By the shores of Gitche Gumee*

One of the dozens of shoreline photos that I took. I couldn't resist!

"Lake Superior: Culture, History, and Walks in a Spectacular Setting" was the title of last week's Road Scholar trip.  We stayed at the historic Naniboujou Lodge outside Grand Marais in northeastern Minnesota. 

The weather cooperated:  cool, some cloudy days but also some sunshine. It was too early for mosquitoes and blackflies so we could hike through the woods comfortably.  Our 27 fellow Road Scholars came from as far away as California, but most from the Twin Cities.

The great hall at Naniboujou

We began each day with Tai Chi Chih exercises (a variation of traditional Tai Chi). We hiked in the woods along the Brule River.  

Karl in his "gentleman's" garb

We spent
Wednesday at Grand Portage. The video was taken at the High Falls, the highest waterfall in Minnesota. Grand Portage National Monument is a restored fur trading post. The portage was an 8.5 mile shortcut between Lake Superior and Fort Charlotte.


Over the course of three evenings Karl Koster told us about the fur trade -- the Hudson's Bay Company and the Northwest Company, the voyageurs who were "the long-distance truckers of the era," and the beavers whose pelts were sold as far away as China. Karl is a reenactor par excellence! 

The traditional Road Scholar/Elderhostel group photo.

*Longfellow spelled it "gitche gumee" in "The Song of Hiawatha." "Gichigami" is Ojibwe for "Big Water," or Lake Superior.