What in the Blue Blazes?

Hiking with the P's

2011-10-14T18:30:00.000-07:00

My parents were in town and I took a few days off from work. We drove up the shore to do some hiking on the Superior Hiking Trail. We did a six mile out and back route from Castle Danger to Mike's Rock.

My Mom and Dad at 76 and 74 years old, respectively, are hiking machines. They knocked off 6 miles of rugged trail like it was a walk in the park.

Yellows were still on the trees near the lake, but the leaves were mostly off the trees when you got away from the lake.

Blue blazes on these trees were some of the very first blazes Susan and I painted on our two year project back in 2006-2007. Most of them have held up surprisingly well.

This hardwood section would have been amazing with fall colors about 6 days ago.

Views from Wolf Rock.

Yeah, I've hiked the AT

2011-10-01T10:26:00.000-07:00

Susan and I thru-hiked the Appalachian Trail back in 2001. I mention it often...just because it was such an incredible experience to spend 6 months backpacking a long-distance trail like the AT. However, I have never posted pictures from that trip on this "backpacking" blog. One reason is the pictures were not taken on a digital camera. We took over 600 pictures and had single copies developed when we finished. The best pictures were glued into a massive scrapbook. Often being cropped before being glued. We never thought to scan them before we assembled the scrapbook.

Recently I discovered a couple of poorly scanned pictures from that trip. They were used for a poster for a presentation we did on our trip. The first one is the final day on top of Mount Katahdin, the northern terminus of the trail. It was the culmination of our trip.

The second picture is one we both agree upon as our favorite picture from the trip. Amazing considering we took over 600 pictures and we both pick the same picture as our favorite. It was taken in the White Mountains of New Hampshire on Mt. Hight with Mount Washington soaring behind us. Why is it a favorite? It brings back the feeling of that morning. It had been an unusually hot and muggy trip in the Whites for August. It was unseasonably hot. This particular morning the heat had broken the night before with a cold front coming through. The cool morning air was refreshing and as we climbed our first peak of the day we were both in good spirits. A solo hiker just happened to be on Mt Hight as we reached the peak. He offered to take our picture. One of the few pictures with us both in the picture since it was usually me taking a picture of her or her taking a picture of me. The stunning landscape behind us helps as well.

Fall maintenance check of our section of the Superior Hiking Trail

2011-09-18T08:10:00.000-07:00

It's that time of the year for our annual late summer check of our section of the Superior Hiking Trail. Susan and I have been section leaders for nine years. A section leader basically is responsible for doing two checks a year on their section of trail and turning in a report of trail conditions to the Trail's maintenance supervisor. We carry saws, an axe and brush loppers and do some trail clearing as we hike. Due to Susan's health issues I've been doing it solo since the Fall of 2009. Out section is about 7 miles long. Depending on how much work is done, it takes me between 6 and 8 hours to complete the hike. I didn't take the time to document much by camera this time. I did a lot of brush clearing along the sides of the trail and took out maybe 6 fallen trees that were across the trail.
Susan let me take her car for the day. I use the bicycle to shuttle myself to my starting point. I had already stashed my backpack and tools off the side of the trail near my starting spot.
I get to ride a nice section of hard packed gravel during the bicycling portion of this hike. When the road turns to pavement there is a two mile downhill with a view of the Big Lake.

The above picture is of the Cross River on my maintenance hike back on May 7th. The river is swollen with snow melt. Note the location of the birch tree across the stream. Below is the same spot today (with the birch tree still there). This area is in a severe drought. This is the lowest I've seen the river in the 9 years I've been hiking it. Ironic because in Duluth we have had a wetter than normal summer. This is only 80 miles to the northeast of where I live in Duluth. Strange there is such a huge difference in rainfall in such a short distance.

A forest fire is burning in the Boundary Waters Wilderness, part of the Superior National Forest. It has burned 100,000 of the 1,000,000 acres in the Wilderness. The fire is about 30 miles from this spot. I could smell smoke the entire time I was on the trail today.
A nice view of Lake Superior from Tower Overlook today. I thought it would be hazy with smoke from the fire, but was quite clear.

This section of hardwood trees seemed very lush and green. I wasn't expecting that due to the drought and the early coloring up of birch and aspen I witnessed on my backpack trip on a nearby section of trail over the Labor Day holiday weekend two weeks ago.

Overall it was a great day to be out on the trail.

Three days solo on the Superior Hiking Trail

2011-09-05T18:23:00.000-07:00

I used the Superior Hiking Shuttle to get me from Cty Rd 6 up to Cook Cty Rd 1 on the Superior Hiking Trail. Susan rented a car to go to her mother's for a week. This left me her car. That meant a backpacking trip was in order. I left Friday. That gave me a four weekend to hike about 35 miles. I ended up completing it in three days.

This section of trail runs along the ridges above Lake Superior like the rest of trail, but then heads inland after going through George Crosby-Manitou State Park to go around some private land. Above is the new Dwyers Creek Bridge built a year ago. The A-frame design makes a very solid bridge.

September 2nd and there is already signs of fall arriving in some of the birch and aspen sections of the forest.

The first 7 or 8 miles was very easy walking.

Alfred's Pond.

A view up the shore with the peaks of some of the the Sawtooth Mountains rising above Lake Superior (just out of view on the right).

An ever changing forest...red pine plantation along this section of woods. I could walk on the cushy pine needles all day long.

The red pine plantation gave way to a stand of birches and sweeping views of Lake Superior.

Crystal Creek bridge.

Caribou River.

A fancy new bridge over the Caribou River. This was helicoptered in about 3 years ago.

Just below the bridge the river drops through a narrow gorge leading to a some falls that can be seen from a spur trail.

I am still amazed by our blue blazes. It's hard to believe we painted nearly four thousand of them over 200 miles of trail back as contractors for the Superior Hiking Trail Association. These blazes Susan and I painted back in 2006. Some have held up well, some haven't.

From the Caribou River to the other side of the Manitou River the trail becomes very rugged. Lots of short steep ups and downs...almost relentless. No big elevation changes, but you never get a break. And it becoems much rockier.

Colored up stand of Aspens with the big lake beyond.

I made it to Horseshoe Ridge campsite the first night. I was only planning a 8 miles day. But I reached that by 3:00. So I pushed on another 3 miles. I was joined by a hike named Nate. He was out for 8 days on the trail from Florida. We had a fire and lots of conversation. It was a good evening.

DAY TWO

The rugged terrain continued for the first 4 or 5 miles. At least I was rewarded with sweeping vistas at the top of some of the climbs.

The pattern would repeat itself over and over. Down into the woods, then back up to a small rocky knob or ridge before dropping back down into the woods again.

And then finally the big drop into the rugged Manitou River valley. Straight down, across the river, and straight back up.

The new bridge over the Manitou. Also flown in by helicopter a few years back.

George Crosby-Manitou State Park is a unique park in the Minnesota State Park system. It is relatively undeveloped. But does have a dozen or so remote backpack sites and hiking trails. The sites are very quiet and along the river. The above picture is the trail through the park. A bit rugged for sure.

Once leaving the park the trail heads inland and follows the meandering Baptism River.

East Branch of the Baptism River.

Very easy walking for about 11 miles.

Sonju Lake. Two campsites on this lake at about mile 10 for me. Still early. I pushed on another 3.5 miles to the next campsites.

That's a beautiful blaze!

Egge Lake. This is where I camped. The clouds looked to be building, but a wind came up and it cleared off by dinner time. It got quite windy.

Here's a tip for you backpackers. Don't squat at the side of a lake or stream when filtering water. I take a MSR Dromedary bag and the green lexan coffee cup (seen above) down to the lake. Fill the bag with the cup and then carry it back to the campsite. I let the water sit for bit while any particles in the water settle to the bottom. Then I sit on the campsite bench and leisurely filter my water as I need it. Sure beats squatting at the side of a lake with tired legs after hiking all day.

The new Big Agnes tent. Very luxurious for 3.5 lbs.

Sunset over Egge Lake.

DAY THREE

This day would turn out to be one of those days when it's raining one moment, sunny the next, and then raining and sunny the next. One of those days when you finally decide it's raining hard enough to drop your pack and get your raincoat out. And by the time you get it on and get your pack back on, it's stopped raining and the sun is shining. This went on all day.

I spent a lot of this hike admiring our blazes.

An old bear's den.

At the end of this section of trail there is a .2 mile gravel road walk.

The next section from the Finland Rec Center to Cty Rd 6 is a bit more rugged. A climb up a ridge. A drop down into a boggy area, and then a dramatic climb up to the Section 13 Cliffs. The first ridge was all hardwoods. I love walking through a hardwood forest with it's thick canopy above an open forest floor.

Couldn't pass up this log for a break. This would be the last picture on my camera. My battery would die on me. The rest of the pictures were taken on my iPod Touch.

An interesting boulder in the middle of the woods. Must have been deposited here by a glacier during the last glacier age.

The trail crosses this bog, or beaver pond, on 440 feet of boardwalk.

Cool clouds.

I'm not sure which was a bigger engineering feat, the boardwalk built by humans, or the dam and hut built by the beavers.

Another bog, another boardwalk across a beaver dam. Cliffs looming over me on the right.

The trail went vertical until I was standing on top of a rocky knob on top of the cliff. I was so high up I almost felt like I could touch that black cloud over me. The wind was really blowing and then the rain started to come down almost horizontally. It was quite the rush.

The black dot is some kind of vulture or hawk playing on the winds.

Spectacular views inland. The water below is the beaver pond I crossed earlier.

The Sawtooths along the big lake, which is on the other side of that ridge.

35 miles of beauty over three days. I've hiked over 3,500 miles of trails in nearly 30 states, and I still think this trail is one of the most beautiful trails in the country. I don't think I will ever get tired of it's scenery.

Spring maintenance time on the Superior Hiking Trail

2011-05-08T09:03:00.001-07:00

Susan and I have been Section Leader volunteers since 2002 on the Superior Hiking Trail along Minnesota's North Shore of Lake Superior. The section we maintain starts at Cook County Rd 1 to the Cross River. We are required to walk the section once in the Spring and once in the Fall and then submit a report to the Maintenance Supervisor. We are also encouraged to do whatever maintenance that we feel comfortable doing. Susan and I carry tools to remove the smaller blow-downs and prune back the yearly overgrowth that tries to consume the trail. We don't use a chainsaw because we have to be certified by the National Forest Service in order to operate a chainsaw on the trail. We are not certified.

Due to Susan's recent health issues she stayed at home this year and I did the work solo. So I don't have to re-trace my footsteps I use a bike shuttle. I park at one trailhead and bike to the next. Then I work my way back to the car. It works slick on this section because there is 7 miles of trail to walk, but only 4 miles for the bike ride. The road takes a much more direct path than the trail.

I did this yesterday. Despite a slight chance of showers in the Duluth area, 90 miles up the shore I had a crystal clear blue skies all day long. With the temperature in the mid-50's, it was perfectly ideal weather to be out in the woods. Plus no bugs yet since we've had mornings below freezing.

The first mile and a half is on a Spur Trail that connects up with the Superior Hiking Trail. It's all uphill and loosely follows the Cross River as it cascades down the slopes towards Lake Superior. The river follows a steep sided, almost canyon like route. You can hear the river the whole way, but rarely get a glimpse of it down in the trees until you reach the main trail. Yesterday I got curious to see parts of the river that I'd never seen, but can always hear. I figured there had to be a few waterfalls along the way. I bushwhacked down some steep slopes towards the river.

Sure enough there was a narrow gorge that the river plunged into. It was hard to get very close due to some sheer drop-offs and thick brush.

Eventually I was able to get out onto a rock at the top of the gorge where the water drops and rushes into the narrowest part. The sound of the water was thunderous.

Looking upstream as the water cascades towards the gorge. The funnest part of this is the fact that you have to earn this look at the river. There is no way to drive up to it. You have to walk in and do some bushwhacking to reach it.

After that little bit of fun, I made it back to the trail. This is the view of the river where the Spur Trail intersects the main trail. A few more small waterfalls and cascades.

This is the new bridge put in two years ago. It crosses a narrow spot in the river. The water really rushes through this spot under the bridge. Our maintenance work starts as soon as we cross this bridge.

The water rushing through the narrow spot in the river under the bridge.

The view of some smalls falls from the North Cross River Campsite. That white spot on the right bank is snow. This site is situated right on the edge of the water within sight of the bridge. It's a beautiful spot, but I would have a hard time sleeping here. The river is at a fairly high volume going over all those rocks. It's loud enough that it is hard to carry on a conversation next to the river.

