Temperance River State Park

Temperance River State Park

—Schroeder, MN—

The drive from Cascade River State Park to Temperance River State Park was rainy, but it cleared up a bit by the time we got there.  This is another state park that we are extremely familiar with, as it sits right on Highway 61 of the North Shore.  When driving up you can just park on the side of the road and jump on a trail and hike (or even snowshoe).  The Temperance River runs right under the highway on its way to Lake Superior, and, like the Cascade River, it is full of gorges and waterfalls.  

"Take the trail that winds along the edge of the Temperance River gorge and enjoy the rushing waterfalls surrounded by pine, spruce, cedar and birch forests. The rapidly flowing river has cut deep potholes in and along the riverbed. Hike the trail to Hidden Falls or connect up with trails into the Superior National Forest and the Cross River Wayside. Visitors come to camp and picnic along the shore of Lake Superior. Winter brings cross-country skiers and snowmobilers to tackle the hilly terrain. Carlton Peak, a recent addition to the park, is popular with rock climbers and offers even more recreational opportunities to park visitors." — Minnesota DNR Website

We pulled into the park, and Luke ran in and visited the Ranger Station.  He went on a much needed shopping spree and bought us some rain supplies including ponchos.  The first location was actually on the west side of the road (the Ranger Station is on the east side), so we drove over and parked by the easy-to-find first location.

Check out the rain... and more rain... and more...

We found the first location and made the decision that Luke would go after the cache, and I would stay with Marcus.

Luke grabbed one of the new ponchos and suited up to go out in the rain.  I stayed in the car, all nice and warm.

It's rain poncho time.

The car parked at the bike trail start.  (We, of course, didn't bike on it.)

And off he went down the trail...

The good ole Superior Hiking Trail (we actually hiked a bit of a different section of it by the cabin we stayed at with Luke's family).

Rainy.

The path crossed a bridge over the Temperance River.  Luke made it close to the final coordinates' position and could actually see the final geocache box, but then... poison ivy blocking the way!  This stuff grows aggressively, especially by this point in the summer.  A few months ago, no problem.  Today, though, BIG PROBLEM.

Can you see it?

So he turned around and ran back down the trail to the car.  We changed places, and I ran up and retrieved the final cache ammo box.

The geocache logbook as always.

This was the quickest find of the day – even with us changing places, we were in and out in less than 30 minutes.  Not too shabby!

The skies kept changing this day.  Often quite dramatically.