wheeler or bike to get to the bathroom? My kids take any excuse to 4 wheel or bike. You can see in the photo below our stuff splayed out to dry, which it quickly did.

If you are still confused as to why I like it here, look closer at the photo above, There is nobody else in site. It is quiet and peaceful. We periodically saw people drive up, pick stuff for a while then leave. This probably won't surprise you, I approached one of the groups and asked them what they were doing. They were picking wild blueberries! I naturally asked them to help me identify them and we were set!

Being new to this camping thing, the kids were not used to entertaining themselves with nothing and needed some help, I grabbed a scratch paper and pen and made our very first camping scavenger hunt list and sent them to wonder with a camera. Photographing the list has many benefits, we don't accidentally damage any protected species, or come into contact with any poisonous plants, the girls also then have photos to enter into the county fair, and I have memories for the scrapbook.

This photo got a 2nd place ribbon.

We now go straight to Harriet Lake to set up camp. We've also gotten to explore some of the other lakes in the area and they are fun to kayak and swim and fish. 

The amenities in Superior National Forest are definitely rustic. The bathrooms are simply outhouses and on busy weekends you will be glad you followed my advice and packed toilet paper and hand sanitizer. There is no electricity or running water. There are also no distractions. The conversations and experiences I get to share with my family are worth every bit of inconvenience.

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