A Perfect Winter Adventure in Bayfield & the North Shore✨
hiking trails, and saying yes to things, imposter syndrome, and more
Things I’ve been struggling with this winter:
imposter syndrome. it sounds cliche, i think, for a mid-late twenty something woman to say they struggle with imposter syndrome, that they feel like they’re faking success all the time but I really do feel like that a lot. This year I went full-time self-employed, which should be a pretty big milestone! since moving back to minnesota from the PNW I’ve had a lot more opportunities and job leads, but no matter how on-paper qualified I am, no matter how true it is that I am a self-employed independent writer, I still feel like a total clown telling that to people. I feel obligated to prove my success, and immediately feel as if I cannot. Booking trips and travel for the year, I feel as if I don’t deserve that travel, even if it’s for work, even though I’ve worked really, really hard to get to a point where I can travel for work. I wonder when I’ll stop feeling like a kid dressed up as an adult. Does everyone feel this way? A little out of control, all the time?
feeling lonely. one of the main reasons Andy and I left the Pacific Northwest was that we just really struggled to connect with people— that, and we’d always planned to end up back on Western Lake Superior. Still, since getting back home about a month ago and settling in, it’s been hard to find the time to reconnect with our old friends. I think maintaining close and regular friendships as an adult is just really hard, especially in an area like the North Shore when people live really far apart.
Either way, I’ve decided to say yes to things more often. To meeting people, and hanging out, and travel plans. I’m a planner, and sometimes get entrenched in my own comfort zone. With the newfound freedom of being fully self-employed, I’m trying to say yes to more things that I would’ve considered too spontaneous before.
which brings me to this past week—
When Rachel, who I am friends with online and had talked about hiking with but never met, told me her plans for the week had fallen through and asked if I wanted to do something, I said yes. Yeah, you know what? Let’s actually take that week and travel up north.
We headed first up the North Shore and then to Bayfield, Wisconsin, and to be honest it was the most fun I’ve had in a while! Rachel is awesome and we had so much fun! Here’s where we went:
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Exploring the North Shore & Northern Wisconsin in the Winter:
The North Shore, or the stretch of land that runs along the northern shore of Western Lake Superior, is truly one of the prettiest places in the world, and a place I am so thrilled to have called home four winters in a row now! For the most detailed guide to this region, download the Exploring the North Shore eBook.
Day Hill Sunset, Split Rock Lighthouse State Park:
First, we hit Day Hill, a 2-3 mile hike in Split Rock Lighthouse State Park. Portions are paved, and the uphill at the end is moderate. This is one of my favorite sunset spots— the overlook is west facing, and it’s a very quick hike back down once the sun sets with beautiful views of Lake Superior, the rocky shoreline and Split Rock Lighthouse.
In the winter, you likely only need snowshoes after a fresh snow.
Minnesota’s Road Side Slot Canyons:
With the colder temps mid January the river canyons momentarily froze over just enough to be hike-able! Unfortunately we’ve been in the mid-thirties all week and seen some rain, and ice conditions are again extremely unreliable.
River canyon hikes are the thing I look forward to most about February on the North Shore. All along the shore, rivers have cut deep canyons into the hard basalt over billions of years, and they truly are the most magical place to explore. That said, no ice is safe ice, and especially now, the ice is unreliable and may not become reliable again this winter.
Exploring the North Shore eBook covers a variety of river canyon routes, safety, where to find guided trips, topo maps, and more.
Bearskin Lake Overlook on the CRT, Gunflint Trail:
After hiking the canyon, we headed up the Gunflint Trail to check out one of the snowier spots in Minnesota! Here, we hopped on the Caribou Rock Trail, which in its entirety is probably one of the more difficult trails in the Midwest. Just to this overlook though is a quick, less than a mile hike on packed snow to look out over beautiful Bearskin Lake.
check out the best hiking trails on the Gunflint Trail, the scenic route stretching from Grand Marais, MN into the BWCA
For winter days like this, no wind and 20-30 degrees, I wear wool baselayers, shell pants, a fleece pullover and a wool sweater. In my winter hiking pack, I bring a first aid kit, socks, extra layers in case of hypothermia, hot coffee in a thermos, and snacks! I’ve also got a cheap sleeping pad for sitting on, and always carry an emergency bivvy. Basically if I’m winter hiking at all I like to be totally prepared to survive a night in bad weather.
find all of my recommended gear, sorted by activity
Illgen Falls
Next, we stopped quickly at Temperance River State Park, then continued south to Illgen Falls in Tettegouche State Park. Illgen Falls is a really beautiful Cascade upriver on the Baptism from High Falls, the most iconic of Tettegouche’s waterfalls (and my personal favorite in the entire midwest).
