Day Nineteen: The Echo Trail

We left the cabin with dogs and boys at 10:30 AM bound for adventure. After a stop in Ely for some water and a new collar for Goober, se set off on the Echo Trail, which is less a trail and more a 40-something mile gravel road through the middle of nowhere. Really, pretty much through nothing, as it goes through a small area bounded on both sides by the BWCAW. There are lakes from time to time, and occasionally even a driveway or National Forest Campground. I remember hearing how my grandparents loved to pick blueberries "up Echo Trail." I have no idea where on Echo Trail they did this. Tim and I drove that way the second time we went into the Boundary Waters (at S. Hegman Lake). I had never driven the whole thing.

Our first stop was at Bass Lake. There is a 5+ mile trail around the lake, but we decided to start small with a hike to Dry Falls (named for Dry Lake, the source of the falls). It was just around 1.5 miles round trip, but it was a pretty rugged hike for the dogs and boys. The falls were lovely - Zachary and I swam in the small area at the top of the falls. Jeremy seemed to love the hike (he says he is "addicted to excercise" now), and he narrated the entire hike back to the car. The dogs were completely worn out by it.

We went across the road to see the boat access for Little Long Lake, then continued up Echo Trail. We had considered camping at Lake Jeanette this year, but never had a weather report that made us think we'd be able to do it without getting rained on. So, we visited the campground on our way by. Primitive is the best way to describe it. There are only 12 sites (though there was a pit toilet WITH WALLS!) , and the campground host stays at another campground several miles up the road. It does look like a beautiful lake, with lots of rocky islands. Maybe next year we'll give it a try.

Not too many miles later was Echo Lake. This is the other National Forest Campground. It's a bit bigger than Jeanette with a playground and small beach. It seemed like a great little place until we got out at the beach, and we were completely accosted by mosquitos. It was so bad that we went running back to the car where were quickly closed the door and must have killed about 30 mosquitos over the next 5 minutes. The boys turned this into a game, calling me green leader and Tim red leader. We were supposed to spot and anihilate "targets." At any rate, we're pretty sure we don't want to stay at Echo Lake any time soon.

At the end of Echo Trail, we turned north and visited Vermillion Falls near Crane Lake. I wasn't prepared for the quantity or power of the water rushing over the falls. Just beautiful and humbling.

Finally, we drove back home through Orr (where the boys and I had been just over a week before to see the bears). Zachary complained a bit, but I think both boys enjoyed the hike. Mom had chicken wings and pierogies waiting for us at home. We had dinner, played a game of penny in the pot, and put the boys to bed. We rounded out the night with our second game of Pinochle, which I lost.