The most humorous part though was driving down the pothole marked entrance road and seeing 3 giant van loads of girls and boys slinging packs on their backs in the parking lot. The whole crew appeared to be doing an overnight hike on some section of the superior hiking trail and this was their start point. It was funny to hike all morning at Tettegouche and see nobody the entire time and then come further off the main roads and find a good 30+ on top of another dude getting out on his own for a big hike. I opted then for doing the boardwalk hike around the lake first. This hike is on a wooden boardwalk just in from the lake edge the entire way around. It was a neat way to setup a trail and keep erosion down on the lake shore.
This wood plank walk went for 1 mile around the lake. Better pay attention though, would be easy to walk off of it and wrench an ankle pretty easy. Fun trail idea though.
By this time it was really hot and I needed a bit of a relaxing go of things and this did wonders for me physically. I was able plod along slowly and pick up a few birds along the way all while being in the shade of the trees. Sometimes you can rest while still walking as I put on just about a mile of distance on this trail and recharged myself a bit from the serious morning hikes.
I had just 31 species in the park, but had entered the middle of the day with some heat that surely suppressed bird action a bit. Blue-headed Vireo was active and I was able to identify the call and then see the bird, which is one of 2 vireo that has been a challenge for me. (Not sure I'll ever know Philadelphia Vireo well enough.) I also picked up both Kinglet species during this hike, which was nice to see as well.
After my more relaxed stroll around the lake I decided I would start hiking towards the one mapped waterfall in the park. This was the direction all the crowd had gone earlier, but I figured catching them at this point would not be a thing since they had a good hour head start on me. The trail was loaded with roots and elevation changes so it was slow going and I stopped at shelter along the trail to listen to a Northern Parula and snag some photos as well.
At each point I stopped and asked myself if I had the juice for more plus the entire return trip. I kept moving forward and eventually found myself at the falls and for a rest. I had caught up to at least one group of the hiking kids at this point. Not sure what their destination was, but it was clear I was moving in beastmode speed and they were at a much more relaxed pace.
Fun little waterfall along the trail. Not 100% sure what this one was named.
Probably something I can see doing in the future if I can settle down enough to just focus on a single park for a couple day and hike the entire thing while canvassing for bird species.
I returned along the same route as it would be a bit shorter and I didn't want to double up that distance considering multiple days ahead of me yet for hiking and I would already be at around 12 miles on the day. A quick view point spur I took offered me a great look at the park pointing out towards Lake Superior. Though it is worth mentioning the park signage was dated and did not reflect some details and this viewpoint spur trail seemed be neglected a bit with the view getting over grown a bit. It was still worth the look and honestly it is hard to imagine picking a bad trail in this park. It is true wilderness when not running into groups of 30 plus hiking kids and I enjoyed the entire 3 hours I spent.
A distant view of the lake and plenty of wilderness between.
The Great: Outstanding hiking conditions and even a reasonable lake walk for those that just can't put in big elevation change hikes. The park is remote and I'm sure offers awesome birding when migration is complete with all birds on territory. Timing is key as I learned, but I have no issue getting such a lesson as it helps complete a picture of what to expect at what times.
The Meh: Being early for many migrants did suppress numbers and I clearly was early for some of the numbers. I think my full enjoyment of the trails was hindered by my 8 mile morning at Tettegouche so a more reasonable approach would be to hike in this park in the morning with a full tank of gas instead of doing it after running close to empty.
The Verdict: This is another super easy return to location. So much trail space left to hit in this park and I'm jacked to get another effort in the future where it is my primary effort for the day to really take it all in on like a 6 hour span. Low bird counts (31) can't take away from the beauty of such a place.
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