My favorite trail clearing tool: a lightweight Gerber Axe made in Finland. We can usually expect a half dozen to a dozen blown down trees in the Spring. More if there was any ice storms during the winter or spring. No ice storms this year, but this area received more than the average amount of snow this year. Most of our trees are under 6 inches in diameter. We have several different types of forest. Some areas are all birch. But we also have a stretch of older hardwoods.

I will take out any tree under 6 or 8 inches. Anything bigger is a real chore with the axe. Although I'm getting better every year. The larger trees I write-up and a chainsaw volunteer will come in and take care of it.

This tree I've written up twice and no one has come to take care of it yet. So I thought I'd give it a go with the axe.

I must be getting better with the axe. It took me fifteen minutes, but I got through it. Two campsite volunteers came along just as I was about to move it off the trail. It took the three of us to budge it. Without their help, I would have had to do a second cut. Talk about good timing.

The trail along the river. The trail follows the edge of the river for about 1.5 miles. It's a beautiful section.

It's May and there were patches of snow like this all along the trail.

Just before the trail meanders away from the river, there is one more small waterfall. The water drops violently off this ledge. It is so loud, it is nearly impossible to have a conversation with anyone that you are with at this spot.

A blow down across the trail:

Now you see it....

....now you don't.
I love my axe!

The next stretch I didn't take the time to take pictures. Maybe because I was already getting tired. Maybe because of the large volume of work that had to be done. We have brushy areas with newer growth between the river and the hardwood section. It has hundreds of small trees under 1" in diameter. The heavy snow this past winter weighted down all these closely grouped trees. They bowed over the trail leaving less than 5 feet of head clearance in many spots. All this had to be cut back. I've never seen it this bad in the nine years we've been working on this section. At some point I realized there was no way I'd get it all done in one day. That's never happened before. And then my loppers, or pruners, broke. That was at 4:00, and I was only half way through the section. Normally we do the whole walk in 6-8 hours. Here I'd been out on the trail for 6 hours and was only half way done. When the loppers broke, it was decided for me that I'd have to come back another day.

Once I knew I'd be coming back, I called it quits for the day. That meant all I had to do was walk the three miles to the car. What a pleasant walk that was. It was a gorgeous day. I listened to the hundreds, or thousands, of frogs in all the low lying wet areas. I heard Grouse thumping away with their mating dances. And I heard the call of several pileated woodpeckers throughout the day. It was a glorious walk.

And I took in the view of Lake Superior from Tower Overlook. On this section of the Superior Hiking Trail, this is the only spot you can see Lake Superior. Other sections have endless views of the big lake.

That's a perfect blaze. Sometimes I find it hard to believe we painted these blazes every tenth of a mile for over 200 miles back in 2006 and 2007. Sometimes I stop and admire our work. This was a particularly nice blaze. Painted free hand....and I would bet it measures almost perfectly 2" x 6". We were good!

You can see in this picture how late Spring comes to the Northland. This is May and no sign yet of a single wild flower or a leaf on a tree. For all you know, it could late Fall. But it isn't, it's May 7th.

What a great way to spend an early Spring Day....walking around in the woods.

Winter snowshoe hike on the Superior Hiking Trail in Duluth

2011-01-17T17:13:00.000-08:00

Normally this time of year I'm spending most of my outdoor time on a bike. Ever since I got a fat snowbike in 2006. This weekend I was feeling under the weather. But not so much that I couldn't stop myself from getting out on a gorgeous winter day. I grabbed my snowshoes and headed out the door. Two blocks up my street is a short trail that leads to the old abandoned stone quarry. Ice climbers can usually be found on a day like this. However, the ice must have been too brittle and they were climbing the rock face instead. You can see a red dot on all three of these quarry pictures. It's a climber.

I took a short trail along the side of the quarry, ending at the top. Views of Duluth, Superior, WI, the harbor and Lake Superior in the distance.

I climbed uphill and crossed Skyline Parkway.

I continued climbing up the steep ridge.

Near the top I came out onto the Superior Hiking Trail.

It was a beautiful, calm, sunny day with temps around the mid-teens. Spectacular winter conditions to be outside in.

It felt good to soak up some sunshine after a week of cloudy days.

I bought these snowshoes for deep powder and winter camping in the Boundary Waters. Not really needed today on the packed down trail. If I had wanted to go off trail, they would have been ideal.

Views from the Superior Hiking Trail in Duluth.

Time to descend back down. It was an incredible day. Glad I got out. Hard to believe I live in a place I can access this kind of terrain, with views, right from my front door.

Fall backpacking on the Superior Hiking Trail

2010-10-05T18:27:00.000-07:00

I haven't been out hiking or backpacking much this year. I've been sad about that. The main reason is Susan and I do this together most of the time. This year she's been told to stay off her feet due to some foot pain. She's been doing stretching and exercises to correct this issue. It will take time.

Fall really is my favorite time to get out and backpack. With an incredible forecast and peak colors up the shore (Lake Superior), I had to get out. Susan gave me her blessings to take her car and go. This would be an overnight on the Superior Hiking Trail. Although we've hiked and backpacked in many states, as well as a thru-hike of the Appalachian Trail, the Superior Hiking Trail is still our favorite long distance trail.

This trip for me would be a mind clearing, care free outing in the wilderness. Nothing like walking through the woods to clear out all the cobwebs. I know this trail well. So I left with no maps, no compass, and no watch or anyway to tell exactly what time it was. I would go with the flow and rhythms of the woods. Warning: There are a lot of pictures.
I drove 100 miles, up the north shore of Lake Superior. I parked at Lutsen Mountains Ski Resort. The Superior Shuttle runs on a schedule up and down the shore. You can park at one trailhead, take the shuttle as far as you want and then hike back to your car. I took the shuttle up the shore 18 trail miles for my overnight trip. (Bonus: as a former driver of the shuttle I got to ride free. YES!) The temps were in the mid-50's both days and down to 30F overnight. My kind of weather. With zero percent chance of rain.
I got dropped off at Cascade River on a wayside along Hwy 61. A short spur trail along the river leads to the SHT (Superior Hiking Trail). The Cascade River drops dramatically towards the lake in the park.
The hike started with a 900 foot climb up and away from the big lake to Lookout Mtn. That's a monster size midwestern climb. I picked this section for it's many overlooks. Both inland and of Lake Superior. It has many streams, rivers, and lakes along it's route as well as some of the best hardwood sections of forest. The colors along the lake were at their peak, while the inland woods were a week or so past peak.

Looking back from where I had climbed up from Cascade River and Lake Superior.

My first snack break of the day. A sunny log on a narrow ridge. The stress was already leaving my body.

I"ll let the pictures tell the story from here. This section on the first day followed some narrow ridges which alternated between walks in the woods and spectacular views. Occasionally it would drop down into a drainage and then climb back out.

I stopped at the second campground, Spruce Creek. There I ran into Mary and Brian. A couple in there 70's from Wisconsin on their first long backpacking trip. They mentioned they were hoping to do the whole Appalachian Trail some day soon. I told them I had done it in 2001. They just lit up. They had read practically everything there was to read about the AT, but had never actually met someone that had thru-hiked it. Long story short.....we agreed to move on and meet up at the next campsite for the night so they could talk to me about hiking the AT.

Here is Jovnick Creek beaver pond. A very active beaver pond. A campsite is adjacent to the pond. That's where we spent the night.

The beaver pond was beautiful in the late day light.

The fire ring at the campsite. I used what fire making skills I have to make a pretty successful camp fire for the three of us. I couldn't resist a whole pile of wood gathered by a previous camper.

Brian and Mary. They asked some of the best questions I've ever been asked about the AT. Really made me think. Plus, it's been 9 years since my AT experience and I don't get a chance to talk about it much anymore. It was fun reliving the trail memories and sharing it with someone that was interested in hearing the stories.

With the gorgeous forecast I didn't bother bringing along a tent. Only my bivy sack. The moon came up late. I was able to see some amazing stars from my sleeping bag.

The next morning frost covered most everything. I walked over to the beaver pond. All the grasses and bushes were covered in frost. There was steam rising off the still pond. It was a wonderful, peaceful sight. By time I left the pond later in the morning the sun was melting the frost and water was dripping everywhere.

The hike Sunday was just as spectacular as the previous day.

Caribou Lake.

I started this blog to document our trail marker blazing we did in 2006 and 2007. We painted blue blazes every 10th of mile for 200 miles in both directions. The Superior Hiking Trail Association hired us for this project. I spent a lot of this hike enjoying looking at our work. The above tree was young and has grown the past three years. You can see how the painted blaze has grown with the tree.

This tree hasn't grown. Big difference.

One of the gems on this trail...Lake Agnes. This photo is taken from a campsite situated right on the water. It's a highly sought after spot to camp.

All the campsites on the trail have a latrine. This one happened to be perfect timing....I won't go into details.

More views of Lake Agnes.

It's one thing to be in a car and drive along looking at the colors. It's another to be in the woods on a narrow footpath completely bathed in the colors from the canopy overhead.

Colors and another Blue Blaze. We did darn good work on those blazes. I can see why they hired us. (Tooting my own horn)

One of my favorite overlooks. Looking out over the Poplar River valley with the River winding it's way through it.

Another overlook. This one has views of the valley on the right (above), and Lake Superior on the left (below). From this overlook the trail drops down into the valley and eventually brings you alongside the river for a mile or two.

Poplar River.

A climb back out brings you to another overlook, looking back from where you came. The ridge in the distance is where the previous two overlooks were located.

Something about walking through leaves piled on a trail that brings back childhood memories. Brings a smile to my face. All the sounds and smells combine to take me back.

The last part is a descent back down towards Lutsen Mountains. These Sawtooth Mountains that run along the shore of Lake Superior really do feel like mountains even though they only reach 1000-1200 feet above the lake.

A .4 mile spur trail leads me back to the ski area and the car. What an incredible weekend to be out on the trail. I feel renewed and refreshed.

Trail Magic: Passing it on, 9 years later.

2010-05-24T18:08:00.000-07:00

Nine years ago....amazing how time passes....Susan and I went on an adventure of a lifetime. We quit our jobs, put all our belongings in a storage space, parked our vehicles at my parents lake house in Michigan, and set off on a 2,168 mile thru-hike of the Appalachian Trail. We started on Springer Mountain Georgia. Six months and 14 states later we completed our thru-hike on Mount Katahdin Maine.

Along the way we met up with many Trail Angels. People who help hikers by giving them rides into towns, giving them food, or help in anyway are called Trail Angels. As a hiker, any help you receive from a Trail Angel is called Trail Magic. Here's another definition from Wikipedia: " In the areas of the trail closer to trail towns, many hikers have experienced what is sometimes called "trail magic," or assistance from strangers through kind actions, gifts, and other forms of encouragement. Trail magic is sometimes done anonymously. In other instances, persons have provided food and cooked for hikers at a campsite."

Before our thru-hike one thing we were told by more experienced thru-hikers was that once you receive Trail Magic, you cannot hold onto it. You have to pass it on. We always meant to pass it on, but we live so far from the trail, we never got around to it. Until now, 9 years later. We spent the first week of this month passing on all the Trail Magic we had received during our thru-hike. We decided to drive to West-Central Virginia, the location of the trail where we would have been 9 years ago this month, and try to find some thru-hikers. In preparation Susan had baked dozens and dozens of Chocolate Chip cookies and Blueberry muffins. Our first morning in Virginia we got up at five in the morning to drive to a trailhead along the trail north of Bland, VA and leave a stocked cooler in the woods for any passing thru-hikers.
We left it most of the day. We had no idea if or how many thru-hikers would pass by. We were surprised and thrilled to find 7 thru-hikers signed our notebook in the cooler. This is what they wrote:

"Awesome thanks" Miker

"Homemade muffins?! Yes, Please! Such a well stocked cooler, and great timing- I'm all out of food. Thanks, guys!" -Saint

"This absolutely brilliant trail magic, and for me as well, the timing was perfect! I was having a tough morning, and this put a big smile on my face. Thanks"! -On the Loose

Thak you ever so much especially for the blueberry muffins awesome! Just what I needed to get to the next shelter. Thanks again" -NATURE

This is the best cooler on the trail. This is better than my refridgertor at home" -Hobbes

"AWESOME!! Thanks!" -Dosmoose + Dirt Stew

We were feeling pretty successful already. But we had more planned. We wanted to get out for a few nights on the trail and do some backpacking. We moved up the trail to Daleville, VA, a suburb of Roanoke through which the trail passes. We had arranged a shuttle up to Apple Orchard Mountain off the Blue Ridge Parkway. That would allow us to hike southbound about 40 miles of trail back to Daleville. Since thru-hikers are Northbound, it would guarantee we'd run into any thru-hikers on this section. We had brought our huge backpacks and were packing at least 10 lbs of cookies and muffins each.
This is where we accessed the AT just below the summit of Apple Orchard Mountain.
We had a relaxing stop at Black Rock overlook. Very likely we passed right by this short side trail during our thru-hike.
It was incredible to be out on the trail backpacking again after 9 years away. We were a bit nervous of the distance we were planning and the forecast for temps in the upper 80's. Very, very hot for us northern Minnesotans.
The first day was mostly downhill 7.6 miles to Bryant Ridge Shelter. We stayed at this shelter during our hike in 2001. I have fond memories of it being one of the nicest shelters on the whole trail and the most relaxing shelter stays we had.
It is also one of the largest, and not very typical of the shelters on the trail. We had expected a crowd of thru-hikers coming in for the evening. No one showed, and we had the shelter to ourselves. Very odd. In six months of thru-hiking back in 2001, we had a shelter to ourselves only twice that I can remember.
We ran into several thru-hikers and were able to make their days with our Trail Magic. We also started to realize how difficult this trail is. The next morning we were both so stiff and sore, we started to question our choice of distances we needed to cover. The next two days would be over 13 miles, and the fourth day another 5. With the heat and elevation changes each day, we were a bit concerned. We also experienced something we didn't have the pleasure to experience the first time on this trail....we were in the middle of black fly season. After day one, I had more than 20 bites on my legs alone.

