Camping at Tettagouche State Park

Before the crazy storm hit, we spent two nights camping at a cart-in site at Tettagouche State Park.  We were super blessed with perfect weather.  Not a drop of rain fell, and the temperatures were perfect.  It was a lot of work to cart in all the supplies for our medium-large sized family.  The site was between 1/3 to 1/2 mile away from the trailhead where we could park our van, but it was so worth it!  Cart-in sites always tend to be more secluded and private, and we totally lucked out with this site, because while most of the sites were up on cliffs above Lake Superior, we had a steep secret little trail down to a private, secluded beach.  Since there is hardly anything better than hanging out on a beach next to Lake Superior, I don’t think it could have been more perfect.

We had planned on doing some hiking to places in the park we hadn’t been before, but the truth of the matter is we were having such a good time spending time together next to the water that not much hiking happened.

When we camp we love to sleep in hammocks, and we were super blessed that the skies were clear the entire time we were there, so that meant that almost all of us could sleep in hammocks with our bug nets.  Dr. Peds hung hammocks for The Banana and I from trees next to the steep trail down to the Lake, and he found a place for YaYa even closer down to the beach.  Mr. SP slept underneath a gigantic pine tree, and Dr. Peds was in the woods a bit.  Mr. TOF doesn’t have a bug net for his hammock, and hammock sleeping is a little tricky when you are six, but he had wonderful time having the tent to himself.  We didn’t even have to put up the rain cover.  It was a really special treat to be swaying in my hammock, away from the bugs, where I could see the sunrise and moonrise over the Lake and hear the waves all night long.  

We had hauled along our kayaks, because I have been wanting to paddle at Tettagouche for a long time.  We didn’t know if the water would cooperate or not, and there was not a convenient place to put the kayak in the water at all, but my amazing husband, who had a nasty headache, got the kidlets to help him carry my kayak down a set of stairs and along a trail to the mouth of the river to put it in the water.  It was the best kayaking I have ever experienced.  There were sea waves nestled in all sorts of crannies and nooks in the cliffs, and the sheer size of the cliffs on shovel point from the water was amazing.  I started to paddle toward Palisade Head, but the water was getting a little choppier, and I’m a pretty cautious kayaker, so I turned back.  The next morning at sunrise Dr. Peds did kayak over to Palisade Head, and encountered all sorts of neat caves and even sea arches.

At the end of a day filled with swimming and kayaking, the younger kids wanted to go back to the river to swim.  My hates-to-hike girl asked to hike with me over to shovel point, a hiking destination that is on my list, and I said, “OK!  Let’s go!”  We had a great time, even though she may have chided me for not keeping up with her her on the steep ascent.

This was the view from the top of the cliff.  When camping there are certain foods that just need to be eaten, like “Grandma Kathy hot dogs” (they are beef hot dogs only available in Valley City from the meat market) roasted on the campfire, and of course Smores.  We had hot dogs for two meals, actually, and the Smores were quite tasty.

The bugs at the campsite were prolific, but there were no bugs down next to the Lake, and with our netted hammocks, we escaped without getting eaten alive completely.  Even though camping is always a lot of work:  packing, hauling, packing, more hauling, putting things away, and all the laundry that goes with it, every year I am more convinced that it results in some of the very best family time.