Gooseberry Falls State Park, June 10th, 2014

Goodness gracious, Saint Ignatius! Apologies, dear readers, for the radio silence. Life has been busy with wedding plans, work, starting to move my stuff to Joe’s house. The weather has also been a pain: it has been a very cold, very wet spring up here on the North Shore. It is June 25th and the high for the day is in the low 50’s, and it has been that way for most of the last few weeks. I hope that it warms up someday soon. I am morally opposed to turning the heat on in my house IN JUNE, so I’ve been wearing layers in the house. It’s getting a bit old.

Anyway, we’ve had a few nice days. June 10th was one of those nice days – so, to take advantage of it, Thunderdog and I took off for Gooseberry Falls State Park for a little hike.

Lower Falls

We took the path along the river past the lower falls, and down to the lake. We’d taken this trail before – remember the super foggy day? This time the sky was blue without a cloud up above or sitting on the ground, so we were able to take a closer look at the landscape around the lake.

Beautiful Lake

Historic CCC construction, modern construction fence

Shucks! The CCC lodge house was being renovated, so we couldn't go in. I flagged down a worker to ask what was going on. He said that they were redoing some of the mortar on the floor of the lodge, and that the project would be done by mid-July. I’ll have to stop by in July to see how it looks. I wonder how often they have to freshen up the stonework. CCC stonework seems to be as solid as it comes. 

Thunderdog, thunderdoggin' along

We took the bike trail back to the car. Not a very exciting hike, but it was nice to actually get out there and enjoy the park. There were plenty of tourists out there, but they mostly stuck around the waterfall. It was still quiet down by the lake, which was nice.

Total miles hiked today: 3
Total miles hiked in 2014: 12.3
Total Superior Hiking Trail miles hiked in 2013: .8
Total ticks today: Joe (still Ticksbane) - 0; Thunderdog - 2; Elly - 2.
Total ticks in 2014: 4

Gooseberry Falls State Park: May 21st, 2014...and a big announcement!

FINALLY.

I think that spring lasted about 30 seconds up here on the North Shore...it went right from winter to summer.  The sun is beating down, the snow is melting, and it's light out until 8:30pm.  Time for hiking.

Thunderdog and I went out for a final pre-tourist-season hike at Gooseberry last Wednesday afternoon.  Gone are the days in which ours is the only car in the lot, and the times in which we can go for a hike and not see another soul.  My own personal State Park is overrun from Memorial Day through the end of fall...and that's okay, I guess.  I can't sustain the park on my own!

Come ON come ON come ON we are WALKING!!

Of course, it's still pretty gray and brown out there.  It's chilly down by the lake. On the positive side, there are no mosquitoes and very few ticks out.

Obligatory Gooseberry Falls picture

We are kind of out of shape after the long winter, so we just did the hike out to Fifth Falls and back.  We took the path right next to the river.  Quite a big difference from last year, when many of the paths were underwater.  There was a bit of mud, but it was no big deal.

Muddy path, naked trees

I know that I've gotten kind of spoiled up here.  Gooseberry Falls is, for most people, a vacation destination.  For me, it's a 15-minute drive away and a perfectly normal thing to do on, say, a Tuesday afternoon.  I hope that, in the future, I remember how lucky I was to be able to live right up here on the shore.

Remember the rushing river

I also hope I'll look back fondly on my days of poking around the Superior Hiking Trail in my spare time. Part of the Fifth Falls trail includes a section of the SHT, so I was able to hit both State Park and SHT in one hike.

I love you, blue blazes!

Why am I getting all sentimental?  Well, GUESS WHAT?  Joe and I are getting married at the end of the summer, and I'll be moving back to civilization.  We're hoping to skip right over St. Cloud and head back to the Cities, but a lot depends on where I find a job.  Either way, I'll be leaving my beloved North Shore behind.

Don't worry, folks.  The blog will continue, the hiking will continue - we still have about 30 State Parks to explore before getting the elusive "All Miles" patch.  Instead of being headquartered in Central and Northeastern MN, we're going to be in striking distance of all of the SE Minnesota parks...as well as western Wisconsin.  This is an AWESOME thing and we're really excited!  Here is a picture of the blessed moment:

Holy crap it's an engagement ring!

And, because Joe is the coolest guy on the planet, he got me the perfect ring.  I am much more likely to wear wooden and stone beads than diamonds and pearls.  So my ring is a beautiful dendrite agate.  Here it is:

it's really not this huge.

I promise that this will not become a wedding blog.  But keep in mind that we've got a LOT of non-hiking stuff on our minds this summer...like planning a wedding, moving, me finding a new job, etc.  We'll try to keep up with the blog.  I'll probably be taking lots of "one last time..." hikes to my favorite spots during the week.