Day two and we were struggling up the first 1500 ft climb right away in the morning. We were lucky enough to run into a half dozen more thru-hikers. Total, we handed out goodies to 18 thru-hikers those first two days. Not a quarter mile after handing out our last Trail Magic, the Appalachian Trail proceeded to buck us right off. At a junction of two trails, we both missed a white blaze, took a wrong turn, and were too stubborn to turn back for a distance of at least 2 miles. By time we decided we had somehow missed a turn and turned around, our day was turning into a 17 mile day if we had proceeded on. The next water was not until the shelter. We discussed it for some time, and decided our best option would be to back track to a road crossing and end our hike. Once we had descended a 1,000 ft climb we had walked up earlier in the day, we decided our best option would be to walk or hitch 2 miles to a campground. Things got rapidly better once we got to the campground. It was run by a couple. The woman just so happened to be running her two kids into Daleville for soccer games 15 minutes after we arrived. She gave us half off her normal shuttle fee and got us back to our car in Daleville by five o'clock. We got a room at the Super 8, showered and drove into downtown Roanoke for dinner at a fabulous Indian restaurant. A great ending to a challenging day. We were both so sore, that every time we sat down, we could barely get up. We gained a lot of respect for people that thru-hike this trail. It is HARD. Nine years later all you remember is the great times. The reality of the trail is it hurt everyday.

All of a sudden we had a couple of unplanned days to spend however we wanted. We both agreed we wanted to try and do some more Trail Magic. We left Daleville and drove 90 miles of the Blue Ridge Parkway to Waynesboro. We then entered Shenandoah Nat'l Park and drove another 57 miles of Skyline Drive. The western Virginia mountains are incredibly lush, green, and stunningly beautiful. We ended up car camping at Lewis Mountain Campground for three nights.
The next day we returned to the Blue Ridge Parkway south of the park and set up near a road crossing. We sat for several hours without any thru hikers passing through. We decided to leave the cooler overnight and come back the next day for it. In the cooler we had:

PB&J
apples/oranges
potato chips, Cheetos, Doritos, Pringles, etc
choco chip cookies
muffins
Coke/Mountain Dew

We had four thru-hikers sign our book this time and at least one, Snowman, who helped himself,but didn't sign:

"Awesome- Your generosity is much appreciated. Great stock job." -Strider

"A GOD SEND!"

"Thank you so much! on a quick push for town with low food. You saved the day" -picker

"Yay! Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!" -Floweasy

All in all, we believe we fed at least 35 thru-hikers (and three section hikers) and feel we successfully passed on all the Trail Magic we've been carrying around since 2001.

Come along on a fall hike with us

2009-10-18T16:57:00.001-07:00

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

2009-10-11T18:39:00.001-07:00

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

2009-10-04T19:06:00.000-07:00

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!

Backpacking weekend

2009-08-24T19:44:00.001-07:00

This summer was supposed to be a summer where we got back to more backpacking. So here it is, late August, and we're just getting out on our first backpacking overnighter. When we saw the weather forecast and with the summer winding down, we knew we had to go. We threw everything together Saturday morning. Drove an hour up the shore and were on the trail by noon for a short out-n-back over night trip. We fell into a nice rhythm and into the moment shortly after our feet hit the ground. It's such a great feeling to be out hiking in the woods. It's one thing that Susan and I have always shared together. Heck, our first date 12 years ago, was day hike. Soon after that we learned to backpack together.

Trail dog Dash Riprock ready to hit the trail. He loves hiking as much as we do. He could barely hold it together for the short car ride to the trail head. He knew we were going hiking as soon as Susan and I started packing.

We started at the Castle Danger trailhead. From there it's a short quick climb up onto Wolf Rock.

There are excellent views of the big lake from Wolf Rock. Wisconsin could be seen clearly with the crisp cool dry air.

Susan working her way up the last part of the the climb up Wolf Rock.

The forest changed frequently along this section. Above is a shady grove of Cedars.

Then it was onto a younger hardwood section. This must be pretty in the fall.

Then there were many sections of transitional forest where most of the birches were dying off.

Back in 2006 and 2007 when Susan and I were contracted to paint blaze over 200 miles of trail, this was one of the first sections we did. We haven't been back to this section since. Some of our painted blazes were holding up better than others.

The view from Mike's Rock. A great lakes freighter can be seen out on the lake in this picture.

The Gooseberry River. Gooseberry Falls is one of the most visited spots on the North Shore. However, very few people see what the river looks like before it tumbles over the falls towards Lake Superior. Only those that hike this trail.

Our campsite, East Gooseberry, was situated on a hillside along the river. You could see the river through the trees.

Like all established campsites along the trail, this one had a fire ring and benches.

Further up the hill was a nice grassy tent pad.

Ahhh, home for the night....I love sleeping in a tent.

I enjoy a nice hot meal at the end of a day of backpacking. On a short trip with cool temps we tend to carry fresh foods rather than dehydrated. Susan comes up with the concoctions and I'm the backcountry chef.
For this delicious dish I started by sauteing fresh veggies in some olive oil.

Then I added foil packed chicken, rice pasta, milk powder, dried green onions (fresh onions are a bit too smelly for the back woods), freeze dried peas (they hold up better than fresh peas) and salt. At the end I added fresh sage from our garden, fresh grated Parmesan, and some fresh grated lemon peel. It was delicious!!

For desert? We packed in some chocolate brownies. I made a raspberry sauce to put over the brownies. I made it with freeze dried raspberries, a little water, sugar and corn starch. Very yummy. Although once we got there we discovered we could have had fresh raspberries. They were everywhere along the river and surrounding our campsite.

Gooseberry River under the morning sun.

The stretch of the trail along the river gets a bit brushy at times.

Dash never misses a chance to cool off in a river....or lake...or even a mud puddle!

Dash and I on Mike's Rock.

It was a great get-away. Susan and I have so much experience at backpacking, it enables us to get out and thoroughly enjoy ourselves without all the worries and concerns we had when we first started backpacking. It really is the definition of carefree.

Long time no post.

2009-05-21T18:33:00.001-07:00

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.

Fall Maintenance hike on the SHT

2008-09-28T18:11:00.001-07:00

We are Section Volunteers for the Superior Hiking Trail. Our section is along the beautiful Cross River. Responsibilities include walking the section in the spring and the fall, and then turning in a report to the maintenance supervisor. Susan and I usually do it together. However, Susan is still recovering from the cold she got earlier in the week. This fall I went alone. We always do a bike shuttle so we only have to walk the section in one direction. The section is only 7 miles. The bike shuttle is only four miles. The road is much more direct than the trail route.
The bike shuttle includes some gravel on Cook Cty 1. I was surprised to see the fall colors so far along on the ridges above Lake Superior where there were hardwoods. There is still just a hint of color down the shore in Duluth where we live.

This is the Skou Rd spur trail.

This overlook of the Cross River is at the trail junction of the Superior Hiking Trail and the spur from Skou Road.

Just below the overlook is the river crossing. The bridge has some major structural damage suffered since last spring. Don't ask me how they got that center pier place under the bridge in the rapids. It's a temporary fix. If one big piece of driftwood hits the pier, that bridge is history.

I was a bit nervous going out onto the bridge. Last spring this bridge appeared stable. Not any more.

Fortunately they are building a new bridge with steel reinforced concrete piers. Just in time!

The river narrows through a small gorge as it passes under the bridge. The roar of the water over the rocks is deafening.

We aren't required to do any trail maintenance we aren't comfortable with. And we can't operate a chainsaw unless we've been certified by the National Forest Service. This section is in the Superior National Forest. But Susan and I do carry an ax and a saw to clear out the smaller trees that have fallen over the trail.

Now you see it....

...now you don't.

The river was swollen from rains and thunderstorms the previous night. It was running as high as spring snow melt. The river was flowing at a very rapid pace in the above picture.

The trail follows the narrow river valley for over a mile and a half. Here is a small waterfall at the upper end of the river section. I stood on a rock and watched a small trout try to repeatedly leap up the waterfall. Every time being washed back down to the bottom.

Now you see it...

...now you don't!

Up on the highest point of the ridge the maples were at their peak color.

A small hillside of maples rising above Boney's Meadow was also at peak color.

There happened to be some active beavers in Boney's Meadow, which is now Boney's pond. This birch had been taken down only a few days prior.

Now you see it... (you can see my ax in the tree just to the left of the blue blaze)

...now you don't!

I took on a little more than I bargained for with this removal. It took me at least 30 minutes of chopping. I think if Susan had been along she would have talked me into leaving it for the chainsaw volunteers.

This section only has one spot that has a view of Lake Superior, at Tower Overlook. However, there is a ridge that runs between the overlook and the big lake that is all hardwoods. This time if year its' quite a site. You can see the lake, it blends into the the skyline.

I was able to get all the blowdowns out except two that were bigger. Anything over 8-10 inches in diameter I leave for the chainsaws.

What a great day to be out on the trail. Temps in the 60's and beautiful sunshine most of the day.

Three day weekend at the Porcupine Mountains Wilderness State Park

2008-09-01T17:17:00.001-07:00

This weekend we drove three and a half hours along the south shore of Lake Superior across Wisconsin and into the U.P. of Michigan to the Porkies. It's a gem of a park a long way away from just about anything. It has 60,000 acres of nearly undeveloped wilderness. It is one of the few remaining large wilderness areas in the midwest. It also has the largest virgin hardwood-hemlock forests in the U.S. Many trees are over 200 years old, in an area where less than 1% of the virgin forests remain. Ever since I first learned of this park I've wanted to go and backpack some of it's 80+ miles of backcountry trails.

We attempted it the first time maybe four years ago on a Memorial Day weekend. We got our backcountry permit, drove to the trailhead. Before I had my pack out of the car I had 2 blackfly bites and a mosquito bite. It wasn't to be. We decided to day hike and return home. The bugs were too thick.

I've always maintained that the Superior Hiking Trail along the North Shore of Lake Superior is the most scenic backpacking you'll find in the midwest. This trip changed that view. There are options. This parks unbelievably beautiful scenery and virgin forests rivals many National Parks. In the last ten years I've backpacked over 3,000 miles in more than 20 states. This trip was one of the best. There are a lot of pictures in this post. I'll let them do most of the talking.

DAY ONE
We had the dog with us. We kept the miles to a minimum with a hot weekend expected. Dash doesn't do well in hot weather and we've never had him out on anything but an overnighter in the past. There are enough trails and backcountry sites that we didn't set a firm itinerary. We decided to make it up as we went. Backcountry sites con't be reserved. It's a first come, first serve basis. Although you do need a backcountry permit.

The first couple of days I didn't take many pictures. We had cloudless skies for most of the time. But the canopy of the virgin forests cut out a lot of light. It felt like nighttime much of the time. It was hard to take pictures in that lighting...at least with my limited photography skills.

Dash took every opportunity to cool off in every stream, river, lake and mud hole.

This is the Trap Falls. A beautiful spot in a ravine with towering trees all around.

The view from Government Peak at 1850'. That's about 1250' above Lake Superior a few miles away.

The first night we camped at this backcountry site just below Government peak. We slept both nights without our tent fly. We had a magnificent view of the stars through the trees all night.

On the map it looked like there should be a small pond here. It turned out to be a very wet meadow with a small stream running down the center. Good enough to filter water from.

