Minnesota's High Point - "Eagle Mountain"

From Missouri we drove straight to Minnesota. A long drive past the Twin cities and up towards the Great Lakes, we stayed awake with Friends on dvd (Mark listening as he drove and me watching). It was dark as we drove along the road along Lake Superior, paraniod about stray deer about to run across the road. Pulling into a cute roadside motel along the lake which I had made a reservation at (the motel reminded me of the old school roadside motels you saw on tv in the 50's) and passed out after the long day.

It was the 23rd October 2006 and we woke up early ready to hike Minnesota's high point located about 20 miles from our motel. No one was on the road as we headed in-land We pulled into an empty parking area at the Eagle Mountain trailhead and go ready for the hike. Minnesota's high point Eagle Mountain at 2,301 feet was a 3.5 mile one way hike to the summit from the trailhead. We headed out in chilly 32 degree temperatures, hiking along wooden walkways across ponds and through the trees and passing many beautiful lakes. I was half expecting to see a bear or moose in this wilderness. We also saw a sign saying we had reached the entrance to the Boundary Waters Wilderness Area. The last part of the hike was quite steep but when we reached the top, we were afforded a fantastic view of the boundary waters. At the summit, we took in the view and took some happy snaps before heading back down. We didn't see a soul through out the hike and it was a great to take in the wilderness and solitude the environment provided this early in the morning.