WR: North Shore Camping & Split Rock Lighthouse

Adam and I both worked half days on Friday. Since we had dropped Chester off with Adam’s parents the night before, we were able to leave straight from work for the North Shore! We had a few errands to run first including a trip to the liquor store and a quick lunch at Noodles. By 12:30, we were on the road.

Our campground was about half an hour north of Duluth at Knife River. It’s a cute little family owned campground that we had stayed at back in 2009 and enjoyed. We got there around 4, set-up our tent (instant tent=awesome) and relaxed a bit.

(full disclosure, I took these photos Sunday morning)

Then, we walked down to the Knife River Beach. It’s adorable. There we just relaxed and watched the waves. It was wonderful!

 I put my feet in. It was super cold!

 Adam enjoyed skipping rocks and throwing rocks in the lake. Just like a child!

After a few hours at the beach, we wandered back to our campsite to start dinner. Adam got the campfire going, and we roasted hot dogs. While we waited for it to get dark, we played a game of Cribbage. It was close, but I won!

Adam went and got more wood, and we sat around the campfire the rest of the night. We also made yummy Rocky Road pudgie pies (bread+marshmallow+peanut butter+chocolate).

On Saturday morning, we were up by 8:30. Stupid loud neighboring camping group. We lounged a bit and then headed out by 9:30 for Split Rock Lighthouse. Split Rock is one of my favorite places ever. I’ve been there three times now; the first time with my family on our first North Shore trip back in 2007, and the second time with Adam when we camped here in 2009.

We did the quick 20 minute tour (kind of pointless because our guide was terrible), and watched the cheesy but informative video. Of course we also climbed up into the lighthouse,

and walked around the grounds.

photo by Adam

By the time we were done with all that, it was exactly noon. Back at the Terrain, we put our sandwiches together and then hiked down to the shore.

There we found a nice secluded spot on the rocks and ate our lunch. It was so beautiful that we sat there for about an hour just enjoying the waves and each other. It was perfect.

How many photos can one person take of a lighthouse? I assure you, quite a few. This was my first time there with a D-SLR camera.
I'm obsessed.
It's one of my favorite places in the world.

photo by Adam

We left at 1:30, just as it was starting to get crowded.

Our next stop was Adam’s favorite (not!) Gooseberry Falls. For some reason, he thinks it is super lame and hates all the people climbing all over it. The place was packed and it took a bit to find a parking spot. We walked down to the falls and sat for a bit but didn’t stay long.

On our way back to the campground, we stopped at Dairy Queen in Two Harbors for ice cream (cherry Dilly Bar for me, Buster Bar for Adam).

Back at the campsite, we decided to head down to the beach again. Adam found a big driftwood log on the beach for us to lean against and there we sat for a few hours. It was lovely.

Around 6 we headed back to the campsite and took a short nap. All that fresh air made us exhausted! Adam got more wood, and started a campfire to make dinner. That night we had pizza pudgie pies (bread+tomato paste+mozz+turkey pepperoni) over the campfire. For dessert, we had s’mores. Because of my nap, I was able to stay up until 11 when we ran out of wood! It was amazing considering the night before I was ready for bed at 9!

Part 2 in Duluth is next.