The fire ring at this site. We didn't make use of it. We tend to only have fires when it's cold out.

DAY TWO:

The forecast called for temps in the upper eighties. We decided to take the shortest route to the Lake of the Clouds area. It's a holiday weekend with lots of backcountry users. There were 5 campsites around Lake of the Clouds. We figured they'd fill quickly. We thought we could head over that way, try to get a site and then dayhike from there.

The five miles over to the lake were mostly downhill in more virgin woods. What a thrill it was to walk in these old woods. It is so different than any woods I've ever been in. I was filled with a sense of awe the entire time.
Dash always leads the way. This is a bridge across the Big Carp River at the western end of Lake of the Clouds. We are only 3/4 of a mile from the Lake of the Clouds overlook. The bridges are always bigger when in reach of dayhikers.

We took a side trail to four of the campsites. The first three were set in the trees just above the lake. We arrived around 11 in the morning. To our surprise the first three were empty. The trail got a little more vague. But we kept going, maybe a full 1/2 mile from the start of the side trail, for what seemed like forever. We finally reached the last campsite, also vacant. What we discovered was a huge surprise. It was the best campsite we have ever scored!! We never seem to get the good sites to begin with. This site was on a small wooded piece of shoreline that jutted out into the lake. Triangle shaped with sandy shoreline all the way around. It also had a nice breeze blowing through it that was keeping the bugs down. We would both agree this was the best backcountry campsite we had ever stayed at. It was spectacular!!

The view to the east from the campsite.

The view to the north.

The view to the west.

North again.

East again. Dash did a lot of cooling down in this lake. It must have been deep, because it wasn't particularly warm.

And another view to the west. The highest point in the right of the picture is where there is a overlook. People can drive out to that point. We would later do a dayhike up to that spot and hike some of the ridge to the west.

A wet, happy dog.

A view form the Lake of the Clouds overlook.

Susan with Dash. We would hike a mile out the ridge behind her before heading back to camp.

That's me.

We were back to camp by 3:30. We did something we're not very good at. We lounged around the rest of the day. I went swimming. That felt great in the hot weather. After dinner we set up our chairs and watched the sun set. Another nice thing about this park is it's lack of big metro areas nearby and lack of roads. It is as peaceful and quiet as the Grand Canyon or the Boundary Waters of Minnesota.

DAY THREE:

We set up our chairs on the other side of our campsite for the sunrise.
Today we would be crossing to the other side of the lake and walking the Escarpment Trail.

The day before we could see people up on the trail from our campsite on the other side of the lake. Little did we know how incredible the hike would be.
Spectacular views most of the way.

With the heat also came some haze. It didn't lessen the awe inspiring views one bit.

See that small triangular shaped piece of land sticking out into the lake. That's where the campsite was that we stayed at. Best backcountry site EVER!

There you have it. I can't even begin to describe the day. The pictures will have to do. I think we'll be back. We left a lot of trails to discover. There's a whole shoreline trail along Lake Superior. Based on the number of backcounrty sites along the trail, it must be quite popular. And, fall would be a great time to be in these woods. It would be breathtaking in peak colors. Plus the North Country Trail cuts through the southwest corner of the park.

Put this part of the world on your must see list if you ever plan to be in the area.

A backpacking weekend

2008-08-17T14:38:00.001-07:00

SATURDAY

This summer was supposed to be the summer we did more backpacking. Our summer weekends the past 5 years have had various obligations, jobs and trail work that has kept us from doing all the backpacking we had wanted to. This summer we made no commitments to anyone and decided not to take any jobs. Thus, we were going to get out on the trail much more. What we've found is we both have enjoyed lazy weekends around our own home this summer. However, we've decided to get out more the rest of the year. This weekend we did an overnighter on the Superior Hiking Trail. It's only our second backpacking weekend this year. We decided to do an out-and-back hike on our favorite trail. We kept it simple. No bike shuttles, or hiker shuttles. I chose a section that doesn't have any big features like waterfalls, or rivers, or inland lakes. We started at the Beaver Bay trail head and headed west. The trail is rocky and full of roots. The unique feature of this particular section is how deceptively hard it is. Many, many short up and downs that wear on you. It also has some wonderful ridge walking with views of the big lake and inland views. It's not a section that many people would list as their favorite. But in it's own right, it's a gorgeous walk.

Lots of inland views from the ridges.

We took Dash Riprock with us. He carries his own food and water in a dog pack.

Wild blue berries were everywhere on the exposed ridges. Delicious! I ate my share.

Above is Susan and Dash enjoying a panoramic view.

Endless views.

The trail was very rocky in many places.

A view of the big lake, Lake Superior.

Dash and I enjoying the day.

More endless views. Views that can't be captured on a camera. It's hard to believe this is the midwest sometimes.

Susan descending off a small knob.

A natural meadow with some threatening clouds overhead. We had temps in the mid-80's. We never did get rained on.

SUNDAY

The Superior Hiking Trail has established campsites every 4-8 miles with rustic tent pads, fire pits, benches, and a pit toilet. We stayed at the Chapins Ridge campsite. We pitched our tent on a nice soft bed of pine needles. I picked the ridge site hoping that being up on a ridge would provide a bit of wind to keep the bugs down. The mosquitoes turned out to be very light all weekend. I found it odd, we should have been swarmed with the buggers this time of year.
We shared the campsite with a solo hiker and a four person family out on their very first backpacking trip. They had a 3 person tent and a Hennessey Hammock. I've seen these hammocks in use before. But it was fun to see one again since I've been reading about Vik's recent trial run with one.

I snapped a picture of the main camping area the family was using while they were down at the creek filtering water.

Sunday we woke up to clear skies and temperature that were rising very quickly through the morning. We haven't had any temps over 85 degrees all summer in Duluth. And very few days in the 80's. We were a bit hot and making sure we were drinking a lot of water. The temp rose to 90 by the time we reached our car. The exposed ridgelines were especially hot.

Dash Riprock scouting out the trail ahead of us. He suffered a bit in the heat. He took several dips in various creeks, mud puddles, and beaver ponds to stay cool.

Above is one of the beaver ponds Dash took a dip in.

We enjoyed the get away with some great trail to walk and beautiful scenery.

We kept telling ourselves this is why we moved here. It's so we could be so close to the outdoors that we love so much. We only had to drive an hour and twenty minutes up the shore for this wonderful weekend experience.

Completed our contractual obligations

2008-08-10T19:21:00.000-07:00

The past two summers Susan and I spent most of our weekends doing contract work for the Superior Hiking Trail. Our job was to upgrade the trail markings to a 2" x 6" blue blaze every 1/10th of a mile. Side trails were to be white blazed. We completed blazing over 200 miles of trail (that's over 400 miles of blazing) with the exception of one side trail in Silver Bay. We've felt the burden to get this last 6 miles of trail blazed the entire winter, spring and summer. This weekend we finally got it done. We headed up Saturday morning. The weather was absolutely perfect. Sixty six degrees, very dry air, endless sunshine and a moderate breeze. It doesn't get any better than that for trail work. The side trail is called the Twin Lakes Trail. It is "Y" shaped and creates a loop hike with the main trail used as a connector. We work alone when blazing. Susan hiked out to the right branch while I blazed up the stem. I then blazed the left branch out and back. Susan blazed the right branch out and back and then blazed the stem on her way back. It was about 6 miles of blazing for each of us. It took us 5 hours. We usually can cover a mile per hour when blazing.
How do you white blaze on a birch tree with white bark? Look above closely and you will see. I've outlined the white blaze in blue.
I've never had the chance to hike this side trail. It was much nicer than I was expecting. It starts in town. It leaves town within a half mile and the rest is wooded. Mostly uphill on the way out. All down hill coming back.
On the left branch of the trail it has a short side spur to Elam's Knob. I had lunch there. It was spectacular with the pleasant weather. The big lake was incredibly blue.
This is looking inland from the knob. I love this trail. Nothing else like it in the Midwest!

A dayhike from my front door

2008-07-27T19:20:00.001-07:00

My wife Susan has been out of town. That means I become the dog walker. Normally Susan walks the dog. I'm not really a dog person and never wanted one. But I couldn't stop her from getting one. So now we have Dash Riprock. Part Boarder Collie, part mutt. Like many dogs he benefits physically and mentally from a daily walk. We are fortunate to live in an area that has access to one of the premiere long distance hiking trails in the country. The Superior Hiking Trail. Since we moved into our home 5 years ago, the trail has been extended through Duluth. It traverses the ridgeline just above our house. I've been accessing this trail the past several days when walking the dog. One block from our front door, crossing the tracks that the ore trains use when coming down from the Iron Range. Those are taconite pellets that have fallen off the trains lining the ground between the rails.

Another block we are into the abandoned rock quarry in the hillside above our house. There is an unofficial, yet well worn trail along the rim of the quarry.

Dash catching his breath after the quick steep climb to the upper rim of the quarry. I don't like dogs that much....but I have to admit he's a handsome guy.

We cross Skyline Parkway and then it's a short steep climb to the top of the ridge.

Looking down on my neighborhood and Wisconsin beyond after intersecting the Superior Hiking Trail. It was a bit hazy today.

Looking west from the trail.

A nice, cool section of hardwoods. On a hot day it seems ten degrees cooler under the tree canopy.

Boardwalks over a wet, sensitive area.

Dash Riprock cooling off in Keene Creek just above a small waterfall.

Dash checking out an old pump house along the creek.

The creek cascades and drops down little waterfalls towards the St Louis river.

The trail takes a right turn and crosses the creek on this abandoned bridge.

Dash and I continue on straight ahead on another unofficial path.

We take a short cut through the cemetery.

OOPS! I guess we shouldn't have been in there. No dogs allowed.

It's so nice to be able to live in the city, yet be this close to nature.

Our first overnighter on the NCT in Wisconsin

2008-07-06T19:26:00.000-07:00

Susan and I first learned to backpack together 10 years ago. We learned on the Superior Hiking Trail along the North Shore of Lake Superior. We used to drive up from the Twin Cities. Later we moved to Duluth to be closer. Since 1998 Susan and I have logged over 3,000 backpacking miles including places like Big Bend NP, Grand Canyon NP, Glacier NP, Isle Royale NP, and an Appalachian Trail Thru-hike of over 2,100 miles. While we've backpacked in 20 or more states we've never backpacked in Wisconsin, a state that we can see from our front porch. This weekend we did an overnighter, in Wisconsin, on a section of the North Country Trail in the Brule River State Forest.
The NCT is a work in progress. When completed it will wind it's way from New York state to the western end of North Dakota stretching over 4,600 miles.
The section we chose was called Gaylord Nelson Portal to Samples Road. We started at the Portal and hiked out approximately 7 miles to the Winneboujou Overlook campsite. Camped for the night and returned back to the car today. This sections vegetation was widely varied from pine plantations (above) to mixed hardwoods, northwoods pine, and mixed. This area has a lot of managed logging. We crossed several recently logged areas.
The trail was beautiful. Despite following Hwy 27 the entire route, it seemed rather remote. We walked the bluff above the highway and the river most of the distance. The Brule River has 500-600 foot bluffs on either side of it formed by an ancient river that drained a larger glacial lake and later left Lake Superior. Now the relatively small Brule River flows into Lake Superior.
This was an interesting feature. The guide we had said it is a "large frost pocket or glacial pit that once held ice, and now holds colder air which prevents growth of brush and larger trees".
It was shaped like a huge bowl with a birch tree forest surrounding the rim. Very interesting feature.
The look of the forest changed every few tenths of a mile it seemed.
Most of the section followed the bluff with views through the trees of the river below and the facing bluff across the river.
Here I am on a bench at an overlook. There is a very active trail maintaining club for this section. There were half a dozen of these benches placed at overlooks along this section. With me is our dog "Tickboy", aka Dash Riprock. We renamed him Tickboy due to the thick layer of ticks he accumulated along the way. We did too. We had hoped that tick season was past. But alas, we have had only a few days in the 80's. Not enough hot weather to kill them off yet. I found two ticks on my pant legs before I had even pulled my backpack out of the car. We dealt with them. They made the hike a bit unpleasant, but didn't totally ruin it. In fact, we had a great time despite the ticks. We were pulling ticks off ourselves the whole way, both wood ticks and deer ticks. Dash was covered. Susan pulled 10-20 ticks off of him the first night and close to 30 when we got home. He gets Frontline treatments that kill the ones that attach. Dead ones were falling off him like white flakes from a bad case of dandruff. It was mass tick carnage.
This was a pretty wooded section that lasted for about a mile. Apparently it's days are numbered. The trees looked they were marked for logging.
Another nicely wooded section along the bluff nearing our campsite.
To get water while at the campsite I had to descend 1/3 of a mile down the bluff to the Little Brule River. Above is the nicely maintained side trail to the water source.
Above is the Little Brule. Very clean water.
We use a different method than most causal backpackers to get water. What we see other groups do, all over the country, is to gather up all their bottles and their water filtering device and carry it to the water source. Once there, they balance precariously on the edge of the stream, or lake, on rocks or a muddy bank and pump water through their filter into the various bottles. It requires good balance and strong quads to enable you to squat after a long day of hiking. What a pain in the arse!! Here's what we do. We empty out one of our packs at camp (if the water source is 1/3 of a mile away like this one was). Throw in our 6 or 10 liter MSR Dromedary Bag (whichever one we brought) and lexan coffee mug. At the water source, we fill the bag using the cup. Then we put the full dromedary bag in the pack for the walk back. Once we're back at camp we hang the bag from a tree limb or prop it against something while sitting comfortably. We put the hose from our filter into the bag and pump at our leisure. We often pump a couple of liters, stop, then pump more later as we need it or in the morning. It works great. We've also hung the dromedary bag upside down from a tree limb and taken a backwoods shower under it.
Our new home away from home. Lighter than our two person tent we love so much, yet gobs and gobs of room. There is room for the two of us, our dog and both our packs. And we still had spare room. Sets up and comes down in a flash. We both were very satisfied with our decision to try this kind of tent.
Today we woke up to the sound of light rain on the tent and the rumble of a distant thunder storm. The sky quickly cleared off and the temperature rose quickly. The forecast called for mid-80's, but it was nearing 90 by noon. A bit too hot for all three of us. Specially Tickboy with his black fur. He suffered a bit in the heat.
Great views of the river valley and bluffs. This part of Wisconsin, the north woods, is truly beautiful.
Tick heaven, tall grass, all the easier to jump onto passing mammals.
The Brule River can be seen from this overlook.
Tickboy and I leading the way through yet another Red Pine plantation.

