Come along on a fall hike with us

Susan, Dash Riprock and I went for a hike today. Within a two hour drive we have 100's and 100's of miles of trails to choose from. Rather than get in the car and drive to a trail today, we walked out our back door, walked the road uphill for one mile where accessed the Superior Hiking Trail. The trail traverses the ridge line above Duluth, Minnesota.

Imagine walking with us on a gorgeous fall day. The colors are at peak, the sun is bright as it filters through the canopy of colored leaves. We walk through a mature hardwood forest on top of the ridge before coming out onto the open ridge line where you can see our neighborhood below, across the St Louis River into Wisconsin, and the city of Duluth in the distance on the shore of Lake Superior.

We should stay close to home more often. Hard to believe we can do a hike like this right in the city.

Fall Hike

Susan had a work function to attend today. She needed to leave by noon. Somehow we managed to get out early enough for a beautiful hike. Sunday is typically our lazy day. We don't always get up and moving very quickly. It was such a gorgeous, cool, crisp, sunny morning we were both pleased we squeezed in a short in town hike on the Superior Hiking Trail. We hiked on the section between Magney Snively Ski Trail parking and Bardon's Peak. One of my favorite sections, even more so in the fall because of the mature hardwood forest on this section. That's Dash Riprock ripping up the trail. I think he likes hiking even more than Susan and I. He sprints up the trail and back to us repeatedly over the first couple of miles. He travels twice the distance we do. He really needs to learn how to pace himself. But he does have a blast whenever he's in the woods with us.

Susan crossing one of the small creeks along the trail.

Normally the trees would be at, or past, peak color this time of the month. But the fall has been delayed by the warmer than usual September weather we had. The picture above should have nothing but oranges, yellows and reds in it.

It was a spectacular morning to be out on a trail.

An overlook with a view of the St Louis River valley and Wisconsin beyond. Later in the day I would take a bike ride on the other side of the river.

Evidence of yesterday's dusting of snow.

It doesn't get much better. And to think this is all in the City of Duluth's city limits a short distance from our house.

Two down, Sixty-Three to go

Susan and I have set our sights on a new hiking challenge. We've started the Minnesota State Parks Hiking Club challenge. What is it? You buy a Hiking Club Kit at any State Park. It has a booklet with all the State Parks in Minnesota listed in it. Each State Park has a designated Hiking Club Trail. They are marked with blue signs.The trails range from 1-7 miles in length depending on the park. At the midpoint of the hike is a Hiking Club sign with a password. To keep you honest, you have to write down the password in your booklet.
We've seen these signs as we've hiked various State Parks in the past, but weren't clear what the Hiking Club was until last summer when we had dinner in Duluth with the Yams. They had recently completed hiking all the parks and received the honorary plaque. We were intrigued and thought about it for a year. A month ago we went to Jay Cooke State Park near Duluth, bought two Hiking Club Kits, and started hiking (no pictures of the first hike, I forgot my camera). It's not as lofty a hiking goal as our past goals like learning to backpack so we could see the Grand Canyon from the Colorado River, or thru-hiking all of the Appalachian Trail, or learning to desert camp and winter camp. What it is is something we can do together and it will take us to parks we would not have otherwise gone if it wasn't for the hiking club. There are 65 parks, one in just about every corner of the state. Total Hiking Club trail miles is 194.5.

Yesterday we went to Moose Lake State Park. Even though it was close by, we were barely aware it existed. What we discovered was a really nice park with a newer Visitors Center and an excellent geological display and gem and mineral collections. We both actually learned some things we didn't know about the geology of Minnesota.

The colors are really late this fall because of the warm September weather. However, there was some color on the hike today.
The Hiking Club Trail was 2.0 miles at this park. We walked it twice because we walked right by the Password sign and neither of us noticed it.

Dash Riprock was a sprinting fool. He loves to go for a hike in the woods!!

63 parks and 189 miles of hiking trail miles to go!