October Comes Earlier up North
A get-away
Have I mentioned lately how much I love Iowa Octobers?
Maybe it’s about the fall colors and migrating birds and blue skies.
That’s one reason we cheated the calendar this year by traveling a few hundred miles north to Minnesota and Wisconsin, where the joys of October started in September.
The excuse – as if we needed one – was to provide a vehicle shuttle for our daughter, Emily, who was spending a week with a friend in the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness (BWCAW), near Ely, Minn.
As we left Iowa on the 450-mile trek, Iowa’s autumn hues were limited mostly to the pale yellows of ripening soybean and corn fields and tinges of color on a few cottonwoods, and to roadside red-orange patches of sumac. North of the Twin Cities, however, clones of aspens glowed golden in the late-afternoon sun. And the scattered white pines and other conifers reminded us why we regularly visit the North Country.
Stopping briefly at Duluth’s Hawk Ridge Bird Observatory Hawk Ridge https://www.hawkridge.org/, we caught glimpses of a few of the thousands of raptors and other birds that funnel along the Lake Superior shore every fall. We were privileged to see the release of an immature red-tailed hawk that bird banders had caught. Despite the warm day and south headwinds, birders regularly counted red-tails, turkey vultures, sharp-shinned hawks, a peregrine falcon, bald eagles, and scores of songbirds
Later, at a cozy VRBO cabin near White Iron Lake, outside of Ely, we relished the iconic Northwoods critters we’d gotten to know on previous visits. White-throated sparrows sang their high-pitched “poor ol’ Sam Peabody-Peabody-Peabody” melodies. In contrast, the ravens cawed and croaked and gurgled their own songs.
Little red squirrels chattered incessantly, scolding us for intruding into their realm. A pair of Canada jays, whom we’d more often seen farther north, bounced from tree to tree to our cabin lawn in search of insects. Migrating palm warblers, with much duller feathers than their spring-time rusty cap and yellow eye-line and accent, identified themselves with their characteristic tail wagging.
The flickering flames from an evening campfire made the vacation even more relaxing. Of course, we could enjoy campfires at home – although we seldom do. The northwoods memories may coax us to savor more backyard blazes
Having visited Ely’s canoe country for decades, we’re admittedly biased about the area’s beauty. This fall’s leaf color didn’t disappoint.
As we drove the winding roads through Minnesota’s Arrowhead region, then down to Lake Superior’s North Shore, yellow aspens and birches, red maples, and bronze oaks were interspersed with pines, spruces and balsams. Gitchi-Gami’s vast waters tend to moderate lakeshore temperatures, however, so the trees along the lake are slower to turn than those farther inland
The last leg of our travels wound through northwestern Wisconsin to Lake Namakagon, along the Namekagon River, and the fishing/vacation meccas of Cable and Hayward. The scenic route crosses and recrosses the Namekagon River, where some hillsides boasted peak colors of sparkling yellow aspens.
Wisconsin leaf lookers still have another week or two to catch the color show, as tamaracks begin to turn gold and red maples show why they’ve earned that name.
Back in Iowa, our own scarlet sumacs, yellow cottonwoods, red Virginia creepers, bronze Indiangrass, and purplish big bluestem welcomed us home. And the deer have shed their summer-orange coats to don their tree-bark gray/brown winter camouflage.
We’re not quite ready for winter, though. There still are carrots to dig and a few tomatoes and peppers to pick in our garden.
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Always enjoy your writings, Larry. I get to travel w you n Margaret as I do when I view your photographs hanging on my walls. Thank you.
Larry, thank you. This essay reminds me of when your column was one I always looked forward to when reading the Register. These autumn reflections of yours are very enjoyable. Tom S.