3 miles of hiking • 500' elevation gain •
First in a series of little "rehab hikes." (Pinched my sciatic nerve - ugh!) This was a lovely walk through the municipal campground and up to the top of a bluff that used to be the site of a fire lookout. On the way back, I followed the shoreline of Lake Superior and looped around the harbor bay in Grand Marais. The leaves were very colorful, but a bit past peak.
The fascinating thing about hiking up here is the ancient bedrock that's so often right at the surface. These are some of the oldest rocks there are on the entire planet, aged between 1 and 1.5 billion years. Very little soil has accumulated since they were scrubbed bare during the last ice age, and yet trees somehow manage to (mostly) cling on and somehow find nourishment. Many roots are exposed, and even when a tree falls over it often lives for years.
The big lake is a source of constant interest, as it transitions from placid to storm-wracked with the winds.
