Camping at Gooseberry Falls

We try to get out camping one weekend each summer and knowing how fast the summers fill up and fly by we decided to jump on an open weekend in June and head up to Gooseberry Falls for the weekend. We went up Thursday and spent the night in a hotel in Duluth as we didn't have a reservation for a campsite and we wanted to make sure we got a "walk in" site on Friday morning.

We ate at Fitger's on Thursday night and checked into our hotel. The kids absolutely love staying in hotels! They love jumping on the beds and running around the room. It's pretty funny....but they get all wound up whenever we stay in hotels! We didn't get back to the hotel until a little later (not super late, but just not enough time to go swimming) so we tried to relax and then we headed to bed.

Friday morning we enjoyed the continental breakfast and stopped to pick up a coffee and pair of socks (Luke forgot hiking socks) before heading to Gooseberry. We arrived in plenty of time to get a "walk in site" and it was a beautiful morning! We set up camp, had a little lunch and then set out for a hike to the falls.

Our tent this year!!

Hiking to Gooseberry Falls

So happy to be riding!

Checking out the falls a little closer!

While we were out on our hike we left a small ziploc bag of garbage at our campsite....big mistake! We came back to garbage all over our campsite.....and our soft sided cooler was pecked at and the zipper was broken...so we drove to Two Harbors to pick up some ice and a couple styrofoam coolers. It was a pretty chilly day so we stopped at Castle Danger Brewery to relax and warm up a bit. The kids were excited for their treat (sour gummy worms). After that we headed back to the campsite for the rest of the afternoon/evening.

We had brats for dinner on Friday night, along with some pasta. The kids had fun coloring, running around the campsite and making smores. It got really cold that evening. We set out for an evening hike after dinner to burn some energy before dinner--and it was freezing by the lake! I'm glad we had hats and mittens packed!

Castle Danger Brewery

Drawing in their new books. Bishop could have drawn forever!

Our evening hike to the lake! It was COLD!

It was a cold night in our tent, but everyone got some sleep (I had a really hard time falling asleep and both kids woke up cold in the middle of the night...but easily warmed up when we put them back IN their sleeping bags). Sleeping while camping is always tough!

Saturday we decided to hike to Fifth Falls--about a mile or two up from Gooseberry Falls. It was a warmer hike and we enjoyed a nice picnic lunch on the rocks when we got there. The kids seemed especially happy on this hike!

After the hike we drove up to Split Rock Lighthouse and checked out the Lighthouse. It was really cool and windy so we didn't stay too long. We headed back to the campsite to hang out for the afternoon/evening. Bishop was really into looking for agates, so we spent some time by the lake looking for agates. He did find a few really cool (and real) agates......and he later unfortunately threw one into Lake Superior by accident.

Saturday evening it started to rain. There was rain in the forecast and thankfully it held off late enough for us to eat dinner and then retreat to the tent for the night. The kids laughed a lot as they wrestled in the tent! We packed everything up so we would be ready to take off on Sunday morning.

On Sunday morning we packed up the tents and sleeping bags and headed to Betty's Pies for breakfast. Then we stopped in Duluth and walked around in Canal Park for awhile before heading home.

Breakfast on Saturday morning! Fruit Loops and hot chololate

My big hiker!

Best friends!

Photo courtesy of Bishop (he took about 25 of these

 

Making smores at the campsite

Staying warm by the fire!

Hanging out in Canal Park

The kids had so much fun camping! They always seem to really bond when we go camping....and I heard things like "You're my best friend and I will never ever ever call you stupid or bad words again"! :) I just wish that lasted a little bit longer than it did! :)  Camping is always an adventure--and 40 degrees in June wasn't necessarily in our plans, but we survived, had a great time and will know to wait until later in the summer to camp on the North Shore next time!