North Country Trail - Paradise to Grand Marais - Part 5 of 5

[00:00:17]Good morning everybody. Well, it's a lot warmer last night and this morning than it has been. Um, so you'd think that I would have slept really well, but there was a whipperwill. And if you guys don't know what that is, you should Google it.

[00:00:32]They are super cool birds. Um, but they usually kind of sing, oh, maybe like 30 minutes right around dusk. Oh, not this one. No, he sang all night. And he was so close. And he was so loud that I had to dig out my little um foamy earplugs and put them in. And I could still hear him. Got to go around this obstacle. Um, so I'm a little bit tired today, but that is okay because it is our last day on trail for this segment and we are just going 10 miles and we're going to get picked up in a parking lot just outside of Grand Marray.

[00:02:02]I think it's such a treat to walk in the forest in the morning when all the little song birds are so active and singing.

[00:02:29]This forest just looks all creepy and dead and dark. Kind of mysterious.

[00:02:36]I don't know. I think there's something just beautiful about that.

[00:02:56]Oh, we're going to take this last opportunity to walk on the beach again.

[00:03:26]Well, the trail's turning away from the water again for the last time on this trip. We have got to go up this here. Wow. And look at this campsite that's right up at the top of this bluff.

[00:03:39]Oh, that's incredible.

[00:03:56]You guys, did I just see a wolf?

[00:04:00]You know, I know that coyotes get really big up here, too. But he was he was huge. He was like German Shepherd size at least. I'm going to have to look at this video when I get home and analyze it a little bit better. But either way, that was amazing. He was gorgeous.

[00:04:54]Well, this is the Blind Sucker River.

[00:04:58]And I don't know. I hope that's a type of fish or something. I hope they didn't name that for a person. That'd be kind of mean.

[00:05:09]So, we're going to cross this dirt road here, and I came to this information kiosk, and it doesn't have any information inside or out.

[00:05:52]So, here's some very large canine poo.

[00:05:55]And sorry, I know it's gross, but there's like hair in there and little bits of bone.

[00:06:01]Interesting stuff. And this is very clearly the remains of a deer.

[00:06:35]Oh, wow. Isn't that pretty?

[00:07:14]Well, folks, I am approaching my pickup point and the end of this section hike.

[00:07:20]And you know, I fell in love with this trail the last time I came out here, and I'm still in love with it. It is such an amazing, beautiful trail. And I am not sorry that I came out and did it this time of year because we had zero ticks, zero mosquitoes, and only black flies for that one afternoon. And you know what? There were probably like no other people either. I've seen no one on this trail outside of the campgrounds and on the beach where there was a couple spots where you have drive up access.

[00:07:53]Yeah. So much solitude. It's fantastic.

[00:07:58]As always, thank you guys so much for joining me on this journey. I hope you have a wonderful Memorial Day weekend.

[00:08:06]I'm going to go home, plant that vegetable garden. See you guys next time.