This is my first in what I hope will be many posts about traveling to the highest point in each of the US states. I think it is a great way to see the country, and in many cases, a rewarding workout!
Eagle Mountain is the highest point in Minnesota with an elevation of 2301 feet. No, this isn’t exactly worthy of being called a mountain, but it is still worth the hike. Situated in the Boundary Waters Canoe Area, not far from the North Shore of Lake Superior, the scenic stops along the way on the drive north are just as special as the views from the summit of Eagle Mountain, making this a fun trip.
A friend and I left Minneapolis in the evening and stayed in Duluth for the night before we made our way up the north shore of Lake Superior. It was the early summer, so it was still a little cold in there, but we were excited to be there nonetheless. We left Duluth in the early morning with a strong desire to make it an eventful day. As we cruised along Highway 61 and enjoyed some nice Lake Superior vistas we made note of the interesting stops along the way and decided to go to a few of them on the trip back to Minneapolis. Since our principal goal was to make it to Eagle Mountain (our first state highpoint), we wanted to do that first.
We weren’t able to Take Highway 61 the whole way there, of course, as Eagle Mountain is about 15 miles inland from the lake. We eventually turned onto a gravel road leading us to Eagle Mountain, and also one of the other great sights on our trip: A moose! We got out of the car and began to take pictures of the moose that was only a couple hundred feet away in a small lake.
After we got enough of looking at the moose (and making funny noises to see if it would respond in any way-it didn’t) we made our way towards Eagle Mountain. Shortly after, we made it to the trailhead and quickly began our hike. We decided that it would be more fun to make it a trail run. This wasn’t easy, as the terrain is a little rough, with many large rocks sticking up. Occasionally we slowed it down to take a picture, but we wanted to be the first to get to the summit that day (We were, as there was only one other car in the parking lot when we arrived, and we passed them on the trail.) so we ran whenever we could.
We reached the summit and were awarded with a nice view of some surrounding lakes and the forest that dominates Northern Minnesota. The view was definitely worth the hike. On the way down we passed many groups of people on their way up, which slowed us down a bit as we were running, but that was just fine. We had the summit all to ourselves for at least half an hour, a luxury that none of these groups would get. Note: If you decide to go, make it an early trip like we did. Besides not being as busy, it also gives you the rest of the day to do some exploring on the North Shore.
Once we were back to the car, we got back on the gravel road, but this time headed towards Grand Marais. We were excited that we had already accomplished our goal of “summiting” Eagle Mountain, and it was around noon. With the rest of the day to explore, we checked out anything that looked interesting. I’ll save the rest of the trip for another post, as this could get long.
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