Temperance River State Park: Waterfalls and Forgiveness

We had a goal of finishing off the hikes along the north shore of Lake Superior on this trip: 4 hikes in 3 days, and a few waysides if we had time on the way back. Temperance River State Park was on our way up to Grand Marais and would be first, a nice way to ease in to hiking again with a 1.9 mile hike. We arrived around 2:30 p.m. and couldn’t have picked a nicer day to inaugurate the weekend: 68 degrees, fluffy clouds, blue skies. Let’s do it!

It was fairly crowded at the park, a repeated theme at each park we went to. It turns out everybody else thought Labor Day weekend was a good weekend for hiking, too. I felt somewhat self-conscious with my trekking poles, to be honest. The initial path was smooth and level asphalt and it felt a little bit like overkill. Not long into the hike, however, we passed an older couple (older than us, that is) going the other way and the wife was also using trekking poles. “A fellow hiking pole user!” I hailed her enthusiastically. In retrospect, that was probably kind of odd. They were good natured about my outburst and we exchanged a few words of encouragement about the importance of saving our knees.

The trail description promised views of Hidden Falls along the river gorge, some rugged and difficult terrain, and at the far end of the trail, the Upper Falls. If you like waterfalls, get yourself on up here. They’re a dime a dozen at these parks, as you will see.

When we got to the river gorge, we spotted the so-called “Hidden Falls,” right away. Waterfalls make so much noise, there’s not much chance of them going unnoticed. The river rushed through narrow rock passages creating large bowl-like openings from cavitation.

It’s always mesmerizing to watch and listen to water in powerful motion.

I try to balance what I “see” with my camera on these hikes, getting the close-ups that grab my attention, as well as pulling back to get the big picture.

At the midway point, we stopped to rest on a convenient log, ate our Clif bars and then I placed our first painted rock on the log before we left. I brought four of these on our trip, gifts from my friend Sue, and decided to place one near the password sign at each park (which is usually about halfway through the hike). This one said, “Sometimes you need to let things go. Forgive 2020.” It’s nice to think of someone finding it and taking the message to heart.

The Upper Falls were all that they were described to be: higher up on the trail, and the sight of water falling. Can’t ask for more than that, right? We stayed for a short time to enjoy the falls on this glorious day and then headed back down the trail.

Many trails up here intersect or coincide with the Superior Hiking Trail, so we saw plenty of signs like this:

Am I the only one who thinks that’s an unfortunate acronym?

Ode to Temperance River State Park
The beautiful Temperance River
The dangerous Temperance Gorge
The waterfalls did deliver,
The river, we did not forge.

We walked the path as bidden
(One of us using poles),
Found falls that were not hidden
And met our hiking goals.

A rock now sits near a sign
Proclaiming to all who pass by
“Let it go, forgive” – unbind –
Before day’s end draws nigh.

We stopped a lot so it took us nearly an hour and 45 minutes to finish the hike, but it’s not about the time, it’s about the journey – at least that’s what I tell myself. Next stop: Grand Marais, our “base” from which we’d do the other three hikes. As an aside, we spent our honeymoon in Grand Marais 35 years ago!

Knee Score: 3-4. Short hike, not too much up and down. The hiking poles helped. I think it would have been a solid 5 if not for using them.

I’ll probably delete this in the morning unless I hear from at least one person begging me not to. This is kind of like saving Tinkerbell by clapping. Minimal effort, maximum payoff.

P.S. a big thank you to my brother-in-law Karl for doing the photo editing on the state park signs for this group of hikes.

Next Hike: Grand Portage State Park