Nearing the end of the two day trip. Susan leading the way downhill towards the highway crossing. Highways in these parts are two lane and very light traffic.

WILDLIFE sightings. The biggest thrills of the weekend were two amazing wildlife sightings. The first was only two tenths of a mile into the trip. I looked ahead up a planted row of red pines and what did I see standing in the middle of the trail about 50 yards away? A large gray Wolf. I've seen wolves in zoos and at the International Wolf Center in Ely, but I have never seen one in wild. It saw us, walked slowly off the trail, circled around, back out onto the trail and then walked off into the woods. Very cool!!!

Later in the day we were walking along the bluff. We heard the familiar sound of a startled animal running away from us in the woods. Normally we expect to see a white tailed deer. But this time is was a black bear running at full speed down the hill away from us. Not my first black bear sighting, but very cool nonetheless!!

New shelter for backpacking

2008-06-29T18:24:00.001-07:00

Our two-person backpacking tents and tarps no longer have sufficient room since we added a family member last year. The family member being the dog, Dash Riprock. Dash is a great dog, and a great trail dog. The down side is he can be a very anxious dog. He needs to be in the tent with us at night. All the night sounds freak him out and he would never settle for being outside the tent while we're in it.

The few nights we did on the trail last year, while we were doing our trail contract work, we carried our old Eureka Timberline 4-person tent. Plenty of room, but at 10.5 lbs it's way too heavy for some real backpacking. So this year we bit the bullet and spent some money on a new shelter. We took advantage of a member coupon for 20% off one item at REI last month. I used my coupon for the tent body and Susan used her coupon for the bug insert that is sold separately. It was a nice chunk of savings.We decided to go with a teepee style tent. A Black Diamond Mega-Light.
And the Mega Bug insert. We can use the tent with or without the bug insert. Above it is pitched with the carbon fiber pole that comes with it. Below is the item that comes with the tent that allows you to leave the pole at home and use your two trekking poles to support the tent. Nice!

I've been putting off the seam sealing for over a month. If we are ever going to get out and do some backpacking this year this needed to be done. I started the project today. It has 7 major seams not including the door zipper. I had room enough in the basement to do three seams. Once they dry I can move on. Not my favorite job, but I have never had to sleep in a leaking tent.

This tent is a cross between a tarp and a tent. It has enough room for the three of us, plus some. It has enough height to stand up in. And the tent and the bug insert are lighter and have twice the room than our favorite two-person tent, a Mountain Hardwear Room-with-a-view.

Another added plus, this will be a great shelter for winter camping.

Tuesday hike on the SHT

2008-05-31T17:13:00.000-07:00

While Susan was hosting a large baby shower at our house, Dash and I escaped for a evening hike on the Superior Hiking Trail. We hiked from Jay Cooke State Park to the old Mission Creek Parkway Bridge and back.

Old stone arch bridge from the abandoned Mission Creek Parkway.

Steps in the woods.

Dash in a stand of mature red and white pines.

This power line cut illustrated the ruggedness of this area. There aren't any big hills, but there also isn't a single spot of flat ground anywhere.

Spring Maintenance of our Superior Hiking Trail Section

2008-05-18T18:49:00.001-07:00

Susan and I volunteer as Section Leaders for the Superior Hiking Trail, the most beautiful long distance hiking trail in the Midwest. Our section is about 90 miles up the shore of Lake Superior from where we live in Duluth. Spring has only sprung in Duluth the last three or four days. The leaves are just starting to come out. Not the case only 90 miles north. As you can see in these pictures, no sign of leaves yet. Final snow melt occurred only three short weeks ago. The Cross River (above) was still flowing high, and loud, from the spring run-off heading down the ridges towards Lake Superior.
The only requirement for Section Leaders is to walk your section once in the Spring and once in the Fall. Then turn in a detailed report to the Trail Maintenance Supervisor of the condition of the section. Anything else is completely up to you. We carry a saw and an ax so we can clear blown down trees. We'll remove any tree under 6 inches in diameter. Larger trees we write-up and let the experts with chainsaws remove those.
We removed at least a dozen blown downs like you see in the two above pictures.
The most outstanding feature of this section is the Cross River. One of many, many rivers along the North Shore of the big lake. The Cross River Trail bridge crosses at a spot where the river narrows through a small, short gorge. The water creates a wind as it passes under the bridge and is so loud you have to scream to a person next to you so that you can be heard over the raging water.
View up river while standing on the bridge.
May 17th and still some ice hanging on the rocks over the river.
A new bridge in place over a side stream. The last one was washed away during the spring melt. This one won't get far next year. It has a cable on it that is looped around a nearby tree. It might get dislodged in high water, but won't wash away.
Dash Riprock, our dog, demonstrating a problem area on one section of the trail. The treadway turns into a huge puddle in wet weather, Dash loves to lay down in puddles.
This part of the river may look calm, but it's moving along at 30 mph or more.
Lots of cascades along these rivers as the elevation drops down to the lake.
One of the almost 4,000 blue blazes, or trail markers, Susan and I spent the last two summers painting. We blazed all 200 miles of trail, in both directions, between Two Harbors, MN and the Canadian border, painting a blaze every tenth of a mile.
The only open view of Lake Superior from this section. It's from Tower Overlook. The water of the big lake was so blue today as it reflected the blue from the sky. The day's weather started out incredible. Mid-60's for temperature, wind, and clear. The sky slowly started to cloud up as we hiked. First it was big white fluffy clouds. Later some darker clouds started popping. About a mile and a half from our car the a dark cloud came over and lightly spit on us. Shortly thereafter we heard thunder not too far off. We picked up our pace hoping to beat the approaching storm. Winds became gusty with the smell of rain in the air. We were within a few hundred yards of the trailhead when steady rain began to fall. And then as we spotted our car the clouds burst with giant drops of rain mixed with big slushy snow flakes. The temperature had dropped over 20 degrees in only a few minutes. We couldn't believe how close we timed that one. We were prepared for this with rain wear and extra clothing in our daypacks. But it sure was nice to make it back to the car and not have to be out in that cold rain.

So that we only have to walk our section from one end to the other, we use a bicycle shuttle. I drop Susan and the dog off at one trailhead, drive back to the other end of the section. Then pedal a bicycle back to where I dropped her off. I hide my bicycle in some dense under growth near the trailhead. That way our car is waiting for us when we're done. Works pretty slick, plus I get to have fun riding some gravel on my fixed gear.

Annual Boundary Waters Winter Camping Trip

2007-12-31T19:44:00.000-08:00

My friend Jason, who currently resides in Minneapolis, and I have made it an annual tradition to go winter camping the week between Christmas and New Years. We have done this every year since 2002. We skipped last year due to the lack winter. No snow, and not enough ice on the lakes. We usually go for four days, this year we could only put together a 3 day trip. Our destination is the BWCAW or Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness. A designated wilderness area, meaning no roads, no power lines, no motorized vehicles of any kind and very limited air space. You might hear one plane a day in the winter. This wilderness is vast with 1,029,000 acres and over 1,000 lakes. In the summer it is a canoeing mecca. People come from around the country, and the world, to do multiple day canoe trips utilizing 1500 miles of canoe routes and 2,000 primitive backcountry campsites. There are rivers and streams as well as paths or canoe portages to get from lake to lake. You can put a canoe in the water and paddle for a month without seeing the same lake. There are a few hiking trails in the wilderness, but overall it is a harsh environment to traverse on foot because of the many wetlands, bogs, and dense ground cover. Summer canoeists have to have a permit, given out by lottery, because there are so many people that want to go into the wilderness.

Winter is a different story. Very few people venture into the wilderness in the winter. The access roads to the edge of the Boundary Waters often aren't plowed. It can be well below zero for weeks at a time. You have to know how to survive in cold environments with no help from the outside. Usually the only other people you see are dog sleds teams or a few other brave winter campers. Jason and I have gone into areas so remote, we saw no evidence of humans for our entire trip. No human made sounds, no tracks in the snow. Just us, the winter landscape and lots of animal tracks. This is Route 2 north of Two Harbors, MN. There are no highways or expressways to the wilderness. Ninety minutes of two lane roads, no gas stations or businesses, only a few homesteads and no cell phone towers. If we were to turn North, once in the Boundary Waters, and walk until we hit the Arctic Circle, we would only cross two roads over the entire distance. Did I say remote? Many people don't realize what kind of wilderness there is here in Minnesota.
We had good weather conditions, although lots of overcast skies and light snow. The temps were in the teens and twenties. With our extensive winter experience these conditions are easy to stay warm in. Above is a Forest Service Road we used to access the backcountry. It wasn't plowed, but snowmobiles can use it. It is outside the wilderness area so motorized vehicles can be used.
Jason walking a Entry Point access road.
This where the road ends. The Gabbro Lake enrty point.
We walked this canoe portage trail from the entry point parking lot over a low ridge to Little Gabbro Lake.
Our plan was to make it into Little Gabbro Lake and take a river across to Gabbro Lake and set up camp for the first night there. Well here's the river as it enters the lake. Wide open water. Plan B: a newer map we had showed a "Winter Route" over land to by pass this open water. We spent an hour looking for the winter route. Being a "wilderness area" signs are not permitted, or if there area signs, they are minimal. The woods were so dense where the winter route was supposed to be, that if no one had maintained the winter route in the last year, the dense growth would swallow up any signs of a trail. We gave up on the winter route to Gabbro Lake.
Plan C: Walk to the opposite side of the lake and see if we could walk the bank of the Kawishiwi River up to the next lake to the north.
We ran into another issue. Deep slush between the snow pack and the lake ice. We had a very short time a month ago, between when the temps got cold enough for ice to form and when we got our first heavy snowfall. The snow insulates and a layer of slush forms under the snow. It can be quite scary. Every step you take it feels like you are sinking into the lake. The slush started freezing to the bottom of our sleds making it very, very hard to pull them. We were exhausted after just a half mile of these conditions. When we reached the Kawishiwi River, it too was open and impassable.
Plan D: There was a summer campsite at the Kawishiwi and we decided to stop there for the night. We later decided with the slushy conditions to use this as base camp and do day hikes. Above is the view from the campsite.
We use minimal equipment in the winter. This is Jasons sleeping area. A down sleeping bag rated to -20 degrees and a tarp. He lowers the tarp for snowy or windy conditions.
I also use a -20 degree down bag inside a bivy sack. I carry a tarp tent and snow stakes for harsher conditions.
The Kawishiwi River by the campsite.
Day two we bushwacked to a canoe portage just up river from our campsite and took it over land to the next waterway (above), an unnamed river. In my attempt to find a route to the portage I was following a highway of animal tracks which I believed led to the portage. Animals use the portages as well as humans. At one point the tracks split, some took a high road into thick brush and a few headed down to the river. I followed some tracks out onto the the ice along the edge of the river. If animals use the ice it's usually safe. Apparently I was following small animal tracks. I broke through the ice and swamped both my boots. I even had full gaiters on, and the split second I was in the water almost up to my knees was enough to swamp my boots. Luckily I had brought a second pair of boots just for this purpose. I went back to camp to changed before venturing out again. I would end up going through the ice two more times before the trip was over.
Jason and I were learning quickly we were in some of the worst ice conditions we had experienced. When we reached the next waterway (below) all the animal tracks would start heading out on the ice and then abruptly turn around. Plus, if you look closely you can see dark patches further out meaning thin ice or open water. We got a little spooked and decided to do one of Jason's favorite things....bushwacking and route finding. He's been a summer guide in the Boundary Waters so he's spent a lot of time in a canoe. In the winter he gets the urge to see what's away from the water. Above he is breaking trail for us.

