My first stop was the grocery store in Virginia, Minnesota to get some food for camping. I then got back into the auto and headed into Superior National Forest. I briefly stopped at the Laurentian Divide picnic area for a really short hike along an interpretive trail.
From the Sturgeon River Trail I headed to McCarthy Beach State Park. I hiked the Hiking Club trail there. Other than a walk along Pickerel Lake where I watched a loon dive and resurface a few times, it was another uninspiring hike. I had intended to camp at McCarthy beach, but it was still pretty early when I finished my hike and so I headed farther west to Scenic State Park.
Scenic State Park in appropriately named with a few really pretty lakes. I set up camp alongside Coon Lake, ate dinner, and then went for a hike to the beautiful Chase Point on an ice age relic esker. I was able to catch the sunset from the esker, before returning to my campsite in a thick swarm of mosquitoes.
Today I woke up and laid inside the tent for a while avoiding heading out into the early morning mosquitoes for as long as I could. Eventually I got up and ate breakfast, and then headed over to the park office to rent a kayak.
The paddling out on the lakes was fun. I paddled over to and around a small island. There were a lot of water lillies growing in the shallow areas. I then paddled across Coon Lake to check out a few loons that I saw swimming around. One of the loons dove practically under the kayak! I also saw a curious muskrat swimming around and checking me out. After two hours of paddling I returned the kayak and headed out. I had intended to hike the Hiking Club trail at Schoolcraft State Park, but it started pouring rain on the way there and so I headed home to Duluth.
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