Sep 26 Stony Mountain

 

Stony Mountain in Stanley County has a ridgetop full of large boulders. This is private property but through an agreement between the Carolina Climbers Coalition and Stony Mountain Winery, this area is opened to limited public access. The Carolina Climbers Coalition has built a couple trails here to access the boulders. They ask that you register with them to access the trails. A QR code allows you to register on site.

I hiked the Peppermint Loop which is a little less than a mile. It is overgrown in spots so watch for the trail markers. I was able to follow the trail most of the time but did get off it in a few spots.

A second trail, accesses another area on the opposite side of the winery.

Though not as large as Ridges Mountain boulders, these do remind of Ridges. Like Ridges, the CCC does bouldering at both locations. 

The bouldering trails visit all the big rocks right up to their property line. The rocks continue but access does not.

Visiting when the leaves have fallen, might open some views of Lake Tillery below. I recall the winery and event center had some vineyards on the hillside which opened a nice view of the lake. 

Sep 19 Glensheen Fireplaces

 

Glensheen is the home built 1905-08 by Chester and Clara Congdon of Duluth MN. Chester had amassed  a fortune in the mining business. He built this estate which has an "institutional" look in my opinion. It served as the family home for the Congdons until daughter Elizabeth's death in 1977. Tour guides are not permitted to talk of the circumstances of her death. She was murdered along with her nurse by her adopted daughter and husband who stood to gain financially from Elizabeth's death. 

Although, in 1908, you didn't need fireplaces for warming in a house like this, they were mostly for show. Each fireplace is unique and made from different material and styles. Each one had a story of where the tiles or stone came from. The andirons were quite unique as well. 

Vaseline or Uranium glass was a popular oddity of the 1930s. Glass covered with uranium glows green in UV light. The fad ran out of steam in the early 1940s when the government confiscated all uranium for the Manhattan Project.  

Sep 18 Wisconsin Point

 

Superior, WI and Duluth MN meet here along the lake, separated by a baymouth. The harbor and the baymouth protect the most inland seaport in North America. It was a bit windy today. The narrow strip of land I'm on ends at a point - Wisconsin Point. There is an identical point of land jutting out from the Minnesota side known as Minnesota Point. They look like two fingers trying to reach each other but just pointing at each other. We went all the way to the tip of Wisconsin Point. One of our stops was at a beach (above) with 8 birders lined up with their long lenses focused on all the gulls, trying to pick out the strangers. 

The surf was furiously pounding the shore. The wind was so strong, some gulls were not able to keep up with the main crowd. We watched as individual birds struggled to fly in that direction but could not. So the gulls remained on the ground mostly. Above, I caught the assembled group make an attempt to fly. It was repulsed after a brief flight. 

We finally succumbed to the wind as well, seeking shelter in our rental car. We traveled out to the point where there was a lighthouse at the end of a jetty.

There were 4 fellows out foil windsurfing. Those brave souls had hydrofoil boards and inflatable handheld wings. Wearing dry suits, they used the the wings to catch the wind, get up on the board and then let the wind take you away. The boards would rise up out of the water. The long foil or rudder allowed you to steer some but once the foil got out of the water fully, the surfer went down. Then it took a little effort to get back up. Being in a protected area, the surfers did not venture out into the unprotected lake where they would be subject to much larger waves. 

I'm told that any natives buried here were dug up and moved long ago. Now the site is more of a native memorial.

All sorts of trinkets have been left. A lot of cigarettes and empty liquor bottles too. 

The banana looks fresh

Sep 18 Brule Bog

 

I know almost nothing about this trail but that is probably more than you know about it. The North Country Trail is a 4800 mile trail from Vermont to North Dakota. How much of it is trail and how much is road, is something I don't know. I do know that it goes through the Brule Bog. The Brule River passes near here. 

The hardtop road through here bisects the bog. The small parking spot marks the spot the trail crosses the road. You can hike in either direction on a boardwalk. We went west to start out, walked to the edge of the bog on a boardwalk. Then, turned back, crossed the road to the other end of the bog. I'm guessing that the boardwalk was 3/4 mile long. This was a major undertaking, building a boardwalk here to protect the bog. 

Most everywhere you look, you see moss. It looks inviting but I tried stepping out on it and sank down 8 inches. Thanks for the boardwalk!

The asters and a few other late summer bloomers were present. However, the Bracken fern which was also everywhere, is beginning to brown. It is prolific and large ferns are almost shoulder high. 

Outside the bog, it's a regular trail.

Sep 17 Madeline Island

 

We are doing a walking tour of LaPointe, the only settlement on the Apostle Islands. Madeline Island is not part of the National Lakeshore and is home to about 400 year round residents. The ferry ride from Bayfield is only 20 minutes. In the winter when the lakeshore freezes, the ferry is able to continue operating by breaking ice to some extent to keep the channel open. Eventually it freezes over and the route to La Pointe becomes an ice road. Vehicles can cross the ice road which is delineated by a border made up of used Christmas trees. A vehicle called a wind sled which looks like an Everglades Airboat, takes passengers back and forth. There is only a short period of time when the crossing can not be made during the transition from water to ice and vice versa. That is usually just a day or two. 

St Joseph Catholic Church was first established by French traders in 1669. There was a substantial church built in 1838 which stood until 1901. The current structure was built in 1902. 

We walked to the Capser Trail which is less than a mile from the ferry dock. The trail crosses a large wetland which was created by a miles long beaver dam. When the dam was destroyed, this wetland was created. At this overlook we spotted a Northern harrier flying overhead. 

There is a legend involving another local bird, the Gold breasted woodpecker that led the Ojibwe Indians to Madeline Island. That one baffled me until I realized it was a Northern flicker they were referring to. They were all over.

We meandered on several roads, making our way to the marina and the "Indian Cemetery". Local businesses gave the cemetery that name thinking that it would be a touristy thing. There are some natives buried here but lots of early white settlers lay here as well. 

The iron fence is adorned with trinkets as is the local native custom. A sign asks us to not enter the cemetery, although it is easy to walk around the fence. We did not enter it. 

The most fascinating feature of this cemetery are the grave houses. We're told that natives who converted to Christianity followed a custom of building a small house over their graves. This was to shelter their soul and prepare for the journey to the afterlife. Often food and other offerings were placed in the houses. All had an opening so the soul could leave when ready. I read, some of these may be original grave houses. 

Chief Buffalo is buried here. His grave can be seen on Find a Grave website. After seeing it there, I failed to locate it here. Some areas of the cemetery have vegetation which obscures graves. Chief Buffalo is a famous Ojibwe leader, He participated in a number of treaties in the early 19th century and was instrumental in establishing the Red Cliff area as a reservation. In 1852, the 93 year old chief made a trek to Washington DC to protest the Indian Removal Act which would displace his people. At first told that he could not meet with President Fillmore, the chief and his entourage went anyway and were granted a meeting. Supposedly, a peace pipe was smoked but more importantly, the removal order was rescinded and a permanent reservation was established. Fillmore stuck to the deal despite many efforts to ignore it. 

Our short island visit ended with a bowl of white fish chowder. We enjoyed the local cuisine throughout this trip.