Another park that’s hard to reach and therefore not very crowded. It consists of a number of islands and it requires some sort of a water vehicle to see it.

Early morning mist over water on the way to the park
Early morning mist over water on the way to the park

We started at Rainy Lake Visitor Center where we got on a free canoe tour provided by NPS. Thanks NPS! The water was calm-ish, but a slight breeze picked up as we were crossing the bay, which made it more challenging to row. I sure got a good arm workout. We canoed through some wild rice fields and learned about the historical gold mining and beaver pelting times of the area.

Free canoe tour from NPS
Free canoe tour from NPS
Beaver lodge, but no beavers
Beaver lodge, but no beavers
Canoeing through wild rice
Canoeing through wild rice

Going south, at the Lake Kabetogama Visitor Center, we took a narrated boat tour to Ellsworth Rock Gardens. It was the very last garden tour offered this season. The ranger pointed out lots of eagles on the way.

Ellsworth Rock Garden
Ellsworth Rock Garden
Ellsworth Rock Garden
Ellsworth Rock Garden
Friendly ranger telling us about the park
Friendly ranger telling us about the park
The storm is coming
The storm is coming

Finally, at the last visitor center at Ash River, we did a couple of short hikes, which wrapped up our trip.

This could be a good sunset spot.
This could be a good sunset spot, but we had a flight to catch.

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August 29, 2015

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