Illinois - Charles Mound - 1,235 Feet - July 2, 2016 Wisconsin - Timm's Hill - 1,951 Feet - July 2, 2016 Michigan - Mt. Arvon - 1,979 Feet - July 3, 2016 Minnesota - Eagle Mountain - 2,301 Feet - July 4, 2016

This page describes a two week trip to the upper midwest that includes four highpoints.

Thursday, June 30, 2016 - I drove west to Indianapolis and then north to Starved Rock State Park near Utica, IL. It is along the Illinois River. There are 18 canyons. In the evening I parked at Parkman's Plain and hiked to Hennepin Canyon Overlook and back.



Illinois River from Hennepin Canyon Overlook
Friday, July 1, 2016 - I hiked from the visitor center to LaSalle Canyon and back and then drove to the western edge of the park and hiked to St. Louis Canyon.

Dam on the Illinois River	LaSalle Canyon
Wildcat Canyon	St. Louis Canyon

Turk's Cap Lily
I then drove about two hours to Apple River State Park near Apple River, IL and about a half hour from Charles Mound.

Saturday, July 2, 2016 - I drove to Charles Mound. Charles Mound is on private property. This was one of only four weekends a year that it is open. I saw about 10 highpointers this day. It was about a one mile walk from the road to the highpoint.



Charles Mound
It was another five hours to Timm's Hill near Ogema, WI.

Timm's Hill	Timm's Hill Tower

There is a free camping area with three sites about 10 miles south of Timm's Hill on county road C. It is called Stille Nacht and is in the Rusch Preserve.



Orange Hawkweed
Sunday, July 3, 2016 - It was about a three and one half hour drive to Mt. Arvon near L'Anse, Michigan. I stopped along the way to see Agate Falls near Paynesville, MI, just off of Michigan 28.

Agate Falls	Sign at Agate Falls
Mt. Arvon	Lake Superior from Mt. Arvon

From Mt. Arvon, it was a nice five hour drive, mainly along Lake Superior, to Duluth. I stayed at the Voyageur Lakewalk Inn. It was reasonably priced and right next to Duluth's lakewalk. I had great beer battered fish and onion rings at Fitger's.

Lake Superior at Duluth	Duluth Pier
Lighthouse on Duluth Pier	Love Locks along Duluth's Lakewalk

Monday, July 4, 2016 - It was about a two hour drive to the trailhead for Eagle Mountain and about a three and one half mile hike to the top. Lupines were all along the road on the drive up.



Lupine

Welcome to the Forest	Beaver Dam
Lake along Trail	Eagle Mountain Sign
Eagle Mt. Summit	View near Summit

This night's camp was at Tettegouche State Park along Lake Superior. The Baptism River flows into Lake Superior here. There are two waterfalls on the Baptism River within one mile of the campground. A bridge crosses the river at the upper falls (High Falls).



Lake Superior from Tettegouche State Park

Columbine	Two Steps Falls on Baptism River (upper step)
High Falls on Baptism River	Bridge over Baptism River above High Falls

Tuesday, July 5, 2016 - It was an all day drive across Minnesota and a good part of North Dakota to General Sibley Park and Campground at Bismark. This is a nice campground along the Missouri River, just south of Bismark. Tent sites were $12 with showers. The little Weber grill in the picture is the best.



Campsite at General Sibley Campground
Wednesday, July 6, 2016 - I drove to the north unit of Theodore Roosevelt National Park and found a site at Juniper Campground.

Thursday, July 7, 2016 - I backpacked the first half of the Buckhorn Trail. It is a 12 mile loop that passes prairie dog towns. My campsite was near a spring. The spring feeds two fiberglass troughs and one cement trough that the buffalo use. The trail was a little hard to follow in places. There are plastic ribbons tied to bushes occasionally in addition to the widely spaced trail markers. The buffalo make trails that sometimes look like the real trail. The route down to the spring was not obvious coming from the west (clockwise). I spent some time looking for it. I needed water for tomorrow. All my wandering around over two days added three miles to the trail. The ranger at the visitor center sold me a National Geographic map of the park. I was very glad I had it and my GPS.



Little Missouri River from Campsite

Buckhorn Trail	Off the Buckhorn Trail
Prairie Dogs	Looking for Spring
Buckhorn Trail	Troughs Fed from Spring

Friday, July 8, 2016 - I saw two mule deer, this cottontail, and a buffalo in the distance. I finished the trail and went back to Juniper Campground for the night. With my senior pass, camping was only $7. Park entrance was free.



Cottontail
Saturday, July 9, 2016 - I drove down to the south unit and drove around the loop. There were many buffalo. Afterwards, it was off to Billings, MT and the Super 8. It was 100 degrees in Billings, but not for long.

Little Missouri River	Little Missouri River

Buffalo
Sunday, July 10, 2016 - The temperature dropped to 55 degrees overnight. I brought gear and food to take another shot at Granite Peak so I drove over to the Beartooths and hiked up to Mystic Lake. It was cold, windy, and rainy.

Monday, July 11, 2016 - It was still cold, windy, and rainy. It was probably snowing further up. I bagged it and drove to the American Inn Express in Murdo, SD and got a room.



Mystic Lake
Tuesday, July 13, 2016 - I stopped to see the falls in Sioux Falls, SD and then drove on to Lake Macbride State Park in Iowa. This was a nice day. The falls were impressive. Ribeyes were on sale at the market in Solon, near Lake Macbride. I had been here two years before but was in the north campground with showers. The south campground was still nice. There was a trail along the lake with an abundance of wildflowers. Yes, I had two tents. The red one is a winter tent for Granite Peak. I was drying it out here.

Sioux Falls	Sioux Falls
Lake Macbride	Coneflower

Compass Plant
Wednesday, July 14, 2016 - Drove home.