CARF Outdoors: waterfalls

Thursday, February 1, 2018

HIGH FALLS WINTER HIKING

High Falls. A 120 foot drop makes this waterfall the highest fall in the state of Minnesota. Another unique thing about these falls is that it's located in the Grand Portage State Park on the Pigeon River that separates the US and Canada.

Where's the low falls?

The trail that leads you to the falls is very well marked. I've been to this place in the summer, and there were definitely a lot more people around hiking the man made trail paths and taking in the views. For this time of year, I was really surprised to see that the trails were somewhat maintained. There's some ice on the stairs closer to the falls, but at least there isn't 2 feet of snow covering the trail.

With the there being ice on the trail, it's a good thing I had my Diamond Grip Yaktrax to help me stand up to winter.

#STANDUPTOWINTER

Walking in a winter wonderland.

The Native Americans developed "The Grand Portage" ...meaning "the great carrying place."

High Falls

Upon arriving to the falls, it was clear that it's been frozen for some time now. It was very cool to see it completely frozen over, and see water still escaping out of the bottom of the ice. There was also an opening located in the middle of the falls acting as a window, and showing that water is still flowing behind the ice.

That's a lot of ice.

In the photograph below, if you look just left of the center, you can somewhat see the window through the ice. Granted, it's a still photograph, but you get the idea.

Closer view.

If you ever find yourself up near the Grand Portage, High Falls is a place I'd definitely recommend to stop and see, regardless of what time of year it is. It was really interesting to see how green and full of life it is during the summer, but equally as interesting to see in the dead of winter where everything is full of snow and ice.