Tag: photos

Echo Trail

We’re north of Ely, MN this cloudy morning, and just entering the BWCA (Boundary Waters Canoe Area) on this old dirt road called the Echo Trail. It winds through the boreal forest for 50 miles or so, a trail cut out between massive jutting rocks and endless little lakes. Our destination is Voyageurs National Park on the Canadian Border.

Apparently, a lot of hikers pass through here. There are people biking it, and a few cars (with their obligatory canoes) suddenly popping up on the roller-coaster corners, but mostly it’s just pristine wilderness of rocks, trees, and lakes. I hope the sky clears soon.

.

I can’t believe that there are people (not many) who actually live out here. I wouldn’t stop for gas at this place– there’s probably some weird kid up there playing Dueling Banjos on the porch. We’re about to come to the end of the trail, and the sky is clearing.

Finally, we made it. The clouds and forest are behind us, and there’s nothing but blue waters under blue skies here. It’s breathtakingly beautiful. I’ve visited a number of national parks, but this is the first that has its roadside sign on a rock at the edge of a lake. We should’ve brought a canoe!

–photos by me

cool crane (etheree)

an

oddly

lanky crane

was often teased

by the shorter birds;

they called him ichabod,

stilts, or a walking beanpole,

but with a wingspan of six feet

and a pair of laughably long legs,

he rose above it and took it in stride

________________

–photos by me