Spent Saturday exploring the frozen Gooseberry river and falls in the state park. While I have taken many trips to this park during the summer it was the first time I have been here in the winter. We heard the lower falls were some of the most beautiful frozen formations in the past 30 years. So that is where my wife and I started the day.

 Keep in mind the signs that say the trails are icy, are 100 percent accurate. They don't maintain the trails, and steps during the winter so you are walking on frozen packed snow. Once down below on the frozen river, the falls are certainly an impressive sight. Ice climbers were working their way up and down the falls, providing som entertainment. However, with the climbers in the way you couldn't not get a full picture of the falls. But, as we discovered we liked the close up shots of the frozen water better anyway. The best part was the newly frozen section, where you could see the water rushing down on the other side of the ice....very cool.

We next put on the cross country skis and headed out on the ski trails. They took us deeper inland to parts of the park I have never seen before. There are some great vistas along the trail, both of the river and Lake Superior. The great weather had a lot of other skiers and people on snow shoes were out exploring as well. We skied into the fifth falls, and then kicked off our skis and hiked down to get a look at these as well. These falls were a mix of frozen and open water, providing some great sights and sounds.