Brule River State Forest – Day 4

Thursday dawned cool — 55-degrees – blue-skied and sunny. First blue skies in a while because of the rain and Canadian wildfires. After breakfast we headed out to the old Bayfield Road trailhead. Part of this trail follows the old road from Superior to Bayfield that was used in the winter in the 1800s — couldn’t be used in the summer because of the bogs and mud.
Our trail crossed the bog on a boardwalk. From there, after the right hand turn to the Copper River Campground spur we continued to a left-hand spur to the old Perceval Copper mine. After that is was a pleasant climb to a lookout with a bench. After a rest we continued on to a spur to a fire tower – metal – and then a gentle decline to the trailhead parking. A great hike. If you choose to do it, choose the counter-clockwise direction on the loop.

We returned to our campground with a stop at the Trout Hatchery — all distributed to Wisconsin lakes and rivers eight now – and a stop to buy wood from a kiosk where a young local is selling dried, split wood to finance his college education.

Finally David was able to cook a dinner on the fire — steak, potatoes, carrots, and onions. I made a salad. Perfect temperature to sit outside — 70s – and no bugs. Tomorrow we headed to Pattison State Park and Superior.

-- Janet (text) and David (photos)