Snow everywhere. Even on the tiniest of branches. It was the most beautiful we had ever seen the Boundary Waters.
Me in a boggy area filled with Black Spruce. This area would be nearly impossible to reach in the summer. And....you would be swarmed by thousands of mosquitoes.
Another use for our homemade pulks, collecting firewood.
Jason is a master of the "one-match-fire". The art of lighting a fire only with what you find in the woods and one match. Bark from the paper birch is fantastic fire starter.
Day three, heading back across the lake on our way out. A sea of untouched winter powder, plus a fresh coating of 2" of snow from overnight. I'm wearing snowshoes, you just can't see them in the snow.
Jason up ahead following our path we had blazed two days ago. Heading for the canoe portage.

The only people we saw in three days. A group of Voyageur Outward Bound campers. It's hard to see, but they have two large canvass tents set up on the shoreline. One is gray and one is white. We saw this group heading out when we were leaving our car. It was a group of kids from all over the U.S. The mood was very quiet and nervous. Some of them looked scared silly. Based on the happy sounds coming from this camp, they were enjoying themselves.

How could you not in a winter landscape as beautiful as this?

Christmas Day 2007 snowshoe hike

2007-12-26T06:12:00.000-08:00

Susan and I had an early Christmas at her mother's over a week ago. We don't normally do much on Christmas. We don't live close to any family and have never exchanged gifts ourselves. I guess I'm saying Christmas Day is much like any other day off from work around our house. We took some time to get out and enjoy the fresh foot of powder we got from Sunday's winter storm. We headed out our door and up the ridge at the end of our block to reach the Superior Hiking Trail. We spent two hours breaking fresh trail. Despite living in the middle of town, we can walk up the ridge and be totally immersed in the woods rarely seeing another person.
I broke in my new snowshoes. Each year I try to buy one new item for winter camping. It was time to replace my cheaper Red Feather snowshoes. I bought them before I knew anything about buying snowshoes and what to look for. They were good recreational snowshoes, but weren't built for the demanding backcountry winter camping I do. Back in September I bought a pair of Atlas snowshoes on-line. They were marked down $80 because they were last years models. The new model has been redesigned. Plus I got free shipping. It was an absolute steal of a deal.
The "blue blaze" on the birch marks the trail. No way we would have been able to find the trail corridor without the blaze. The snow cover completely hides the foopath.
At the end of our block a short trail through the trees leads to an old stone quarry. Today there was a group of climbers practicing their ice climbing skills. We stood and watched for awhile it was pretty cool.

High risk hiking

2007-11-11T16:12:00.001-08:00

Susan and I decided to take a hike together today. What we didn't think about until we got out on the trail was the fact that it is still firearms deer season. We were not wearing blaze orange and we kept hearing occasional gun shots off in the distance. We decided the section of the Superior Hiking Trail we were on was still within the Duluth city limits and off limits to deer hunting.
This sign told us that may not matter. But we ventured onto the trail anyway. We got on the trail in Fond Du Lac at the 131st Ave W spur trail. We took the spur to the main trail and headed west for an hour, turned around and came back.
We spotted several crude deer stands that made us further question whether or not we were still within the city limits.
Despite all the work we've done on the trail the past two summers, we had never been on this newer section. We found it ironic. But we didn't do any work on the new Duluth sections. This particular section is in the Mission Creek watershed and follows some of the old Mission Creek Parkway that was abandoned. Several stone arch bridges still remain from the old Parkway. It was a beautiful day for a hike and this section was semi-remote and challenging with all it's ups and downs through many ravines and hillsides.

Section Leader Trail Maintenance Check

2007-09-29T16:35:00.001-07:00

Susan and I have been volunteering with the Superior Hiking Trail Association since we moved to Northeastern Minnesota back in 2001. In 2002 we became Section Leaders. It's kinda like adopting a section of trail. Our section runs between Cook County Road 1 or Cramer Road to the trail bridge over the Cross River. The view above is the Cross River just above the bridge. A very scenic part of this section. At the top of the picture is a small falls. The main responsibility of section leaders is to walk your section twice a year, once in the spring and fall, and file a report with the maintenance supervisor. We can do any other work that we feel we have the skills for.
We usually carry an ax and a wood saw. The smaller blow downs we can take care of. Our section is in the Superior National Forest. In order to use a chainsaw in the National Forest you have to be certified to use one by the Forest Service. We aren't certified so we get as much as we can by hand. In the bottom right of the above picture you can see a maple we cleared off the trail with our ax.
I was shocked to see the colors already reaching past peak colors in this area. Seems like just two weeks ago everything was still green. You can see some of the Blue Blazes we painted last year on the trees in this section. I must say, they were very nicely done.
We still need to white blaze the spur trail up the Cross River leading to the main trail. We were going to do that today. Rain put a stop to that. It was raining lightly when we headed out and later in the day we had a steady heavy rain drench us for about an hour. We'll have to come back up this fall or in the spring to finish that little bit of trail marking.

Two year Blue Blazing Project is done!

2007-09-23T18:53:00.000-07:00

This is the first picture of me painting a blaze that has been taken since we started this project in April of 2006. And....it's a picture of me painting the last BLUE BLAZE I painted officially ending the project as we finished the last two sections of the trail. This weekend we did the section from Grand Marias to Cty 58 and Cty 58 to the Kadunce River. We had absolutely perfect weather and conditions. Temps in the upper 60's and cloudless skies. It may have been our last chance to get out. We can't use this paint when the temps drop below 50 degrees. Those temps can happen any day now. The paint never seems to dry in cooler temps.
This is me celebrating the end to the project. What did we do? We painted 2" x 6" blue blazes on trees every 10th of a mile on over 200 miles of trail on the Superior Hiking Trail from Two Harbors to the Canadian border. Which means we blazed 400 miles of trail, because we blazed in both directions. That's over 4,000 blazes we painted. Just two of us, Susan and I working weekends the past two summers. That's a huge, huge undertaking. It was a lot of fun being out on the trail for two summers, essentially section hiking the entire trail, but we are so happy it's done!! Or almost done, we still have two minor side trails to white blaze, but the main trail is finished. That's the important part. What follows is some picture from this gorgeous weekend. It had been three weeks since we had been up blazing. The whole world changed. The fall colors are starting. And what had been a drought stricken area (and still is) looked like a water wonder land after several days of heavy rain. The rivers and creeks were running and the trail was wet and muddy. Conditions we hadn't seen all summer.
An open meadow with a spectacular view of the big lake. The sun was feeling warm in the cool air. I could have sat down and spent all day here.
After leaving the meadow the trail drops down into a small valley cut by Durfee Creek as it makes it way to Lake Superior. The A-frame bridge was constructed this June. Nicely built by an all volunteer volunteer work crew
Another view from an opening in the trees. The Superior Hiking trail is on the left in the picture.
Many, many raging rivers and creeks this weekend after several days of heavy rain. It was almost like spring snow melt. Above is Cliff Creek.
A small falls on the Devils Track River as it enters the canyon, the deepest canyon in Minnesota. I wasn't able to get a good shot into the canyon because it is tree lined, narrow and dark. Combined with the bright sunlight, it just wasn't possible with my camera.
A much larger A-frame tyoe bridge crosses the Devils Track River. This one was built in 1992 and is holding up nicely.
Sunday I started in Grand Marais and marked the trail here as it goes through the Pincushion Mountain Ski area. Quite a bit of color already showing itself in these parts.
There is a side trail up Pincushion Mountain that I had never been up before. We needed to mark that trail. It lead to this unbelievable view. Above, looking up the shore of Lake Superior towards Canada.
And an inland view with some trees starting to color up.

Getting closer to finishing this blazing project

2007-09-03T16:01:00.000-07:00

Saturday and Sunday we worked on two more sections of the Superior Hiking Trail. We added new blue blazes or trail markings on these sections like we've been doing for the past two summers. We are almost done with the just over two hundred miles, or 400 miles of trail marking. We have about 14 miles of trail left to blue blaze. That's one more weekend's worth of work. Then we have two more side trails to mark and we're done. Once we're done we will have painted as many as 4,000 trail markers on trees, rocks, and posts. The sections we finished this weekend were from FS115 to Grand Marais and between Kadunce River and Magney State Park.
This was the kind of weekend that made me want to pinch myself to remind me what a beautiful part of the country we live in. The views of the Lake Superior and the village of Grand Marais (above) were stunning.
West of Grand Marais the SHT follows the North Shore Trail for a few miles. It is a state snowmobile trail when the snow flies. Had me dreaming about snow and riding my Surly Puglsey.
A small bridge over the Kadunce River.
Like many of the rivers along the North Shore the Kadunce has carved a small narrow gorge in the rock as is tumbles towards the big lake.
It is so narrow and deep in place it was hard to get a picture showing the gorge. Above is the best I could do with the light at the time.
The trail along side the gorge.
A red squirrel having a hot dog bun for dinner. Despite the holiday weekend we were able to get a camping space at Magney State Park. One of the non-reservable campsites was available when I got done working on Saturday. The people in the site next to us left a feast on there picnic table. It had the neighborhood red squirrels fighting over the spoils.
Of the two hundred miles of trail we will have worked on only 1.5 miles of it is right on the shoreline. We walked that section this weekend. Most of the shoreline is privately owned or State Park land.
It's hard walking on the pebbly beach.
Dash Riprock had a fine time this weekend. He has to get in any body of water he passes.

More progress on the Blue Blazing project.

2007-08-20T18:31:00.001-07:00

Over the weekend we did more paint blazing on the Superior Hiking Trail. This weekend we did two more trail sections: Judge Magney State Park to Camp 20 Road and Camp 20 Road to Arrowhead Road. These sections are in a remote section of the very tip of the Minnesota Arrowhead. Most of the time we were only 6-10 miles from the Canadian Border. One of the unique features of this section is the Devils Kettle. It's on the Brule River in Magney State Park. You can see below a waterfall that splits in two as it falls. The right side flows down into Lake Superior.
The left side drops into a dark pothole in the rock. Local legend has it that no one knows where the water in the kettle comes out. Apparently objects have been dropped in the hole to see where they come out, never to be seen again.
State Parks cater to city folk, hence the elaborate stairs to get to the falls.
A view of the Upper Falls, that happen to be below the Kettle Falls, as seen from the stairs. The Superior Hiking Trail follows the State Park Trails for several miles.
This is at a higher elevation. Still very, very dry. The trail traverses this meadow-like area. This time of year your footsteps should not make crunchy noises with every step.
A view of the big lake from the meadow area. We had spectacular weather despite the fact that most of Minnesota was getting drenched in rain and six counties were pronounced disaster areas. We had nothing but blue sky and temps in the low sixties.
The area we were in is home to a large population of sled dogs and mushers, social misfits and back to nature enthusiasts. More people live off the grid, then on it. For example, driving back into the trail head on gravel roads surrounded by woods we spied one private residence that nothing more then a yurt with a wind turbine on a tower.
The road this trailhead was on was so remote we felt very safe just camping at the trailhead parking lot. It was most likely illegal to camp there and I think it was private property, but no one knew we were even there (unless they read this blog) It was so calm and quiet that night that we could hear when the sled dogs were getting fed as much as six miles away. The dogs just barked and howled. It had our dog quite concerned. The temperature dropped down to 44 degrees overnight. I sleep better in a tent in those conditions then anywhere else in the world.
This section crossed private land that had been logged off sometime in the past five years. The new growth looks like an open meadow. It was quite nice, for a logged area. It dropped off gradually down to a beaver pond.
I took a break at North Carlson Pond campsite. It was such a beautiful day I was wishing I had my backpack with me and I was staying the night.
Above is Carlson Pond next to the campsite. A very old beaver pond and a beautiful setting that you can only get too by hiking several miles..
The Superior Hiking Trail follows Tom Lake Road, an old jeep path, for 1.3 miles. At one point the road disappears into a very active beaver pond. The trail had been rerouted around the newly enlarged beaver pond through a very brushy area. There are none in this picture but there was some very large virgin white pine along this road. It must have been privately owned and closed to all the logging that took place in the area a century ago.

