Gary-Summer: June 21, 2026 - Duluth, North Shore

Sunday, June 21, 2026

June 21, 2026 - Duluth, North Shore

Title: June 21, 2026 - Duluth, North Shore

Hike Info : Description : Background : Extra Photo's : Animals : Flowers and Plants

Two Harbors

Hike Info:

Type: Walking

Trail head: Two Harbors Lighthouse Parking Lot

Trail: Agate Bay Breakwater

Destination: New Two Harbors Lighthouse

Distance: 0.71 miles ¹

Caribou Falls

Type: Hiking

Trail head: Caribou Falls Highway Wayside

Trail: Caribou Falls

Destination: Caribou Falls

Distance: 1.12 miles ²

¹Distance is from a plot on Google Earth

²Distance is from a plot on Google Earth

Description:

Happy Father’s Day to me! I am glad to be here with Rachel. The only thing missing is Steven and Andrea. I will enjoy what I have and remember the love the other two have for me.

Two Harbors Lighthouse

I did wake up a bit after 5. Saw that there was no lightning and then just rested for a while, until about 7. Around 8:00 Rachel got up-it was a long day yesterday for her and I am glad she got to sleep in. Of course, it is only 6 California time. We went down for breakfast, then prepared for our overnight trip up to Grand Marais today. Rachel will drive all day today, after all it is Father’s Day. Actually I think she prefers it.

When we leave Duluth, Rachel comments that this is the same road she ran on yesterday. I can see why she was saying she felt a bit unbalanced at the start of the run. The road itself is uneven. As Rachel drives along, we evaluate the gas situation and decide that we should fill up before we get too far-we have half a tank right now. At the edge of Two Harbors, we spot a Circle K and fill up there.

View from top of lighthouse

The new lighthouse beacon

I saw that there was a lighthouse museum in Two Harbors. Since our time with Andrea and Lawrence last March, we have had an interest in these. So off we went in search of a superior lighthouse, that would be a Lake Superior one.

This particular lighthouse is run by the local historical society. I suspect the society may either be in the beginning stages of the museum or struggling to maintain it. The main item is the lighthouse structure itself. Most of the building is an AirBnB and not publically accessible. We go up to the level just below the lense. The stairs are narrow and a significant portion does not have railings. The only view you get is through a couple portholes. There is some information but not really anything worth $26 for the three of us.

Two Harbors new lightnouse

There is also a pilot's house. It is the pilot house from a ship called the Frontenac, an ore boat. It has the pilot’s wheel and a lot more information about the ship and shipping on the Great Lakes. Much more interesting than the actual lighthouse structure.

I am unclear if the lighthouse with the fresnel lense is used for navigation_*. There is a breakwater by the lighthouse with a foghorn-lighthouse at the end of it. This is the actual working one. We walked out to it. It is a nice walk, looking out at Agate Bay on one side and Lake Superior on the other. There are these gigantic loading docks for the ships to get their load of taconite where iron comes from.

At the lighthouse, we met a couple from Brainard. We talked for 15 minutes, exchanging information. She noted they had just come from Grand Marias and one of the things they loved was at sunset seeing the sailboats. She made a comment about how common Minnesota is. From a visitor’s perspective, it is easy to see how wonderful a place is. It is too easy to get used to where we live, taking things for granted. To see Fresno or California anew is a real gift. Of course, there is the opposite side of things of being snobbish about your own place.

Caribou River

When we return back to the car, the question is where do we eat? Betty Pies seems like a possibility. But when we go to the parking lot, it is full. So on to the next place to eat. Rachel finds a place outside of Castle Danger called Lake Superior Burger Company. It is attached to a timeshare of some type-at least you can buy into it. I wanted a Philly sandwich, but they are all out of the meat for it. So I have an Imposter Burger with meat instead of whatever is in the impossible patty. This brings joy to Rachel with her father ordering a vegetarian burger without knowing it. Sherri has the Superior Odyssey and Rachel Half Naked Cheese Curds.

There are several places we thought of stopping at, but did not. Such as Gooseberry Falls-we had decided to pass that by since it seemed like it would be crowded. Also some of the turn outs as well. We had thought of going to Illgen Falls, but I mis-read the map and we did not turn. But we did stop at Silver Creek Cliff tunnel. The Githia-Gami trail runs through there and there is a scenic overlook a third of a mile back. The trail follows an old road bed to the vista point. It is well worth the walk as we get a good view of some islands to the east and Lake Superior in front of us.

Sherri&Rachel

A bit later, we come to the Caribou Falls trailhead where we stop. The first part of the trail is pretty nice, then it turns along the river as it ascends to the falls. There are lots of roots on the trail, making for uneven walking-I did stumble once, but nobody knew and I did not fall. The flowers we see; some are familiar to us and some are new. We get to the top of the falls and lookout over them. They are nice, maybe along the lines of Red Rocks Falls outside of Oakhurst.

Caribou Falls

There was another side trail lower down which we took. This goes down to the pool at the bottom of the falls. The emphasis would be on descending. The descent was steep, so the trail builders put in stairs. Most of the stairs had railings, which was fortunate. We got down about half way and could see the base of the falls. Sherri said this was as far as she wanted to go. Rachel and I went to the bottom. There was a lot of glare from the sun which hampered me from getting a good view and good pictures. Going up we took our time, one step after another, catching our breath occasionally. Stairs seem to be the way these trails are built.

Superior Creamery

We get to Aspen Lodge in Grand Marias around 5:45. The room has two queen beds so Rachel gets her own bed. One of the things we wanted to do is to do our laundry. But they are not available. Oh well. Guess we will have stinky clothes until we can get some done.

What to eat? We decided on pizza at Sydney Frozen Custard. This place seems to have everything on the menu. We have a pizza, half pepperoni-for me-and have Spanikopita. It seems like the place may be under construction. Then to top off the day, we go to Superior Creamery

Rachel and her yoga

. This is good ice cream. I have birthday cake ice cream and they have lavender honeycomb.

What can top good ice cream? A good evening scene. We walked a block or two out to Artist Point. There we confirmed what the couple from Brainard said. There are sailboats out in Grand Marais Harbor. If you got the right perspective some of them formed a line pointing to the lighthouse as the end of the breakwater. Many photos are taken. Rachel wants a yoga pose. After several attempts, we got the right shot. The sun does not set in a good place for a picture, yet the darkening evening makes the harbour very picturesque. But with the sun going down, it starts to get cold.

Rachel picks up rocks from around between the road and the water, wondering if they are agates. I tell her that David rejects most of my finds, so I am no judge. But what she is picking up does not look like them.

We got back to the hotel room around 8:40. We are about 15 minutes late for our family Zoom call. But hey, we are traveling and enjoying ourselves. One of the discussion items of the call is about agates. David tries to clarify, but only slightly. The call ends at 9:50-longer than I thought it would. We showered and then off to bed we go.

Background

*Reading the Wikipedia page, it noted that the fresnel lens had been removed and an electronic one replaced it. That one has failed as well and a temporary one is being used now

Extra Photo's