I was expecting the campgrounds to be empty this time of year, but I guess many people around here also know that fall in Minn is a nice time to camp - there were hardly any mosquitoes, the parks had plenty of first-come first-served sites open on a Saturday, and you get to camp with pretty fall colors all around.

Mosquitoes, clouds of mosquitoes, some really pretty canoeing, mosquitoes, trying to relax by lake while being bitten by mosquitoes, escaping to the tent, hunting down all mosquitoes in the the tent, listening to mosquitoes, oh, and ticks too! Lots of them!  Our first Midwest camping trip was a lot more challenging than I expected...maybe we won't be camping at any inland lakes for a while, and next time I'm going to check the park's current updates page so as not to miss the warning that was clearly posted at the top of the page saying THE MOSQUITOES HAVE HATCHED. Still, it was very pretty, and Matt and I are glad we went. We do both feel pretty tough at the moment. We're camping on Lake Superior next weekend, and I'm trying to believe the ranger who when I called to inquire, told me he had only seen one mosquito at the park...