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 14, 2011
Fall
Color Status:
Maples have
peaked in most areas and fallen to the ground. Birch and aspen /
poplars have peaked with 95% or more leaves on the ground in the
Upper North Shore areas. 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 October into
November. We report fall colors into two areas; the
lower North Shore and
upper North Shore.
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 14; maples have
peaked and most trees are nearly bare. Use late season routes
for aspen/poplar and birch. 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 14;
maples have peaked and have fallen. Possible colors remaining
are late fall color routes for birch and aspen/poplar. 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 and ravens can
be seen on road kill along Hwy 61 during the day. At mile 115
two weeks ago; 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; 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 October 3rd in broad daylight eating a
carcass at mile 116.5 Hwy 61 [see image to left]. Another
wolf has been seen this week at night and during the day
around Hwy 61 mile markers 114 to 118. This wolf has an
injured rear leg and is working residential areas,
searching for an easy meal, most likely a family pet. 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.
Areas east of Grand Marais to the Brule River have been
the hot spot the past three weeks; between 9pm and
midnight we've sighted 8 wolves, 17 red fox and 56 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...