Gichi-gami Voyageurs and Donut Connoisseurs

(2024 Heartland Ep 6)

We left Duluth on a crisp Sunday morning bound for Canada and the north shore of Lake Superior.  Our route was Minnesota Highway 61 and the North Shore Scenic Drive with its 154 miles of lake views, waterfalls, historic sites, a donut shop that makes lofty claims and much more.

We stood on the rocky shore a few miles from Duluth and were awed by the size of Lake Superior.  As Floridians, a body of water that large should be salty, with seashells, sharks, jellyfish and other such things. 

Lake Superior IS Superior

Consider these amazing stats:

Lake Superior is 350 miles long and 160 miles wide and borders two countries and three states. It covers 31,700 square miles, about the size of South Carolina.

The lake contains 10% of the world’s fresh water – 440 trillion cubic feet. That’s enough to fill more than one BILLION Olympic swimming pools.  Superior has enough water to fill the other four Great Lakes combined!

The average depth is 439 feet (deepest is 1333 feet) with an average temperature of 40F.  The lake rarely freezes over completely – only twice in the last 100 years, 1973 and 1996 did this occur.

The lake has seen waves over 40 feet and through the years about 550 shipwrecks have occurred with over 1000 lives lost.

The Ojibwe name for the lake is gichi-gami meaning ‘great sea.’  Longfellow used this name as ‘gitche gumee’ in the poem ‘The Song of Hiawatha,’ as did Gordon Lightfoot in his ballad ‘The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald.’

Falling Waters

The rivers that flow into Lake Superior have beautiful waterfalls.  There are at least ten spectacular falls worth seeing on the drive.          

^{Two of the five waterfalls at Gooseberry Falls State Park}

We stopped at Gooseberry Falls State Park about an hour from Duluth and hiked to four of the five falls in the park.  The water, muddy from recent rains, cascaded over several large drops and down steep inclines.  We moved quickly, trying to avoid being breakfast for hungry mosquitoes and blackflies.  This was a hint of what was to come in Canada.

That afternoon, we hiked to magnificent High Falls in Grand Portage State Park.  At 120 feet, they are Minnesota’s tallest waterfall.  Located on the Pigeon River on the US-Canada Border, they can be seen from several great viewpoints along the trail.

The Great Carrying Place – Grand Portage

A few miles from the US-Canada border, we stopped to learn about the fascinating history of Grand Portage at the Grand Portage National Monument.

In the closing years of the 18^th century, fur-trading companies labored to meet European demand for beaver skins. Fur covered hats were all the rage.

Late each spring French-Canadian Voyageurs traded for furs from native peoples living west of the Great Lakes. Using large birchbark canoes, they paddled eastward to the North West Company headquarters on Lake Superior.  Trade goods and supplies were paddled westward across the Great Lakes by men from Montreal. 

At an annual mid-summer Rendezvous in Grand Portage, furs and goods were exchanged, with the furs bound for Montreal and the goods and supplies for the native peoples. 

The routes of the Voyageurs totaled nearly 3000 miles and included around 100 portages.  None were more than 13 miles in length.  The final or ‘Grand Portage’ to the Rendezvous was 8.5 miles, requiring the Voyageurs to make several trips carrying 90-pound packs. The portage was necessary due to waterfalls like High Falls and other rapids on the Pigeon River.

With the depletion of beavers and introduction of silk covered hats in Europe, the North West Company ceased operations in 1803.

^{What could be better than a maple bacon long john?}

World’s Best Donuts?

At Grand Marais, midway along scenic drive, we waited in line to see if this was true.

The verdict? The donuts are good but not the world’s best. 

You must admit, however, they have a great marketing scheme!

Name a place ‘Joe’s Donuts’ and you’ll get the usual traffic of people seeking something sweet to have with coffee.  But name it ‘World’s Best Donuts’ and people (like us and dozens of others) will come from afar and wait in line to see if the claim is true.  

Next Week

Lake Superior’s north shore – black flies, sore feet and the world’s richest silver mine.