North Shore Fall Colors 2011! Fewer people, cooler temps and
things you don't see in the cities like bald eagles and wolves.
>>Report for October 10, 2011
Fall
Color Status:
Birds in large
numbers migrating and great fall colors... Maples have peaked in
many areas. Birch and aspen / poplars are peaking and should be
good for another week. Generally colors are best for maple and
oak from mid September into early October. Colors for birch and
poplar/aspen are last two weeks of September into mid October.
Tamarack changes to lemon yellow at the end of September into
early October. We report fall colors into two areas; the
lower North Shore and
upper North Shore. I35 road construction - try using Hwy 23
which connects Sandstone to Duluth. It is a very scenic fall
colors drive and will get you away from the hustle of I35. Well
worth the extra time...
FALL COLOR REPORT FOR LOWER
NORTH SHORE / DULUTH AREA / HWY 61 MILE 0 TO MILE 70>>>Duluth
through Little Marais, which includes
Tettegouche State Park, St.
Louis and Lake Counties. Current Report October 10; maples have
peaked and are best on early season routes, use mid and late
season routes for aspen/poplar and birch. Very nice colors.
Birch are bright yellow from Silver Bay through upper North
Shore along Lake Superior. Maples are red and orange on early
season routes. There are some road closures due to forest fire
activity in Lake and Cook Counties. Inland from Lake Superior;
Finland, Isabella and end of Sawbill Trail. Hwy 61 is not
affected. See
more info about road closures. Awesome time of year to
hike North
Shore trails and explore the area.
FALL COLOR REPORT FOR UPPER
NORTH SHORE HWY 61 MILE 70 TO USA / CANADA BORDER >>>All of
Cook County from Schroeder up through Grand Portage, Gunflint
Trail and the Canadian border area. Current Report October 10;
maples have peaked and have fallen. Best colors are mid and late
fall color routes for birch and aspen/poplar. Birch are bright
yellow along Lake Superior. There are some road closures
due to forest fire activity in Lake and Cook Counties. Inland
from Lake Superior; Finland, Isabella and end of Sawbill Trail.
Hwy 61 is not affected.
See more info about road closures. Awesome time of year to
hike North
Shore trails and explore the area.
Great opportunities exist for wolf, deer,
and red fox watching at night. Also bald eagles, ravens and
turkey vultures can be seen on road kill along Hwy 61 during the
day. At mile 115 last week; 2 wolves and a red fox have been
consuming a deer. At mile 121 last week; at least one wolf and a
red fox have also been consuming a deer. During daylight; turkey
vultures, ravens and bald eagles are feasting together. Saturday
night 11pm September 24th in downtown Grand Marais two wolves
trotted down Hwy 61 and turned down into RV Park, and ran into
pond area by municipal pool.
|
Another wolf last Monday in broad daylight eating a
carcass at mile 116.5 Hwy 61 [see image to left]. Wolf
sightings are on a sharp increase due to over population
and lack of fear for humans. We sat and watched this wolf
for ten minutes, rolling and chewing on a dead animal.
Colvill has been a hot spot the past three weeks. Between
9pm and midnight last week we saw 4 wolves, 7 red fox and
38 deer on Hwy 61 between Grand Marais and
Judge
Magney State Park. Wolves are commonly seen on and
along Hwy 61 in Cook County in the; Lutsen area,
Cascade River State Park area, up and through downtown
Grand Marais, Colvill, Kadunce River Wayside area, Judge
Magney State Park and Hovland. |
2008 and 2009
- very late fall colors ended rather abruptly Oct 15th and
17th as strong fall squalls rolled in. Watching these storms rip
leaves off trees and spin up Lake Superior into huge shore
pounding waves, is a spectacular scene.
>>Keep these things in mind;
Watch out for ticks... we've been finding very small deer
ticks on dogs and people. Hard to believe but, deer ticks are
very active during the warm fall days and often attach in the
very private body areas. Deer ticks are a recent invasive
species that has moved into North Shore areas, possibly from
excessive deer populations. (might be a good place to find an
area to deer hunt.)
Please be courteous to those that don't want to drive as
slow as you. Turn-out in a safe location and let faster traffic
pass. Not everyone is leaf looking. People live and work here
too. Thank you!
2011 Report Archives
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See fall color
images of Oberg Mountain from September 30th, 2010.
See fall color images
of Cascade River from September 30th, 2010.
SPECIAL EVENT>>Split
Rock Lighthouse State Park Beacon lighting and anniversary of
the sinking of the Edmund Fitzgerald
Nov 10th.
read
more about this event...