Our group enjoyed a wine and cheese party Friday night, and discussed the hikes for the weekend. We welcomed new member Carol Teland to the group. Saturday, we drove to Silver Bay to hike the Twin Lakes Loop. We enjoyed our lunch overlooking beautiful Bean, and then, Bear Lakes. The hot tub and pool felt great, and soothed tired muscles from the day’s hike. Sven and Ole’s Pizza provided a delicious dinner.

Sunday, we drove north to the Cascade River State Park. Well actually, some of the group drove back towards Silver Bay. We did meet up later. The trail at Cascade winds up one side of the river and back down the other side. Many roots and steps are a challenging part of the trail. Some of us rewarded ourselves with a Dairy Queen treat and shopping in Grand Marais after the hike. Dinner that night was at the Blue Fin Restaurant across from our hotel. Jim Henn couldn’t help himself but to give the waitress a hard time. She gave it right back! No one went back to the motel hungry!

After breakfast on Monday part of the group headed for home, while the rest of the group headed to Banning State Park. We took a hike along the river by way of the Banning Quarry Trail. Joyce Butler read to us about the history of the Quarry as we hiked along. We spotted both an eagle and an osprey. We stopped for a late lunch at Banning Junction. Thank you to the sixteen ULLRS who made the hiking weekend a success!

Karen Holmquist