Grand Portage National Monument

  Despite being soggy from Isle Royale, I headed over to Grand Portage National Monument which is right down the road from the docks. I wasn’t expecting much (I hadn’t really researched it) but it was one of the coolest NPS sites I’d been to!

 

The Grand Portage is an 8.5-mile footpath which bypasses a set of waterfalls and rapids on the last 20 miles of the Pigeon River before it flows into Lake Superior. Voyageurs would traverse this route as it had provided access between the furs in the wilderness and the companies that would purchase those furs. Voyageurs were the people who transported furs by canoe during the fur trade era and boy did they have a hard life! 

Hernias were a common malady

Voyageurs were expected to work 14 hours per day and paddle at a rate of 55 strokes per minute. When portaging they were responsible for carrying 2 bundles that weighed 90 pounds each! It was tough, dangerous work and they weren’t treated very well at all by their employees. Karl (an interpreter) gave a great talk on the misconceptions of Voyageurs and I learned a lot.

 You can visit the Historic Depot where there is a great hall, kitchen and canoe warehouse. 

 
The Great Hall was spectacular! The kitchen had been cooking that day so it was nice and toasty and a good place to waem up. There's several rooms you can check out as well, including this room filled with furs.
 
There’s also an Ojibwe village, a dock and some historic gardens. There were interpreters there as well that really brought the place to life. Despite the cold rain, it was a great way to pass the rest of the day.

Birchbark canoe

There is also a Heritage Center with exhibits, artifacts and films. I was fascinated by the Voyageurs and am so glad I got to check out this gem. At this point I was tired, hungry, cold and wet so I went back to the campground and showered and headed up to the convenience store where they had a little grill and got myself some broasted chicken. It had a unique flavor that I don’t know that I’d choose again but the rest of the sides were awesome. The sun finally began peeking back out so I took a walk along the water’s edge to get some gorgeous sunset photos.