Illgen is a quick, less than one-mile hike, and is especially beautiful in the spring and summer.
for the best things to do on the North Shore, click here
Tettegouche State Park, Shovel Point
Our last stop for the day was Tettegouche State Park’s Shovel Point trail. Here we were hoping to get some sunset color. It’s been cloudy for days straight now, and there was pretty much no color. Still, it was a beautiful place to spend the evening walking.
my handknits shop is 30% off this weekend :) come say hi for mittens, hats, and cozy knits
Usually here on the North Shore, our winters are bright and snowy, with steamy sunrises and blue skies and great skiing. Weather like this— gray and mealy snow— usually holds off until April.
I’m choosing to try and find the gray beautiful, nonetheless. Here on Lake Superior, the largest freshwater lake in the world, the gray makes the water bluer. Fog rolls in off the melting snow. I like the color blue. I like the color blue especially contrasted with fire, a candle, the spark of a camp stove. A lamp. Here it’s gloomy, a wet cold. I’m pretending it’s beautiful, coastal.
this hike is in Tettegouche State Park! find a detailed guide to Tettegouche area here.
Amnicon Falls State Park
After our time on the North Shore, we headed east to Wisconsin! The northwoods and waterfalls of Wisconsin is on my list to explore quite a bit more this summer.
On our way out to Bayfield, we stopped at Amnicon Falls State Park. Amnicon has a few sets of pretty falls and a covered bridge, but to be totally honest I would not make the trip to Amnicon unless I was already passing through.
Check out the 30 Best Things to do in Bayfield, Wisconsin
St. James Social, Bayfield
Bayfield is a small town tucked away at the Northernmost edge of Wisconsin before it falls off into Lake Superior. In the summer, it’s a booming sailing town and the gateway to the Apostle Islands National Lakeshore, where I got my start as a kayak guide. In the winter? Tourism dies off almost completely.
I love the winter, and was looking forward to visiting. When I saw that a new hotel/social lounge, St. James Social, had opened and restored a historic building in Downtown Bayfield, I really wanted to check it out. Bayfield is one of my favorite places I’ve ever lived, and I’m extremely invested in the idea of it becoming a more livable place year round. As is with the summer only tourism, year round population under 600, and very little other industry, businesses have to make a years worth of revenue in about three months. One of St. James’ goals is to be in itself, a year-round destination in Bayfield.
(all right, I’ll bite).
To be honest, I was a little unclear on exactly what St. James Social was when I was first looking into staying there. I had no idea what it would look like, or what the experience would be.
St. James Social manages to be a lot more than a hotel; with eight very Scandinavian meets 1920s style hotel rooms, a sauna for the floor with a cold shower inside said sauna, and a communal coffee bar, they’ve created a space that is both private and friendly, a place to meet other travelers—an experience, I think, many have been really craving since COVID seemingly permanently altered not only how we travel but how we meet strangers.
Downstairs, you’ll find the lounge & bar serving a limited menu weekends for the winter and coffee and pastries most mornings. The building itself once upon a time, over a hundred years ago was a hotel. During my time in Bayfield I knew it as the original Fat Radish. All throughout St. James Social, you see nods to the buildings history (on a quiet winter week night, you can’t shake the feeling that maybe it could be haunted. wouldn’t Bayfield in the winter make the most perfect ghost story?)
Overall, I think St. James Social succeeds in it’s goal of being a destination itself— we ended up ditching one of our planned hikes for pizza (delicious) and sauna, and to hang out in the room.
The Meyers Beach Sea Caves Trail (sometimes called “Lakeshore Trail”)
And of course, the reason to visit Bayfield in the winter is the ice caves. While the surface of Lake Superior is not frozen (obviously this year) meaning the ice caves are closed by the National Park, the hiking trail above the caves is accessible year round.
This trail is 4-5 miles out & back depending how far you hike, and I would consider it moderate in difficulty, lots of quick ups and downs. There’s a $5 fee to park. I’ve got lots more photos of the caves than this one, and usually there’s quite a bit more ice in the winter and lots of great photos to take and so much to see!
But Substack (my newsletter app) is telling me my post is to long, so I’ll save my photos for Instagram, and let you enjoy the rest of your Sunday💕
if you’re looking for more beautiful places in the Midwest, you might like…
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