I'm looking forward to finishing this two year project. It's been tough working a full-time job and then doing trail work on the weekend. But on the other hand, when it's done, I'm really going to miss being out the woods all the time. It's been a great experience.

Severe drought by the border with Canada

2007-08-05T19:08:00.001-07:00

We spent another weekend out doing trail work, painting blazes for trail markers, on the Superior Hiking Trail. We went further up the trail this weekend to the last sections before it ends at the Canadian Border. It's about 150 miles up the north shore of Lake Superior from Duluth. We did two sections this weekend: Jackson Lake Road to Otter Lake Road, and Arrowhead Trail to Jackson Lake Road. We're in a multi-year drought here in Northeastern Minnesota. We've had very little to almost no rain fall this summer. It was even worse where we worked on the trail this weekend.
It was so dry. I don't know if you can see it in this picture, but everything green in this picture is drooping, wilted, or just about dead.
On this exposed ridgeline, with little top soil, everything is baked and dead. It's shocking to see how dry it is. Just one spark ad you'd have one heck of a forest fire. Dry weather is what works best for painting, but this is ridiculous. We sure need rain.
One of the nice things about doing these two sections is the relative remoteness of this area. In general the Superior Hiking Trail follows the ridgelines of Lake Superior for most of it's distance. There is also a two lane highway that follows the shoreline. That means you can hear traffic on the highway off in the distance on many sections of the trail. These sections this weekend turn north away from the lake and head directly for the border with Canada. Only lightly traveled gravel roads reach into this area. This means lots of quiet, and very few people. Susan and I only saw two other people on the trail all weekend.

To access the trail on Saturday we took a Forest Service Road into a trailhead that normally can't be accessed by the general public because it has a locked gate. We heard the gate hadn't been locked for over a year. So we let ourselves in. It was so pleasant and quiet that we decided to camp right at the trailhead when we were all done Saturday. It was like being in the Boundary Waters of Minnesota. It was so quiet you couldn't hear another man-made sound of any kind all night. Not even an airplane flying over. It was nice!!

Blazing solo and tools of the trade

2007-07-30T04:18:00.000-07:00

This weekend I had to blaze by myself. When Susan fell down and banged her knee two weeks ago she developed a hematoma that has been draining down to her ankle for the last two weeks. It looks really bad. It looks like her whole lower leg is bruised. So she has to stay off it for a few more weeks. This weekend I finished blazing along the Cascade River, what was left after we got rained out two weeks ago. I then continued up the trail and blazed everything between Cty 45 and USFS 115. That's about 8 miles of trail and 16 mile of blazing. This is an old beaver pond on Sundling Creek. Generations of beavers has made this a home. As you can see in the calm water, there was no wind all day Saturday and Sunday morning. It made it difficult to stay cool in hot weather and no wind.
The trail uses the old beaver dam to get across. The trail goes right across the dam. A method the trail builders used numerous times on the Superior Hiking Trail.
Bugs were not too much of an issue this weekend, with the exception of some kind of deer fly that continuely buzzed around my head. The mosquitoes are limited due to the severe drought conditions the area is having.
This is a small, but distinctive peak rising above the Cascade river just north of County Road 45.
Campgrounds fill up in advance during the summer. Since we do trail work when there is no rain in the forecast, we can't make reservations in advance. When we work all weekend we camp on the trail. We will work all day Saturday and then backpack into a nearby backcountry campsite like the one above. This one is next to a beaver pond. I always expect lotsa mosquitoes next to beaver ponds so I brought a tent rather then a tarp this weekend. Turns out the bugs weren't bad at all. I sleep better in a tent in the woods then anywhere else in the world. I'm not sure why, but I do.

Above are the tools of the trade I use for paint blazing a long distance hiking trail. In the foreground is a home made tool tote. I made two, one for me and one for Susan. Since we're stopping to paint a blaze every tenth of a mile, on average, we needed an efficient way to carry an open can of paint. Carrying it away from your body in a tote is the best way to travel fast without splilling paint. Unfortunately carrying a tote caused the tendinitis in my arms to flare up. I devised the shoulder strap, you see in the picture, to solve that problem. It created another minor problem, carrying the tote over my shoulder and against my hip causes the paint to spill out some. You can't really see it in the picture, but I put a splash guard on the opposite side to lower the amount of paint that gets on me. Switching to the shoulder strap lowered my speed while blazing from 1.5 mph to around 1 mph. But I couldn't continue to carry the tote without hurting my arms.

The tote is divided into three compartments. One has a refillable can for paint. The center compartment has an old yogurt container to hold brushes at the ready, and the third compartment has miscellaneous supplies ie rags, scrubby, wire brush, and cardboard blaze to check for accuracy when painting a blaze. The blazes we paint are 2" wide by 6" high. We free hand the blaze. I periodically check the sizing. If I don't my blazes tend to get bigger and bigger. I also carry a woodworkers draw knife. The draw knife is used to scrap bark off the tree to prepare the tree for painting. Trees with thicker bark we use the draw knife. Trees with thin bark we use the wire brush or scrubby to clean and smooth out the bark. Trees with thinner bark will ooze sap if you use the draw knife eventually causing an ugly scar on the tree.

In the backpack I carry various supplies like a spare brush, wet wipes, food and water for the day, extra clothing and rain gear(weather is unpredictable in this part of the woods), small first aid kit, camera, bug dope, etc.

Rained out along the Cascade River

2007-07-15T07:40:00.001-07:00

The forecast was looking good for blazing this weekend. Lows in the 40's, highs in the mid-60's, cool dry air with breezes. Oh yea, and that 20% or 30% chance of showers each day. We ignore the rain chance when it gets that low. Since our blazing project uses paint to mark the trail we obviously can't blaze in the rain. We don't start being concerned until the rain chance gets to 40% or higher. This weekend we started work on the Cascade River State Park to Bally Creek Road section. The trail follows either side of the Cascade River for about 4 miles. That was what we were working on yesterday. Then we were going to camp along the trail overnight and continue to Bally Creek Road Sunday. When we started on Saturday it was absolutely beautiful. Cool, breezy and clear. Didn't even need deet for the bugs. It felt more like a warm day in late September then mid-July. Around 2:00 I was on a high ridge over the river facing westerly and saw what looked like dark rain clouds. I watched them on and off for another twenty minutes. By that time I could see rain falling from the clouds. I knew Susan wouldn't be able to see them coming since she was on the west side of the river. I called her on the two-way to give her a heads up. We decided to keep blazing as long as we could. Our paint is oil based and doesn't run too bad if it gets wet. The rain hit and was only light sprinkles for 10 minutes. Then it cleared off. I switched the two-way to the weather station and it was still reporting just a 20% chance of rain. About 90 minutes later I was back down in the river bottom under lots of old growth cedars. With little warning I heard a faint rumble of thunder, it got dark very quickly and before I knew it I was in a torrential downpour. That 20% chance was now 100%. I ran to get under some huge cedars up ahead. They provided cover from the rain. Then I heard a car and realized was only a couple of tenths of a mile from the Cty 45 bridge and the trailhead parking where our car was. I ran to the bridge and thought I'd wait out the rain there . But then it started raining harder and blowing under the bridge. I pulled out my rain gear at that point and walked to the car. I drove over the bridge to wait for Susan to come off the trail. She showed up about 15 minutes later. She had fallen and banged her shin just below her knee pretty bad. It looked like she had a second knee cap it was swollen up so bad. At that point we made the decision to head back home. It's too bad, we had looked forward to getting more work done this weekend.One of the many "cascades" on the Cascade River.
The river flowing by the trail in a grove of Cedars.
Looking west over the Cascade River Valley towards Lookout Mountain.
A tamer section of the Cascade River.
The Cascade River far below in the rain.

A local artist's self-portrait on the County 45 bridge.

A perfect day for trail work

2007-07-01T08:53:00.001-07:00

Susan and I (and the dog; Dash Riprock) headed up the shore for some more trail work. We continued our trail blazing project. If you look carefully on the tree in the right front of the picture above you can see a freshly painted blue trail blaze. Lake Superior is in the background. This is how we spend our days on the trail. We've painted hundreds of blue blazes over last summer and this summer so far. Yesterday we completed the section from Caribou Trail (Cty 4) to the Cascade River. At 9.4 miles in length it is an 8 hour day of blazing. We start at opposite ends and blaze in both directions.
After last weekend with the warmer temps, humidity and horrible bugs, yesterday seemed like an entirely different world. We had light breezes, temps in the low 60's, super dry air and virtually no bugs. I always apply the deet rather liberally since we are stopping and painting every tenth of a mile. You get swarmed by mosquitoes. Not yesterday. It's almost like we had a freeze and all the mosquitoes are gone. I never found the need to apply deet. It was glorious.
This is not one of the more popular sections. I've walked it numerous times. Every time I forget how wonderful it is. There is a lot of ridge walking with most of the views inland and a few views towards the big lake. It feels very remote because on this section you rarely can see any signs of development. Plus this section has very few hikers. I saw a total of 6 people in eight hours. And they were all near trailheads.
This view contains the big lake and Lookout Mountain.
Minnesota's state flower, the Lady Slipper or Cypripedium reginae. This one was a little wilted, but sightings are few and far between.
The bridge over Spruce Creek in a narrow, rocky ravine. The pool of water just below the dead wood had hundreds of small minnows, maybe Lake Trout (?). I took a break by the creek. The sounds of the water over all the rocks was even better the sights.
I was watched like a hawk, literally, during another short break at an overlook. This bird of prey must of had a nest near by. She circled around me and kept a close eye on me the whole time I was there.
Gorgeous views most of the day!
The ridgelines slope towards the big lake with numerous creeks and rivers rushing down. Below is Cascade River as it violently rushes through some narrow gorges it has carved in the ancient lava of the North Shores Sawtooth Mountains.
Hard to believe this is a job and I'm getting paid to be out there!!!

The trail work continues.....

2007-06-24T19:06:00.001-07:00

Over the weekend we worked on our trail project again. We blazed, or painted trail markers, on two more sections of the Superior Hiking Trail. Saturday we worked on the Section from Oberg Mountain to Lutsen. Sunday we worked on Lutsen to Caribou Trail. We do this work under contract with the SHTA. Below is some of the scenery we get paid to see. The Poplar River as it flows to Lake Superior.
View from Moose Mountain looking inland. This is all Superior National Forest land.
Another view inland from Moose Mountain. If you thought the midwest was flat, you've never been to the North Shore of Lake Superior.
One of my favorite spots (one of many) along the Superior Hiking Trail, Lake Agnes. Even on a grey day it's a beautiful spot.
Another view of Lake Agnes.
Poplar River valley with the river winding through the Superior National Forest.
Another view inland, west of Lake Agnes.

Back to work on the trail blazing

2007-06-11T03:58:00.000-07:00

Last year Susan and I where asked to work, by contract, on upgrading the trail marking for the Superior Hiking Trail. A 250 mile long scenic trail along the North Shore of Lake Superior in Minnesota. The work involves painting blazes 2" x 6" in size on trees, rocks, etc. An example is above. Last summer we did just over 100 trail miles, or 200 miles of blazing since we blaze in both directions. We place a blaze about every 1/10th of a mile. Last year we started in Two Harbors and blazed all the trail up to the Temperance River. This past weekend we blazed from the Temperance River to Oberg Mountain. About 10.5 miles of trail with another 2 miles of side trail which we blaze with white blazes.
The Temperance River rages through a narrow gorge before flowing into the Big Lake.

The view of Lake Superior from Carlton Peak. This section has an elevation change of nearly 1000 ft. That's huge for the midwest.

We had incredible weather this weekend with temps in the low 70's and sunshine. Couldn't ask for a better weekend.

A Sunday hike in the rain on the Superior Hiking Trail

2007-06-03T19:12:00.001-07:00

I'm going to try to make an attempt at keeping this blog up to date this year. My parents are in town from Michigan. They are a pair of very active retirees in their 70's. We went for a hike on the Superior Hiking Trail today. We tried one of the new Duluth sections that is only one mile from where we live. We hiked from Highland and Getchell to Haines Road. Above is a picture of some of the small falls on Keene Creek. I only took one picture despite the wonderful overlooks on this trail. It rained fairly steady and heavy at times during the hike. I like to hike in the woods when it is wet and dripping. It smells so good when it is wet. I have to highly recommend trying some of the Duluth sections. At times they have a remote feeling even though you are in the middle of a city. There is so much undeveloped wild space right in town it really feels like some of the sections further up the shore of Lake Superior.

