The weather was perfect today so we spent it all outdoors. We did a bog walk, a hike and a kayak trip.

Tilson Bay on Rainy Lake has a large parking lot across from it with access to the boardwalk for exploring the bog, and an unnamed (?) trail near the dock that we had to apply bug spray to safely navigate. The boardwalk is part of a cross-country skiing trail. The bog has unique plants that I had fun photographing. The trail map for the hike by the bay looked easy, but on the east end one is supposed to walk a bit of road then get back on the trail. The entrance was marked but covered over with tall grass. We plowed through, but couldn’t see the trail or a blaze marker (orange for this trail). The road that parallels that part of the trail was marked private, but we walked it anyway hoping for forgiveness, and that entrance was very clearly marked. We weren’t lost…just found a slightly different route back.

Witches broom (pictured above) is kind of a crazy thing that happens to plants where their lateral growth just goes crazy, and an area of intense new growth occurs. It can be in response to an infestation of insects, fungi, viruses or genetic mutations (like a cancer). People have propagated these from conifers to create dwarf cultivars. I learn something new every day!

After lunch, we moved to our new stop for the night at the Pines of Kabetogama in one of their RV sites. I would highly recommend this place – beautifully landscaped, new dock and clean bathrooms with showers. They have water craft for rent, so we took out a couple of kayaks for an afternoon of paddling using the life vests we packed. We saw a beaver swimming near an island (Sphunge Island), and Tony was able to watch the family walk up the hill away from us after this one exited the water. We also saw a lone bald eagle move from tree to tree on the island and found a stone chimney.

The story here in the next picture sequence was of a momma deer who left her fawn in the campground near a tree stump yesterday, then came back today to get him. I took the fawn’s picture right after we arrived, and the fawn had moved by the time we got back from kayaking. Mom wandered around several times looking, then would get spooked by vehicles coming through the campground. Hopefully they were reunited this evening.

There was a wide hiking trail up on the ridge where more RV sites are situated, but it was pretty buggy and we didn’t have spray. It looked perfect for cross-country skiing.