Water, Water Everywhere - Voyageurs, NP

After completing my circuit of the East, North and West of Lake Superior, I was ready to head inland and get away from all the water. But today was not a day that I could do that. I am now completely waterlogged. Not once today was I driving when it wasn't raining. It was never hard rain, and frequently only the intermittent wipers were needed, but it was constant. So I decided to pass most of the day following somewhat scenic routes that surely would have been better with a touch of priceless, golden sunshine. Moreover, my primary destination for the day was a park whose main attraction is water.

Voyageurs National Park, established in 1975, sits on the Canadian border in Minnesota. The park is named after the French Canadian voyageurs who paddled canoes filled with valuable beaver pelts from NW Canada to Montreal. Fortunately, the park was open; unfortunately, 99 percent of the park, the best parts, were inaccessible to me. But I knew this going in, so at least I wasn't disappointed. In fact, I had quite a nice time.

If I had a boat, canoe or kayak, I could have lifted anchor and started winding in and out of the the interesting nooks of the island that makes up the better 99% of the park. I could have hiked trails and gone to beaver dams. I probably would have even seen beavers as they are "curious animals around visitors" (the 10 minute film at the visitor center told me).

I arrived at the Rainy Lake Visitor Center, which is, not surprisingly, on Rainy Lake. As I've written in the past, a lot of places are named after their surroundings. Yellowstone has large yellow rock; Big Bend is at a large curve in a river; Hot Springs, Crater Lake, Smoky Mountains, Badlands, on and on are all named for their surroundings. Apparently here at Rainy Lake, it rains...and I can certainly confirm it. Anyway, I arrived at the visitor center.

There were 2 other cars in the parking lot, which is infinitely more than were at the Pukaskwa National Park in Canada yesterday. But then again, this park wasn't closed for the season. And as expected, the Oldsmobiles belonged to two sets of octogenarian sightseers. I am almost always the youngest sight seer at remote places like this. More people of all ages should get to do this kind of excursion. Anyway, I entered the visitor center.

I was immediately greeted by the enthusiastic park ranger. Heck, every park ranger is enthusiastic. And why shouldn't they be. They are selling a superb product, "Americas Best Idea." And every customer leaves happy (or eaten by coyotes). What a great job! I wish I could be a park ranger.

It must be a rainy day when I write five full paragraphs just about arriving at the Visitor Center. I guess I could have summarized it all as: "Anyway, I arrived at the Rainy Lake Visitor Center, watched the 10 minute introductory film with four other sight seers, inquired about short trails and headed out on a hike."

Umbrella in hand, I took the introductory visitor center hike. This 1.7 mile stroll was certainly not in the good parts of the park. Slippery when wet, the trail skirted past the lake and tucked inland to what felt like a rain forest. At its best, the trail provided a couple of glacial erratics and a couple of scenic overlooks. I did get lucky to encounter an R.O.U.S. - Rodent Of Unknown Species, who looped around me and vocalized an alarm. Cool. But mostly basic stuff for a National Park. Yet as always, well worth the visit.

I returned to the enthusiastic park ranger to compliment the park and determine just what the species was. Shortly we were leafing through her book of animals checking out the local species. We believe it was a Least Chipmunk, though I am not certain, a few of the chipmunks and even one squirrel looked like possible matches. Then we swapped black bear stories: my recent "Big Bend encounter" with her recent "heading for the dumpster sighting."

By my count, there are 46 National Parks in the 48 contiguous states in the US. Voyageurs is now the 23rd I've visited in my two road trips. I'm half way there. Perhaps knowing this fact, I finally asked the much pondered question, "Could I become a park ranger?"

Ranger Mary Jo responded with a wealth of information. She let me know just how to apply for a park ranger job. She informed me that jobs are frequently available. She's a seasonal worker, so she can travel to various parks with each season. She talked about the application process. She thinks that I have plenty of valuable qualifications, like a college degree and having visited 23 NP's. She told me she had not been a ranger for long, and she had no real education in that direction. And she told me she really thinks of herself as a writer. By the way, here is a poem she had published in the book "Patagonia" by Dick Lutz: Patagonia By Mary Jo Eisenach. (Message to Mary Jo - if you read this and don't like something, or you want the pretty picture gone, or you have a correction, or just want to say hi, either send me an email or post a comment.)

After the park, there was still a bit of soggy daylight left, so I headed out from the park in search of a few more miles and a cozy dive motel. I went 60 miles west before seeing a single hotel. In the next 10 miles I saw 4 more motels in the sleepy town of Baudette, but none seemed as appealing as the first. Usually, my first and only rule of choosing where to stay is that if there is more than one option, select the hotel that has the most cars. Uniquely, in this case I had no point of reference. None of the hotels had a single car parked in their lot. Yet the most appealing option was the one that was secluded and right on the river. So I guess the second rule of hotel choosing is to opt for the best view. I got my choice of any of the 10 rooms and I selected the one with what should be the perfect sunrise view of the river. Sadly, the waterway is named Rainy River.

After checking in, the motelier informed me that no keys were needed. "The doors unlocked," he said, "Not much goes on 'round here, so we jes leave them open."

I blurted, "Really?!?"

And he replied with the most colloquial, "You bet." I think this guy was in the movie "Fargo." Is it even possible in the year 2009 to think of a hotel that not only "Leaves a light on" but also leaves it's drive-up rooms unlocked. Inconceivable.

As far as rainy days go, I had a really good one.