Reflections From the Fence: Gooseberry Falls State Park, Minnesota

Wednesday, July 25, 2018

Gooseberry Falls State Park, Minnesota

AUGUST 2013

As we continue our sightseeing ride north on 61 out of Duluth Minnesota we came to Gooseberry Falls State Park, and in we went.

We walk/hike/climb around the park, there are water falls. Their web site says there are lower, middle and upper falls. Frankly, I remember two sets of falls, but, it's been 5 years folks, my memory is not that good without my photos, Sony GPS and Google Maps. *Wink wink.

On our walk to the falls, there was this stunning birch tree, later in the day we would see many birch trees in another area that appeared to have died, not sure why.

And, there were falls, I presumed they were the lower ones, however upon studying maps and satellite views of the falls area, blown up as large as I can get them, I have decided these are the middle falls.

With a little zoom assist from Sony:

Man and I watched the peeps frolicking in this area of the park and then, started walking/hiking "uphill". Sony and I were busy, turning back and forth:

The middle falls again, from a different vantage point:

I could look at this peace for a very long time and not grow tired of it. That is route 61 passing over the Gooseberry River.

This is what I have determined are the upper falls, again relying upon Google Maps, satellite version and information provided by Sony's GPS recordings. It was a bit of a distance and we had to cross under route 61 to reach these falls. There were not as many visitors here, as it was a bit more difficult to reach. And, there is no swimming or jumping at this falls. Seriously, this spot is gorgeous, but, it is also more dangerous. There is a monument announcing that one should not swim, and it is in memorial of a teen, Richard Paul Luetmer, who did not survive his encounter with this river in 1978. Richard is memorialized on Find A Grave.

We climbed around to a different spot, these next two photos are taken from pretty much the same vantage point:

On our way back to Jolly we came upon this stunning wall. If I have this right, this was the original retaining wall for a parking concourse, built between 1936 and 1940 by the Civilian Conservation Corps. It was originally 300 foot long, 12 to 15 feet hight and 12 feet wide at the base.

There were stairs, and of course, we went up top, where we found, this hingepin and truss segment from the original Gooseberry River bridge. That one lane bridge was originally built in 1925, widened to 2 lanes in 1937 and replaced in 1996. I enjoy abstract art and history.

From our vantage point, having some elevation, we could see a freighter cruising down Lake Superior. For the record this photo was basically a gray mist, Sony had zoomed to the max and that freighter was wayyyyyyy out on the lake. So, I enhanced and color tweaked and lightened and sharpened and who knows what else. But, you can see it, right??

As we returned to the path to the visitors center and our vehicle and the rest of our day, I took one more photo, cause ya just gotta have some flowers.