Day’s distance: 290 miles
Total trip distance so far: 2,188 miles

The day began in the high 50’s with a beautiful sunrise over Lake Bemidji.

The temperatures stayed in the 70’s throughout the day, with some high clouds and lighter winds.

I started the day at the Coffee Cabin Coffeehouse in Bemidji. Great coffee, breakfast wrap, scone and muffin! I recommend this place for a smooth strong latte.

I left Bemidji following part of the Great River Road around Lake Andrusia and Cass Lake (not shown on the map above) before rejoining Hwy 2 east to Grand Rapids. According to wikipedia, Lake Bemidji is located less than 50 miles downstream from the source of the Mississippi River, it both receives and is drained by the Mississippi.

The other scenic byway I traveled was the Superior National Forest Scenic Byway.

This was a relaxing, two lane highway with little traffic and lots of gentle sweepers through the heavily wooded Superior National Forest.

It was about 4pm when I came out at Silver Bay and got my first glimpse of Lake Superior.

The is the North Shore and it is populated by smaller resort towns. Heavily wooded rocky shores seem to be typical.

As this was Saturday of the Labor Day weekend, and I didn’t have reservations for any of the State Parks, I headed into Duluth to look for a motel. Well, that was absolutely impossible. Every motel I called was completely booked. Every one.

With the help from Carson, working from Seattle, I finally found a private campground , the River Place Campground and Marina, that would allow me to set up a tent on a patch of grassy area for the night. Theresa, the owner, was very nice and met me when I arrived. I feel super lucky I didn’t have to do any illegal camping.

The campground is situated along the shore of the St Louis River. I was lucky enough to get there as the sunset and grabbed this photo taken 50 feet from my tent (though there is no direct line of sight from my tent).

Well, that was likely the worst of the impact from the long weekend marking the end of summer for most. I will be camping at Fort Wilkins Sunday and I’m right back on schedule. 🙂

I do live a charmed life with good friends who support me.