Long time no post.

I haven't hiked since last fall. I broke my arm in November and missed out on all the winter hikes and winter camping. This past Sunday Susan and I did our maintenance check on the section of the Superior Hiking Trail we volunteer to maintain. It was my first hike since doing our maintenance check last fall. Back in March a ice storm hit northeastern Minnesota. The storm hit us in Duluth. The worst hit areas included our section of the trail which is about 80 miles up the shore of Lake Superior from where we live in Duluth. We saw much storm damage on the drive up. But it was still a shock to see the extent of the damage once we got out in the woods. It often looked like a tornado hit. Above is the Skou Road spur trail we take to get to the Cross River crossing where our section starts.
Trees were snapped off all over the place. The first half of the section is mainly second growth birch. It doesn't stand up well to ice and wind.

The view of the Cross River just to the east of the trail bridge crossing.

We happened to be out on the day they were airlifting in the new bridge for the trail. We had to get special permission to pass through the work area.

Susan and Dash Riprock crossing over the old, barely stable bridge. The pier for the new improved bridge is on the left.

Another view.

A view of the raging Cross River as it narrows through the rock under the bridge.

Just up river from the bridge is another place it narrows and drops through some rock. May 17th and there is still ice hanging off the walls. The SHT website says this area still had 2-4 feet of snow on the ground as recent as May 4th.
We carry some hand tools to take out smaller blowdowns. Susan swings the axe. Bigger trees we write-up and a chainsaw crew cuts out. Luckily for us a trail crew had come through less than a week before us and cleared out the storm damage. Still a lot of broken and damages branches and trees have yet to come down.

About a half mile upriver from the bridge crossing and we could hear and see the helicopter being used for the airlift operation. If you enlarge you can see a long cable dangling below the copter.

With recent snow melt and a rainstorm the river was flowing very high and at a high rate of speed.

A new footbridge on a side stream already had some major damage. Perhaps too long of a span for the type of wood they used.

Downed trees and limbs everywhere you looked.

Devastation.

Dash Riprock, Trail dog extraordinaire.

More broken limbs and blown down tree tops.

Gasco Road, an ATV trail that the SHT crosses had visible damage to the trees as well.

Evidence that Boney's Meadow has a new family of beavers. It's not actually a meadow but a swampy wet area that often looks overgrown like a meadow.

Dash likes to cool off in every puddle and water source he can find.

One of the few views of the big lake from this section is from Tower Overlook. A beautiful, dry 65 degree day.

I find it fascinating how the leaves are just about completely out in Duluth, yet drive only 80 miles to the northeast and the trees have barely started to bud. But like I said, less than two weeks ago there was still 2-4 feet of snow here.

One other highlight of the day occured on the drive up. A wolf ran across the road right in front of us just outside of Two Harbors. It's the first wolf we've spotted in Minnesota. We did see one last year in Wisconsin. What a thrill.

It was great to be back out hiking in the woods. We hope to do a lot more hiking and backpacking this summer.