August 2019
One pack. Just one pack crammed with all you need to survive in the wilderness for a couple of nights. It’s liberating and empowering if you’re willing to tolerate the latrine situation. About two hours north of Duluth, MN on the North Shore sits a secluded and less visited state park called George Crosby Manitou State Park. While most visiting the North Shore explore Gooseberry Falls, Split Rock Lighthouse and Tettegouche, a short journey off the highway led our family on our first backcountry backpacking experience Manitou State Park.
Humpback and Middle Trail
We arrived at the park around 10:30am and set out on a 1.6 mile hike to the cascades area via the Humpback Trail. The Humpback Trail is a narrow, rugged trail up and over a variety of landscapes. Look for orange diamond markers to ensure you’re still on the trail. At one point, we found ourselves navigating a very rocky, dried river bed and got off course. It took us just over 2 hours, including the time it took to retrace our steps when we lost the trail for a bit, to reach the cascades. Here we found a flat rock and sat down for a little lunch of cheese, crackers and sausage and sliced apples. Tummies satisfied, we took the Middle Trail (0.8 miles) back to the Benson Lake Area where we would collect our packs for the short jaunt to our backcountry site.
Post lunch, brink of the cascades, family selfie.
We chose to camp for just one night, since this would be our boys’ first brush with remote wilderness camping. This was also the reason that we chose a backcountry site that was no more than a half-mile from the parking lot. Our oldest son is 9-years- old so we purchased a 40L hiking backpack from him. This allowed him to carry his sleeping bag and clothes, all four camping pillows, our hammock, and a few odds and ends. For our 6-year-old, we stuffed his school backpack with his sleeping bag and his clothes. Both boys carried water and a new stuffed friend we bought them at the state park visitor center when we purchased our vehicle permit.
Remote Backpacking Camp Site
An early afternoon arrival at our camp site allowed all of us time to unwind and disconnect. No phones or tablets. We chilled in the hammock, read and snuggled a new friend (Bridger only).
The remote camp sites on Benson Lake are located up on a ridge just above the lake. We find camp sites with access to water give the boys another venue to explore and typically make for nice evening strolls or sunset views.
Even though our trip was just one night, we opted to make dehydrated meals and test the boys’ taste buds. We made a couple different entrees; sweet and sour rice and chicken, mac’ n cheese and chicken alfredo. One boy liked the meals and asked for more, the other survived on trail mix and Clif bars. I think we’ll still chalk it up as a win.
Overall, our boys say they enjoyed their experience at George Crosby Manitou State Park and are looking forward to the next time we strap on backpacks and trek into some less traveled territory.
Backpacking is better than car camping because you’re just trying to survive.
Paxton Ament-age 9
Since our trip to George H. Crosby Manitou State Park, we’ve backpacked at Myre-Big Island State Park as well. Check out our trip here.
Happy Adventuring, Rochelle