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 18, 2011
Fall
Color Status:
Maples,
aspens, poplars and oaks have peaked and have fallen to the ground. 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 18; maples,
aspens, poplars, oaks have peaked and have fallen to the ground.
Tamarack is beginning to turn yellow. Awesome time of year to
hike North
Shore trails and explore the area, now that the leaves have
fallen.
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 18; maples, aspens and poplars have peaked and
have fallen to the ground. Tamarack is beginning to turn yellow. Awesome time of year to
hike North
Shore trails and explore the area, now that the leaves have
fallen. Great number of bald eagles and falcons have been
migrating overhead.
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
three weeks ago; 2 wolves and a red fox have been consuming a
deer. At mile 121 two weeks ago; 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 past two weeks 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...