State Highpoint Number Seventeen:
MINNESOTA (17)
Date: Saturday, September 9, 2000
Peak: Eagle Mountain
Height: 2,301 feet
Vertical Climb: 600 feet
Round-trip Mileage: 7 miles
Peak Class: #4
Height Rank: #37 of 50
Difficulty Rank: #18 of 50
Slept pretty well. Woke up around 11:45 and was getting really cold so I opened the sleeping bag up and that was just perfect. Woke up around 5:30 and got out of the truck at 6:15 and loaded everything up. It was starting to rain when I showered (25 cents for 15 minutes but worth it) and changed clothes and headed out of the campground at 6:45.
Continued raining and lots of thunder and lightening. Stopped at a Citgo and got some coffee and the girl told me no charge even though I hadn’t gotten any gas. Told me “don’t worry about it---it’s just coffee!” Try finding that in Houston!!!
Arrived at Ironwood at 7:10 and entered Wisconsin and the radio station at Rhinelander said it was 56 degrees. They were playing German polka music. The rain was g
etting really heavy at this point.
Stopped at the Breakwater Café at Ashland and had a cinnamon roll and coffee and a beautiful view of Lake Superior. Stopped at Superior, Michigan and filled up with gas and there was a huge, grotesque, fat, obese woman, an Indian I think, behind the counter. She wasn't giving away free gas!!!
At 9:00 I entered Minnesota over a huge, steel-girder old bridge and a bank sign said 64 degrees. Passed through Duluth which is an old city but looked very clean. Had several tall buildings and I drove through several tunnels until I caught Hwy 61 along the North Shore Drive.
Almost immediately it became a upscale, beautiful shoreline drive. I stopped at an info station and the lady gave me a good map. It was raining even harder now and I wasn’t making very good time on the two-lane blacktop road.
Several big ships were docked along the harbors. I stopped at the Shorecrest Supper Club and filled my copilot with coffee and they charged me 91cents.
At 10:20 I stopped at an old, red brick lighthouse but it was raining so hard I didn’t get out. Stopped and visited the Two Harbors Museum which was real nice---lots of logging and shipping history for this area.
The weather was getting even worse at 10:45 and continued on north through a couple of tunnels and came into hills, cliffs and bluffs along the lake. Passed a group of marathon runners in the rain and cold.
At 11:25 arrived at Grand Marais and immediately found a motel room for $39 so I checked in. There was nobody in the office and the sign said just to take a key, check into the room, and pay later---so I did. The motel is the Tomteboda Motel.
Almost immediately, the sun was out and the rain had stopped. I drove down to the Angry Trout Restaurant and had some excellent fish and chips and a beautiful view of Lake Superior.
Returned to the motel and decided to try Eagle Mountain. Called Devin and Phillip and checked my messages at home. Packed my backpack and made the 21 mile drive up to the trailhead and found it with no trouble. Eagle Mountain is seven miles roundtrip so I packed some water plus my camera and other gear.
I was wearing my long hiking pants and a short sleeved shirt and soon began sweating heavily. The trail wasn’t real steep but very difficult to hike because of the round boulders ranging from softball size to bowling ball size. I twisted my right knee but kept going. It was a beautiful trail and at 50 minutes I came to a beautiful clear lake and rested a while and took a picture.
Continued hiking and at 1 hour and 25 minutes came out of the trees along a beautiful breathtaking vista off a cliff bluff. Five minutes later I arrived at the summit (1 hour 32 minutes) which was a phenomenal time. The time was 4:00 and I signed the register in the box and took some pictures and drank a bottle of water. There is no view here---the trees are all around---but it was very green, very beautiful and the sky was light blue with a gentle breeze---a complete turnaround from his morning. I laid down on the high point rock and almost went to sleep then headed back after 25 minutes on the summit.
The state has placed a plaque there and it was a simple, but very nice high point---my seventeenth.
On the way down my knee started tightening up but I kept going. I saw two guys at the overlook and then a couple right behind them. At 2 hours hiking time, a ground hog charged out onto the trail and challenged me. It made several runs at me but always backed off. It didn’t scare me but I was wondering why it was acting that way. As I returned down the trail, I met several other people including some with little kids. After I passed them, I noticed a stroller on the side of the trail --- I guess they had planned to push it up the mountain! I slipped and fell twice on the muddy rocks but didn’t hurt myself or twist my knee any worse.
I was really sweating by this point and my shirt was saturated and my pants legs were really muddy. My knee was getting really sore but I made it back in 3 hours, 13 minutes and 25 seconds (7 miles).
At the bottom, I took 4 Advil because of my knee and sat on the tailgate and drank some water and ate some peanuts. When I removed my boots it appeared I hadn’t had any more blister problems---which I was concerned about.
Rolled my pants up to keep from getting the truck seat muddy and changed shirts---the one I wore on the hike was literally sopping wet. Headed back down around 6:20 and almost immediately saw a mountain lion in the road---a big one at least four feet long. I made it back to the motel, checked in, and took a long, long hot shower.
Drove into Grand Marias and walked along the harbor park but my knee was hurting too bad. Ate fish and chips at the Blue Water Restaurant and it wasn’t too good but I was really hungry.