And...how does Thunderdog feel about all of this?

I LOVE Joe!  Now come ON come ON come ON we are WALKING!!!

Total miles hiked today: 1.5

Total miles hiked in 2014: 3.5
Total Superior Hiking Trail miles hiked in 2013: .8
Total ticks today: 0
Total ticks in 2014: 0

Gooseberry Falls: September 13th, 2013

Busy busy busy on the North Shore.  Not a lot of hiking happening - which is too bad, this is a great time of year to get out and enjoy the early fall.  But fear not, faithful readers (all three of ya!).  Joe and I are taking a mini-vacation at the end of September that will result in many new posts.  We're going to visit a new state and a new National Park.  Which one will we be visiting...hmmm.... :-)

Thunderdog and I took a quick jaunt over to Gooseberry Falls State Park last Friday.  We just wandered around for about an hour, no particular trail.  The water level is quite low right now so we played around just below the falls and enjoyed the nice weather.  My guess is that we covered about two miles total.

Upper Falls

Wanna see something crazy?  Open this link to my Gooseberry Falls post from May 1st in a new tab, and then compare the amount of water coming over the falls.  The Lower Falls pictures are taken from a slightly different angle, but you can still see the bridge in the background.  In these pictures I am standing just above the island of trees in the May picture.

Lower Falls

Total miles hiked today: 2
Total miles hiked in 2013: 88.8
Total Superior Hiking Trail miles hiked in 2013: 19.7
Total ticks today: 0
Total ticks in 2013: 54

Wednesday Wander: Gooseberry Falls, June 26th

Well.  The Wednesday Wander was a good idea, but changes at work make it unlikely that I'll be able to go out on Wednesdays for the foreseeable future.  I will continue to do mid-week hikes (Mid-week Wanders?), but no promises!

It was muggy to rainy on Wednesday, June 26th.  The original idea was to head up to Tettegouche, but the amount of fog seeping onto Highway 61 made me think twice about that idea.  Instead, we turned into Gooseberry Falls.  Time to see what was on the River View trail - the one down to the lake that we tried to take earlier this year, but couldn't due to flooding.  

Gooseberry Falls from far away

Gooseberry Falls during tourist season is usually a crazy mass of humanity.  In the past I have avoided the more popular parts of the park and investigated the mysterious outer trails.  The River View trail goes by the campground, so it's by no means a quiet, isolated place for a walk.   I was surprised though - once we got about halfway to the beach, we didn't see anyone else until we got to the campground.  We had Agate Beach all to ourselves.

Funny, this doesn't taste like agates

The Gooseberry Falls campground has a few real gems from the CCC era: a pump house down by the lake, and a beautiful picnic shelter.  Thunderdog and I went inside: it was deserted, but still had a wonderful campy smell.  Thunderdog was particularly interested in the fireplace, full of cool ashes and probably bits of roasted weenies.  The campground itself essentially empty.  Lots of tents and signs of people - but they must have all been out enjoying the North Shore.  It was actually a bit eerie.

I love CCC stonework!

Once we went around the edge of the campground, we picked up the Gitchi Gammi trail for the walk back to the car.  At first I felt sad about leaving the lakes edge - but the encroaching fog would have made it impossible to see any great views.

There is an old pier back there...really!

I can now safely say that I have hiked on the majority of Gooseberry Falls' trails.  There are probably a few connecting trails that I've never been on, but for the most part - yep, it's back-of-my-hand territory.  I think that the trails along the river are my favorites - Fifth Falls, the SHT that goes up the southwest side of the river - but I also dig the Hiking Club trail that goes up on the bluff.

And the paved Gitchi Gammi bike trail has its place, too.

Total miles hiked today: 3
Total miles hiked in 2013: 47.9
Total Superior Hiking Trail miles hiked in 2013: 10.9
Total ticks today: 2
Total ticks in 2013: 44

Gooseberry Falls State Park, May 1st 2013

I didn't have to wander too far for the first Wednesday Wander of the year.  It may be spring on the calendar, but it's still cold out (38 degrees!) and there's still plenty of snow on the ground.  Where there is no snow, there is mud.  There isn't a lot growing yet - a few catkins, some grass, a single dandelion.  But there's one thing that's going gangbusters: waterfalls.

We've had a very long, snowy winter here on the North Shore.  All of that snow is melting into the small rivers and streams that empty into Lake Superior, and the North Shore waterfalls are at their most impressive.  More snow was predicted for May 1st, so I decided that Thunderdog and I wouldn't travel too far to check out waterfalls.  Good thing we live just down the road from one of the best in the state: Gooseberry Falls!

