BWCA Trip - August 2014 Part 3
Day 4 (8/19/14) 9pm
Slept until 8 am! Got off to a great start making a fire. We needed to dry out our soaked shoes. Jess really wanted to go see the waterfall that pours into Rose Lake. To get there we were going to hike back up the way we came, continuing to Rose Lake which we would follow West to the falls. I wasn't feeling it so early in the morning, I wanted a day to dry out. Being my first time visiting the BWCA, it was easy to be defeated by the wetness and the overcast weather. But Jess talked me into it and we decided to go around 1 pm.
Before we left 3 hikers with 3 dogs passed through our site. The site is right on the trail, but this was the first time we really saw anyone off of the water. Two of the dogs were monster labs, one gold and one chocolate.
The trail was great and easy as it ran along the Arrow River. Once we got to the end of the portage to Rose Lake, we ate lunch. Then we headed West to the falls. The path got quite rough. We brought only our small back pack and decided to wear our rain jackets, just in case.
As we headed west, the trail got very steep! And as we got closer to the falls and up on higher ground, out of the woods, and into dense raspberries and brush we saw several moose tracks and moose dung! I counted 8 spots that we needed to navigate over and around.
As we finally made it to the falls, we stopped to take in the gorgeous view from several different overlooks. The falls were huge! We were able to get right up next to it and see all of the life that is so specific to this type of environment.
I love seeing the different ecosystems intertwined so close together. Moss and ferns with tall pines. Downed trees are everywhere, crowding together and creating pools, swirling before falling over the edge. Massive rocks, eroded and broken by centuries of flowing water crashing and rushing against them.
Then the view. Being so high up, we could see out over the lake and see the hills on the distance coast. Endless miles of pines and the geological formations that support them.