Day 5 7/10

Friday

Leisurely start to the day with pancakes at the campsite. I went for a run on the park roads, which aren’t great for hiking,  it are honestly pretty good for running. Down to the boat landing in Zippel bay and back. On the way back, I cut up a trail that wasn’t on the map just to add on a little time. It was large and clearly used by atvs and such. On the trail, I came upon an older couple pulled over on the atv actively picking something. I asked if it was strawberries, but they said blueberries. 

I kept running, mulling that over a little, and wondered if another spot I saw that was rocky with jack pines near the road back might have them. Sure enough, I saw them thick and heavy and excitedly ran back to propose a berry picking session after lunch.

We lounged the beach for a while with a picnic lunch. It was amazing, save for the black flies, which were pretty rough. The water was refreshing and the terrain sandy though. And pretty cool to ponder at the expanse and Canada somewhere unseen in the distance.

After lunch, we headed to my berry find, but where immediately pointed to an even better berry patch on a different road. They were spot on, blueberries galore, with service(?) or at least another species or two that I wasn’t confident enough to pick, but would have gladly eaten in emergency situations. Berry picking is not fast, but we got just over a quart in 30 min.

Left Zippel bay behind warroad bound that actually wasn’t too far from Zippel either. Maybe 45 min.

Got into town and checked into the hotel, one level up from the super 8 but still safely under 100$. Headed down for the brewery which we had discovered post liquor store yesterday. It’s right on the river with a great view. Their beer was good, but man, not adventurous. They had 4 beers on tap and the craziest was a pale ale. All beers were 5% or less and blonde in coloration.

Warroad is pretty dang small, but you can tell they have some money coming in from Marvin windows, which is right in town and dominates the landscape. The schools are in good shape, and their small downtown is still pretty nice.

Ate dinner out at the restaurant connected to the hotel as we were told they were the only place with walleye. Ended up with a lot of brown food, which is fine by me. Plenty of beers too. Maybe even too many? Nothing crazy, but at some point, you don’t need to order the tall pour.