North Shore of Lake Superior Itinerary

Dear Bryd,
We took you camping a few weeks ago, it was a perfect (unplanned) trip, I want to remember what we did so we can hopefully do it again many times! We hiked in Tettegouche State Park (http://www.dnr.state.mn.us/state_parks/tettegouche/index.html), the trail is at the end of a long drive through the park and a parking lot by the group walk-in campsites. It took about an hour to hike up to the lookout. Dad carried you in a front carrier and you slept. The lookout had exposed bedrock with lichen and fruiting small blueberries. The hike up went through birch and aspen forest, a lot of the trail overgrown with tall grasses. From the lookout we could see Lake Superior. This was one of the rare days where you refuse to eat, my breasts were so full that I stepped into the forest and hand expressed milk. It is amazing how far the milk projects, how many streams there are, milk shot in all directions.
The next morning it rained, we decided to jump in the car, we drove to Split Rock Lighthouse State Park (about 12 miles south: http://www.dnr.state.mn.us/state_parks/split_rock_lighthouse/index.html) and secured a campsite! We thought we would let you nap under a cabana overlooking the lake while we read. We walked down to the beach, aspen and birch trees grade into large smooth rounded black rocks that grade into smaller and smaller pebbles as you approach the water. The beach was beautiful, a cove curved like a crescent moon with the lighthouse on one end, an island out in front, bare rock topped with trees, and the other side rocks and pebbles reaching to almost touch the island. We walked in the rain and it was absolutely lovely. I was disappointed later when the hot sun dried the rocks and they turned a pale gray. The rain cleared up almost too quickly and we spent the day sitting on the beach. We had a little tent set up to keep you out of the sun. When we got too hot we would go to the water's edge and dip our feet in, the water is so cold it hurts. I let you splash in the water, you were both taken aback by the cold and excited to touch the water.
In the afternoon the beach was so heated by the dark rocks you had to wear shoes to walk on them, we watched a man stand knee deep and splash the shore where his children sat, the water hit the rocks and clouds of steam rose, we could all smell the cooking rocks. It was beautiful, people up and down the crescent started throwing water on the shore, making the rocks steam.
We hiked along the cliff over the shore and up to the Gitchie Gummie trail. It was perfect. There are small secret beaches, lovely rock formations.
It was strange, the whole area was once a mine and a fishing village, it felt so wild, yet not so long ago it was used for industry, and even now it is flooded with tourists.
Love,
Mom