Tettegouche State Park and a Brave Gull

The farthest we ventured along the North Shore in Minnesota was to Tettegouche State Park.

view of the Palisades from Shovel Point

One thing we noticed was that the signs along the road did not say "visitors center" but said "rest area" instead.   Luckily I convinced Wayne that it was where we wanted to go, but the confusion continued after I went inside to ask about trails.  Just like at Gooseberry Falls the map was fairly useless and once you leave the building there aren't any signs pointing you to the trailhead that is accessed from behind the building.  

It's weird because their facilities and the boardwalk system are top notch and look fairly new. 

There were great views from Shovel Point  but the lady in the VC didn't tell me that was all there was in that direction or I might've have skipped it.  We got our exercise anyway.

Back at the rear of the VC we went the other way and headed down to the beach, much more fun than another view of Lake Superior.

The strawberries are blooming everywhere in the area, even on the cracks of the beach boulders!

We must have tired Cory out because he wasn't very excited about climbing around on the rocks by the water like he usually is. 

I liked Shovel Point better from afar.  There was a good variety of lichens on the big rocks too.  

I didn't stop at losing my hat.  While jumping around on the rocks I dropped a polarizer and plunk! Just another donation to the universe.  Luckily it was an old one from the broken lens (that went plunk too, remember?) and it fell because I was just holding it in front of my 40mm lens.

After our exercise we went out to lunch at Northern Lights Restaurant and the food was pretty god, even the gulls eat there!

He gulped down a whole breadstick on one motion to the delight of the patrons.  Dinner and a show!  

There are more trails inland at Tettegouche. Maybe someday I'll have time to check them out and perhaps by then they'll have improved their maps and signs!