Tom's National Park Adventure

I started this trip two days ago. I left St. Louis and drove to Lansing, Iowa to visit with my Brother in Law and Sister in Law, Gary and Bernice. I was able to impose my presence on them for the remainder of the day and they were gracious enough to feed me and give me a bed for the night.

I left Lansing early the next morning and had a seven and a half hour drive to the Woodenfrog State Campground, located on the shores of Kabetogama Lake. The state owned land and the National Park owned land are sometimes hard to tell apart! The area I find myself surrounded by is all beautiful, no matter who is in charge of it! Lots of trees and lots of water everywhere you look.

People around here have been trying to get this area protected as a National Park since 1891. They finally succeeded in 1975 when congress voted to make the area Voyageurs National Park.

The park is part of the traditional water way that French Canadian explorers called Voyageurs used to transport goods to trade with the Native Indians for “Soft Gold” otherwise known as animal fur. The most prized fur was that of the Beaver. The European fashion of the time called for hats made with Beaver Fur. The demand was so great that that the population of European Beavers plummeted. This created an opportunity for clever businessmen and outdoorsmen in Canada and America. The Voyageurs would travel from Montreal all the way into the Northwestern areas of Canada to trade for animal pelts. They would navigate this distance using the only mode of transport available, the Birch Bark Canoe. The Treaty signed by all parties involved with the American Revolution set the boundary between American and Canada as the waterways used by the Voyageurs. This included the smaller lakes west of the Great Lakes. Rainy Lake, Kabetogama Lake, Ash River, Namakan Lake, Sand Point Lake and Crane Lake are all part of this National Park.

The Voyageurs would carry as much as two to three thousand pounds of payload per canoe. They would have to deal with portages and rapids that were brutal. This wasn’t the type of endeavor for the faint hearted!

The park consists of streams, rivers, coves, inlets, ponds bays, small inland lakes and large open water lakes. The best way to see and experience the park is by water.

Today I visited two of the three different Visitor centers in the park. I also drove to International Falls, Minnesota. I drove there expecting to see a smaller version of something like Niagara Falls. There are no falls! Go figure!

Tomorrow will be a good day of exploring some hiking trails and I have a ticket for a boat tour for tomorrow afternoon guided by a park ranger. Im really looking forward to that!