Date: Saturday, September 9, 2000
Peak: Eagle Mountain
Height: 2,301 feet
Vertical Climb: 600 feet
Round-trip Mileage: 7 miles
Peak Class: #4
Height Rank: #37 of 50
Difficulty Rank: #18 of 50
Slept pretty well. Woke up around 11:45 and was getting really cold so I opened the sleeping bag up and that was just perfect. Woke up around 5:30 and got out of the truck at 6:15 and loaded everything up. It was starting to rain when I showered (25 cents for 15 minutes but worth it) and changed clothes and headed out of the campground at 6:45.
Continued raining and lots of thunder and lightening. Stopped at a Citgo and got some coffee and the girl told me no charge even though I hadn’t gotten any gas. Told me “don’t worry about it---it’s just coffee!” Try finding that in Houston!!!
Arrived at Ironwood at 7:10 and entered Wisconsin and the radio station at Rhinelander said it was 56 degrees. They were playing German polka music. The rain was g
etting really heavy at this point.Stopped at the Breakwater Café at Ashland and had a cinnamon roll and coffee and a beautiful view of Lake Superior. Stopped at Superior, Michigan and filled up with gas and there was a huge, grotesque, fat, obese woman, an Indian I think, behind the counter. She wasn't giving away free gas!!!
At 9:00 I entered Minnesota over a huge, steel-girder old bridge and a bank sign said 64 degrees. Passed through Duluth which is an old city but looked very clean. Had several tall buildings and I drove through several tunnels until I caught Hwy 61 along the North Shore Drive.
Almost immediately it became a upscale, beautiful shoreline drive. I stopped at an info station and the lady gave me a good map. It was raining even harder now and I wasn’t making very good time on the two-lane blacktop road.
Several big ships were docked along the harbors. I stopped at the Shorecrest Supper Club and filled my copilot with coffee and they charged me 91cents.
At 10:20 I stopped at an old, red brick lighthouse but it was raining so hard I didn’t get out. Stopped and visited the Two Harbors Museum which was real nice---lots of logging and shipping history for this area.
The weather was getting even worse at 10:45 and continued on north through a couple of tunnels and came into hills, cliffs and bluffs along the lake. Passed a group of marathon runners in the rain and cold.
At 11:25 arrived at Grand Marais and immediately found a motel room for $39 so I checked in. There was nobody in the office and the sign said just to take a key, check into the room, and pay later---so I did. The motel is the Tomteboda Motel.
Almost immediately, the sun was out and the rain had stopped. I drove down to the Angry Trout Restaurant and had some excellent fish and chips and a beautiful view of Lake Superior.
Returned to the motel and decided to try Eagle Mountain. Called Devin and Phillip and checked my messages at home. Packed my backpack and made the 21 mile drive up to the trailhead and found it with no trouble. Eagle Mountain is seven miles roundtrip so I packed some water plus my camera and other gear.
I was wearing my long hiking pants and a short sleeved shirt and soon began sweating heavily. The trail wasn’t real steep but very difficult to hike because of the round boulders ranging from softball size to bowling ball size. I twisted my right knee but kept going. It was a beautiful trail and at 50 minutes I came to a beautiful clear lake and rested a while and took a picture.
Continued hiking and at 1 hour and 25 minutes came out of the trees along a beautiful breathtaking vista off a cliff bluff. Five minutes later I arrived at the summit (1 hour 32 minutes) which was a phenomenal time. The time was 4:00 and I signed the register in the box and took some pictures and drank a bottle of water. There is no view here---the trees are all around---but it was very green, very beautiful and the sky was light blue with a gentle breeze---a complete turnaround from his morning. I laid down on the high point rock and almost went to sleep then headed back after 25 minutes on the summit.
The state has placed a plaque there and it was a simple, but very nice high point---my seventeenth.
On the way down my knee started tightening up but I kept going. I saw two guys at the overlook and then a couple right behind them. At 2 hours hiking time, a ground hog charged out onto the trail and challenged me. It made several runs at me but always backed off. It didn’t scare me but I was wondering why it was acting that way. As I returned down the trail, I met several other people including some with little kids. After I passed them, I noticed a stroller on the side of the trail --- I guess they had planned to push it up the mountain! I slipped and fell twice on the muddy rocks but didn’t hurt myself or twist my knee any worse.
I was really sweating by this point and my shirt was saturated and my pants legs were really muddy. My knee was getting really sore but I made it back in 3 hours, 13 minutes and 25 seconds (7 miles).
At the bottom, I took 4 Advil because of my knee and sat on the tailgate and drank some water and ate some peanuts. When I removed my boots it appeared I hadn’t had any more blister problems---which I was concerned about.
Rolled my pants up to keep from getting the truck seat muddy and changed shirts---the one I wore on the hike was literally sopping wet. Headed back down around 6:20 and almost immediately saw a mountain lion in the road---a big one at least four feet long. I made it back to the motel, checked in, and took a long, long hot shower.
Drove into Grand Marias and walked along the harbor park but my knee was hurting too bad. Ate fish and chips at the Blue Water Restaurant and it wasn’t too good but I was really hungry.
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