9-10 October 2022
Sunday
We have 480 miles to drive today. I ordered breakfast online last night for pick-up this morning at Ancora Restaurant. Pick-up goes quite smoothly. Our breakfast is waiting on the counter when I enter the restaurant. The coffee is hot and good. O and I eat in the van in the parking lot. We can’t finish the huge breakfast so we save the potatoes for tomorrow morning. Our drive is long, but smooth. We arrive at Maplewood in daylight and find our campsite on the Knoll Loop on Grass Lake. The trees are mostly golden, with a few reds mixed in. Major construction is underway in the main loop: new showers and restrooms I think. There is no water in the campgrounds due to this project. Water is only available at the Park Office which is quite a drive from Knoll Loop. Luckily, we have plenty of water.
We will sleep in the van again as I don’t relish the thought of striking the tent on departure in cold morning temperatures. We use our leveling blocks to correct the -5 degree tilt to port. We manage to correct the tilt to -2 degrees. With the addition of a foam pad under our shoulders the van feels pretty level.
Monday
It’s a beautiful, golden fall morning. The temperature dropped to 4C overnight, but we were quite warm. It’s very quiet here! While we are warming our pumpkin cranberry muffins and leftover potatoes we hear a loon calling! I’ve missed that haunting sound!!
After breakfast and clean up we walk the interpretive loop part way around Grass Lake and extend our walk by adding on a lollipop loop around Cataract Lake where we spy a small flock of trumpeter swans in the distance. We return to the Grass Lake Loop and read the interpretive panels as we go. Several of them explain forest succession. They also discuss the effects of glaciers on this landscape. We pass may glacial erratics that have been rafted down from Canada.
On our return to camp O and I enjoy a midafternoon “lupper’ with chocolate mousse for dessert. By the time we are done with our leisurely meal the sun is lowering in the west. The sky is clear tonight. We will enjoy watching the almost full moon as it rises.