We got up and drove to Voyageurs National Park for a second visit, having visited the park two years before. We decided to go to a different visitor center than our previous visit, and so went to the Kabetogama visitor center. We had planned to hike the Echo Bay trail. We were told by the rangers that it was quite muddy – we drove up to check the area out anyway – and yes, it looked muddy – swampy really. Disappointed, we drove to the Ash River visitor center and hiked the Blind Ash Bay trail instead.
Blind Ash Bay trail kicked our butts. There are lots of elevation changes, granite boulders, and twenty times the tree roots as there are at our home park in North Carolina. This is the second time we have hiked this trail – I was surprised by how much of it I remembered, and that I did not find it quite as hard as the last time. Along the way we encountered a garter snake, lots of red squirrels, a leopard frog, and flushed a spruce grouse which we never really saw. We picnicked at the visitor center then took off to our hotel. Dinner at a Taco John’s was so so. Live and learn.