Thursday, September 11, 2025
We went to the Visitor’s Center to get a day pass since we couldn’t get a campsite in Baptism River Campground. The young man suggested Finland Campground in the national forest, just past Finland, MN.
We talked for a long time with a nice lady working there. She is of Finnish descent and was looking forward to the first of November when the snows come. Apparently, she was a very good skier when she was young. Her brother was an Olympic skier, but women were not allowed in those days.
She asked if we had gone to Harbor Drive in Thunder Bay where all the Finnish shops were. We had seen the road, but we had a busy time in Thunder Bay. Then she started talking about all the Finnish food. There was a wild rice salad for her daughter’s wedding and something like a Danish roll, but it was Finnish. She loves to make fish soup, telling us where to buy fish. She had some great stories, but we needed to get going.
The road to the parking lot was closed, so we parked at the campground shower house. Walking around the campground loop to the trailhead, a man stopped his car to chat. “The trailhead is closed. I think the only way to see the falls is from the bottom.” After a long discussion of why it was closed, we all decided to risk getting caught, and hike it anyway. If we saw danger, we would turn around.
Off we went around the barrier, through the forest to a sign warning of 200 steps down to the lower falls. The wooden steps were wet and a bit slippery, so we proceeded cautiously. We got to the Step Falls where the rocks were slippery, but that didn’t stop Martha from going to the edge to get pictures. I stayed near the steps surveying the scene.
200 steps back up, we followed the trail to the High Falls. There were more steps down. A bridge across the river was being repaired, thus the trail closure. Standing on a platform overlooking the river, was the man we talked to earlier. We said Hello and scared him to death. The roaring river kept him from hearing us talking behind him. We talked for a while before heading back.
We drove to Finland Campground in Finland State Forest to see if we could find a spot for the weekend. There was an abundance of places. With lots of space between sites, all of them looked good. We settled on #16, filled out a card and registered online – $17/night. We put out three chairs so no one would take it and drove back to Black Beach for one more night.
Back at camp, searching for our furnace problem, I took the seat out that was behind the furnace. The circuit board is flashing one intermittent blink, which means an air flow problem. It could be the ducts are blocked. I had checked inside the trailer and didn’t see anything. It could also be the sail switch isn’t working. I found dirt and a big spider web, but nothing blocking the duct that came off this side of the furnace. I may have to do the same on the next seat to evaluate the ducts coming out that side of the furnace. We have to move tomorrow to the national forest where there will be no electric hookups, thus no heat pump. I have to solve this problem. Martha does not like being cold.