Volunteer work on Saturday.

2007-05-06T14:27:00.000-07:00

On Saturday Susan and I and our dog, Dash Riprock, headed 90 miles up the North Shore of Lake Superior. Our destination? A section of the Superior Hiking Trail we call "ours". The Trail Association relies on the help of volunteers to do most of the trail maintenance. People can volunteer to adopt a section of trail. The only requirement is to walk your section once in the spring and once in the fall to see what condition the trail is in and turn in a report to the Maintenance Supervisor. You can do more, if willing. We usually make sure the treadway is clear in our section by removing downed trees. We carry a saw and an ax. A volunteer cannot use a chainsaw unless certified in chainsaw use by the National Forest Service. Our section is near Schroeder, Minnesota. It's about six miles long from Cook County Road 1 to the Cross River.

We got Dash back in December. He was a city dog from Chicago. We weren't sure how he'd handle the woods. It went spectacular with Dash. It's like he was born to be a trail dog.
He wore a doggy pack to carry his own food and water. At first we tried to respect the wishes of the Trail Association and keep him on a leash. That just wasn't going well. So after only a 1/4 mile of hiking Susan let him off the leash. He instantly took the lead, followed the trail and never got further ahead of us then 20 yards. At forks in the trail he'd pick a direction. If it was the wrong way, we'd yell to him, point the other way and he'd turn around and head down the trail in the right direction. I think he has a big future as a trail dog.

We were expecting find a lot of blowdowns this spring after the two blizzards we had this winter. We were surprised that there weren't any trees down at all. I think the fewest downed trees we've ever found when walking our section was about six.
If it weren't for this 12 foot section of planking over a dry wash, we wouldn't have had any work to do at all. This plank crosses over a wash off the Cross River that only flows during the spring melt off. The planks had washed away. We found it around the bend about 50 yards down stream. We carried it over some very slippery rocks back to it's proper place. We had to wedge some rocks under it to restabilize it, that's what Susan is doing in this picture.

Our section has a variety of mixed woods and features. One part has a mature hardwood forest. The above section follows the beautiful Cross River for about 1.5 miles. The trail is on the left and the upper falls are in the background. This part is remote. By remote, I mean you can't reach this by car. You have to walk a minimum of about three miles by trail to reach this spot.

Next up for us will be more contract work for the Superior Hiking Trail. Once again this summer we will be spending many weekends updating the trail markings. We have over 100 miles of trail (in both directions) to mark this season. Dash doesn't know it yet, but his time in the woods is just beginning.

The dog gets some new gear...

2007-04-07T15:27:00.000-07:00

Dash Riprock became a part of the family back in December. He was a city dog from Chicago. This year he will be transformed into a hiking machine.....or at least we hope so. His new doggie backpack arrived yesterday. Here he is reluctantly modeling it. He was not happy about this thing on his back.

We have been asked by the SHTA to continue our blazing project this summer on the Superior Hiking Trail. We will do the work as contractors again this year. That means Dash will be walking the trail with Susan when we are out blazing. He will be expected to carry his own food and water. He will also accompany us on other dayhikes and backpacking trips. Sure hope he likes his new hobby.

Christmas Day Hike

2006-12-25T13:04:00.000-08:00

I haven't been updating this blog. But we had a nice hike today with the new dog and I took some pictures. This is a section of the new Superior Hiking Trail in Duluth. A section we had not hiked yet. We walked west from the Munger Trail to about .5 miles past the Mission Creek Spur trail and back. About a 5 mile round trip hike. Our impressions of the the new trailway were much like other new sections. Amazement that this trail is in the middle of a two city metro area of 100,000 people. It felt rather remote. This area, between Beck's Road and Jay Cook State Park, is rugged with many ravines and views uninterupted by developement other then views of Mont Du Lac ski hill.
This is the new bridge constructed over Sargent Creek.
Many nice views like this one looking towards the State Park. When we got up higher it felt like we were walking on high ridges.
A view of Ely's Peak through the trees.

A nice hike on a rare December day. No snow and lots of sunshine with temps right around 30F.

A perfect fall hike

2006-10-02T19:10:00.000-07:00

I discovered this unpublished post in June of 2007. It was from a hike in the fall of 2006 we took on a Duluth Section of the Superior Hiking Trail.

More blazing on Wednesday the 5th.

2006-07-09T20:17:00.000-07:00

Susan and I got out Wednesday and did another section of the trail. This time it was the Hwy 1 to Cty Road 6 section. It's a beautiful 6.8 mile section with a .5 mile spur trail to the fantasia overlook. It crosses the property of the Wolf Ridge Early Learning Center. The top picture is the view up the Lake Superior Shoreline from an overlook on the trail. The second picture is from the trail of Wolf Lake. The Wolf Ridge campus is on the hill at the far end of the lake. This section is very hilly and challenging from a midwestern perspective.It traverses some incredible sections of hardwood forest with dense canopy of leaves and wide open forest floors. It must have some of the oldest hardwoods on the north shore. There are some huge virgin trees. I had walked this section a couple of times. Once during my thru-hike of the trail in the fall of 2000. And at least one other time since. But it was great to see it again.

It was a long day of blazing. The hardwood sections really require line-of-sight blazing because the trail corridor would be undefined in snow. It took a lot of painted blazes. We had planned to blaze on Thursday also. But after two day s of blazing we were mentally and physically fatigued. It takes a lot of concentration to blaze. You have to be constantly engaged and making decisions on where to place the next blaze. Mentally there is no break. Normally, when I hike or backpack, I just let my mind wonder and just zone out. But if you do that while blazing you quickly lose track of when you last did a blaze. You have to stay alert and thinking all the time. It can be exhausting.

2006-07-04T19:07:00.000-07:00

Susan and I got out to blaze today. We finished up the section around the Cove point Spurs, including the spur trails. Susan did the spurs while I walked in and closed the gap we left between Split Rock State Park and Beaver Bay. I had to walk in 2.5 miles before I could start blazing and return the same way after I was done. In all I walked about 10 miles. In the meantime Susan walked 5.6 miles of spur trails. We white blaze the spurs and blue blaze the main trail. The picture is an overlook I took a little break on. That's the big lake, Lake Superior, in the distance. It was an absolutely beautiful day with temps in the mid-70's and low humidity.

A week ago Sunday Susan got out and did the entire Beaver Bay to Silver Bay section by herself. I couldn't help out unitl I figured out how to carry my supplies without hurting my tendonitis further. You can see the shoulder strap I rigged up to carry the tool tote. That put me back in business. I had the blue climbing strapping left over from when I made my hipbelt to pull my winter Pulk for winter camping.

We now have the entire trail from the start at Cty 301 to Silver Bay blazed. We're pretty proud of ourselves at how much we have completed. More blazing tomorrow.

A weekend off.

2006-06-19T04:08:00.000-07:00

The previous weekend before this past weekend we spent both days working on our blazing project. In the process I caused the tendonitis in my elbows to really flare up. The toolbox/totes I made to carry our supplies with work great. But I learned too late that it is really hard on my arms to carry it all day long. So I have to come up with another solution to carry all our blazing supplies.

We both had last Friday off from work. We took it off last winter for a bike tour I wanted to do. It fell through so we had a free 3-day weekend. I wanted to give my arms some time to bounce back so we did a backpack weekend on the Superior Hiking Trail. We decided to utilize the Shuttle. That didn't work out as planned because of some road construction delayed us and we missed our pick-up time. We had to go to plan B and catch the shuttle at another stop. We caught it at Lutsen Mountains and took it down to Oberg Mtn. We spent the rest of the afternoon spending more time sitting at overlooks on Oberg Mtn than hiking.

Overall we had a incredible two nights out on the trail. The first night we spent at the Rollins Creek campsite. Very buggy, but we started a campfire that kept the bugs down. The second night we made it 10.5 miles to Lake Agnes, a beautiful setting. It started ti rain just as we arrived at the campsite. So we spent some time in the tent napping until it let up some. We had just enough time to cook some dinner before it started to rain again. Unlike most campers, we like rain. The woods are so peaceful when everything is wet and dripping. Plus it smells great.

I think the best part was the fact that continues to prove itself is that I sleep better in a tent in the woods then anywhere else. Both nights we slept for 10 hours. And I have the most vivid dreams when sleeping in the woods. At home I rarely remember dreaming and rarely can sleep past 8 or 9 hours even whenI try to sleep in.

Sunday we woke to clear skies and sunshine. What a beautiful day. We took our time hiking out and tried to soak up the sites. A great weekend despite numerous mosquito and black fly bites.

A weekend of hiking and trail work.

2006-06-05T19:12:00.000-07:00

For National Trails Day, on Saturday, Susan organized a hike with her co-workers. It was the first annual hike, or what we hope will be the first of many. We decided to hike a brand new, recently opened section of the Superior Hiking Trail in Duluth. This section walks a ridge between Haines Road and Peidmont. We had a beautiful day in the low 70's with light winds and very dry air. A near perfect day. To our surprise we had 9 people show up for the hike. The group hiked together at a moderate pace stopping to linger at the many open overlooks along the way. Afterward we descended on a home of one of the particpants for a nice lunch and conversation. Fun was had by all.

Sunday Susan and I continued our blazing project on the northshore section of the Superior Hking Trail. Another spectacular day with temps in the upper 60's and very dry air. We finished the section between Gooseberry State Park and the Split Rock River Loop. A total of 5.5 miles of blazing. We each did 5.5 miles, starting at opposite ends and meeting in the middle for a lunch break on a wonderful open ridge overlooking Lake Superior. The big lake often will reflect the color of the sky. Today it was a shimmering blue hue. With the low humidity and lack of haze we could easily see the southern shore, or Wisconsin, across the lake. It was good timing on our part to be able to meet up at such a perfect lunch spot. I have walked this section before, at least twice. But I do not recall the beautiful mile and a half section of rocky ridge with such spectacular views. It was very enjoyable despite the fact I was working.

Blazing

2006-05-29T18:27:00.000-07:00

Back in February, Gayle the Executive Director of the Superior Hiking Trail Association, contacted us with an offer. The Board of Directors had recently approved funds to contract out a trail project to re-mark the entire trail with a new marking standard. The old standard being a SHT logo sign nailed to a tree every .25 miles or where ever the trail is confusing or may cross other trails or roads. The new standard would be a modified line-of-sight painted blaze. The blaze being blue, in the same shade of blue used by the North Country Trail, and 2" wide and 6" high. The standard would be line-of-sight in confusing areas or where the trail corridor would not be obvious when covered in fall leaves of snow. An assurance blaze is to be placed at least every .1 miles. This standard would bring the trail up to nearly North Country Trail standards for now. The SHT is now unofficially part of the NCT. Since the NCT is a National Scenic trail and part of the National Trails System is takes an act of congress to change the route of the original plan for the NCT. The original plan established by congress had a different route through Minnesota. By changing the route to follow the SHT, The Border Route Trail and the Kekeabic Trail, the new route of the North Country Trail will pass through some of the most beautiful, wild and remote areas of the upper midwest.

So Susan and I accepted the offer and in April we met with Gayle and signed a contract. We thought we would have to do all the trail this year. A huge undertaking seeing that we have full-time jobs. That would be over 200 miles of main trail and side trails times 2. Because we have to blaze in both directions. But Gayle was only able to pay us for doing about 1/4 of the trail. We will do as much as we can. It will end up being a paid job that turns into a volunteer activity.

So far we have only been able to get out together two days, and I was able to go two other days on my own. We figure we can do about 6 miles each per outing before it gets tiring and we get sloppy. More on the reasons in another entry.

We had hoped to get out all three days over the holiday weekend, but only got out Sunday. Saturday we had planned on it, but Susan was still trying to get over a stomach ailment that she caught at work. Sunday we had a beautiful day for blazing and finished the section from Castle Danger to Goosebury Falls State Park. Monday the forecast called for a 40% chance of thunderstorms in the evening. The oil based paint we are using takes a long time to dry. After agonizing over the decision we decided not to go. It turned out to be the correct decision because we had some really nasty severe thunderstorms early in the evening. Previously we finished the section from Cty Road 301 to Castle Danger. In 4 outings we have completed 15 miles of trail with 30 miles of blazing.

Weather permitting we will be out blazing as often as we can. I had hoped to have more done by Memorial Day, but weather and other comittments has prevented us from being on the trail.

More later.

What is "What in the Blue Blazes?"?

2006-05-29T07:25:00.000-07:00

I realized some of my readers from MnBicycleCommuter may not be interested in my hking and backpacking experiences. So I started this separate blog to chronicle my adventures off a bicycle.