We arrived on the North Shore of Lake Superior mid-afternoon on a Thursday. The weather was perfect and amazingly cool compared to Minneapolis, just a few hours south. We made a few stops along the way to Gooseberry Falls and also pulled over to take a shot of the most photographed site in Minnesota, the Split Rock Lighthouse.
The air was fresh and pure. The brilliant blue waters of Lake Superior glistened in the sun. I could hardly wait to get to our destination, a log cabin along the shores of the lake, and spend a weekend relaxing, hiking and doing what I love best: Enjoying nature and being together with family. There couldn’t be a more ideal place for it than here.
We found an amazing log cabin for rent on VRBO (Vacation Rentals by Owner). I had never stayed inside a real log cabin before. The beams of wood were enormous and had a light fragrant smell of the woods. My favorite part of all about the cabin was the view. It had a huge open air verandah overlooking enormous Lake Superior, offering the idea place to have a snack, sip a glass of wine or enjoy the fog lifting off the lake with a cup of morning coffee.

My morning view. I would sit here and drink my coffee each morning, looking out into the vast, blue lake.
It was early June and given the northern location spring and summertime are a bit more delayed as compared to home in the Twin Cities. A fresh crop of early summer flowers had just bloomed and I thoroughly enjoyed snapping some pictures of them covered in mist, morning dew and water droplets.
Early on, we noticed that there was a large amount of butterflies along the North Shore. Butterflies were everywhere flying in huge swarms and breeding. Here they are fooling around in the grass right outside our cabin.
One of my greatest childhood memories of coming to the North Shore was agate hunting. What is an agate you ask? See below. My brother, sister and I used to spend hours searching for agates. We loved it and it was always the first thing we did once we arrived on the North Shore each fall for our annual family vacation.
We unloaded the car and then headed immediately down to the rocky, rugged lakefront where the kids would get their first taste of searching for agates.

Sophia with her bag of agates. We brought them home and put them in our rock garden to have a piece of Lake Superior with us.
While Max and Sophia searched for agates and played with the rocks, I took some time to explore the rocky shoreline. I was amazed by how many unusual, beautiful things I found like this brilliant orange algae growing on the rocks.
And I was also amazed to see the interesting plant life creeping out of the rocks. What a will to survive!

Amazing to find this kind of plant life in such a harsh environment. Lake Superior’s water is extremely cold and the waves can get very fierce.
As the sun began to set, it was time to build up a fire. We found a protected fire pit along the rocks and gathered wood to start our campfire.
The sun began to set at well past nine. It was a beautiful, serene night along the North Shore. I could hardly wait for tomorrow as we had several hikes planned. It was going to be a wonderful weekend!
I fell asleep easily listening to the pounding and melodic smashing of the waves. Around four am the sun began to rise and I laid in bed listening in awe and wonder to the cries of the loons along the distant shore. What a treasure we have!
Stay tuned….next post in this series will be on our first hike along Superior National Hiking Trail!
Fabulous! i could move into that log cabin in a heart beat!
Great Post – loving your photos – thanks for sharing! Have a Great Day:)
What a beautiful place. I would never want to leave.
Oh, Nicole, what a beautiful spot! I want to go there. NOW! LOL
hugs,
Kathy
Looks like a very peaceful place, a kind of place I would definitely go for holidays!
I wish someday I get to see something this beautiful. It’s like being in a “nature” wonderland. Perhaps one day, my son and I can have some “agate” hunting. Just a magical post my friend. Thanks for sharing this wonderful post. Have a great Summer.
To echo all the other commenters, this place looks absolutely beautiful and restful. I love the soft pastel colors of the sky in the last few photos as the day turns to dusk. And I am definitely jealous of your kids and those smores! That might just be the first thing I eat when I return to the States next week. 😉
Also, I wanted to recommend a book for you! I know you love the outdoors and appreciate people’s personal journeys, so I think you might like Wild, by Cheryl Strayed. I read it a few weeks ago and laughed/cried/loved it.
http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/12262741-wild
Beautiful pictures and such a great location to feature – so glad to see those! Thanks for sharing
Glad you enjoyed! I have more coming soon….
What a gorgeous setting. 😉
Yes, I sure miss it there!