Our original plan was to take the Lower Falls trail out to the lake and back.  I rarely take the Lower Falls trail (actually, I'm not sure if I've been on it since I moved up here) because, well, it's usually very crowded with tourists and the lower falls aren't all that impressive.  We had some company on the trail, but definitely not the crowds that will be swarming about in another few weeks.  

Wow.  Pretty impressive, huh?  It was so loud that a nearby couple standing together had to shout in order to be heard.  Take a look at the Falls in September 2012, and in June 2012.  Just a little bit more water, yeah?

The paths down to the river disappeared under the churning, rushing brown water.

We followed the Lower Falls trail until it disappeared underwater after the last bridge over the river.  The trail was difficult: this section of it looked more like a creek than a trail.  Thunderdog definitely was in for a bath once we got home.

We gave up on the idea of hiking down by the river and headed instead for the Hiking Club trail.  The trail goes up on the ridge, so other than some snow and mud, it was passable.  It also provided an excellent view of the brown river entering the blue of Lake Superior.  I considered taking the Fifth Falls trail, but figured that the trails would be underwater as well.

I wish that I could find a satellite picture of the lake, with all of the rivers spilling spring meltwater out into it at the same time.  It's not easy to capture, but the brown water must have stretched a mile from the mouth of the river.

The Hiking Club trail is the same as it ever was, so I will not entertain you with further stories of the huts and views.  One very exciting thing happened, though: Thunderdog got to stare down a deer at the Visitor's Center.  The deer held its ground far longer than I expected, and didn't budge until Thunderdog could stand it no more and exploded into frantic barking.  She looked back at me proudly.  I showed that deer, she seemed to say.  You show him, Thunderdog.  You tell him who's boss.

Total miles hiked today: 3.2 (2.2 Hiking Club Trail, 1 Lower Falls Trail)
Total miles hiked in 2013: 3.2
Total Superior Hiking Trail miles hiked in 2013: 0.8
Total ticks today: 0
Total ticks in 2013: 0

Gooseberry Falls State Park: March 23, 2013

Snowshoe time!  Joe and I headed out to Gooseberry Falls State Park for what may be the last snowshoe trip of the year.  We got to the park at about 2pm, and it was PACKED.  I was surprised at how many people were there - it was warmish (maybe upper 20's) and it was a Saturday, and it was also Spring Break for the local kids.  But I did not expect the crowds of people.  Perhaps we're all just so sick of winter that any ray of sunshine or warm breeze will get us outside.

Snowshoe shot

I've been teasing Joe about how I'm the Footwear Girlfriend.  First I required him to get a pair of snowshoes, then I required him to get a pair of hiking boots, and then I mentioned casually that I would be buying a new pair of running shoes at some point, and would Joe ever be interested in running?  I think he put his foot down to that one.  Ha.

Joe crosses the river, survives, cheers

One thing that I am ridiculously worried about is falling through ice.  I know, it's Northern MN and the ice gets pretty thick up here.  I'm MORE okay with walking on frozen lakes than frozen rivers, because rivers rarely are frozen all the way through.  I could HEAR the water under the ice.  The cold, unforgiving water.  Joe was brave and crossed the river to the other side, resulting in this great picture.

Joe on the Superior Hiking Trail

We followed the Fifth Falls Snowshoe Trail, which goes up the southwest side of the river, crosses the bridge above Fifth Falls, and then comes back along the northeast side.  We were on the Superior Hiking trail for a short time - first time this year?? The path was pretty well packed down.  We went off the path a few times (and sunk in up to our hips), but for the most part we were going where many had trod.  I suppose this is what skiers talk about when they proclaim the wonder of "fresh powder".  Note for next year: snowshoe right after a snow before everyone else can pack it down!

nice bench!!

I loved this bench, half buried in the snow.  It was so comfortable that I think Gooseberry Falls State Park should build all of their benches without legs.  Getting up was a bit of a trial, though.

Overall, beautiful day for snowshoeing but it will likely be the last of the season.  Spring is in the air!  The Soo Locks opened on Monday, March 17th and soon I started to see Ore Boats in the distance.  The docks have been hopping for the last few days, and the Presque Isle is scheduled to come in today.  There is nothing like the sweet sound of a foghorn shaking me out of bed in the middle of the night.  Sounds like spring! 

Gooseberry Falls State Park: November 1, 2012

It's November.  It's time I got over my seasonal ennui, eh?

Thunderdog and I went for a nice little walk at Gooseberry Falls State Park on what will be the first of many chilly November mornings up here on the North Shore.  The leaves are all pretty much down by now, and snow is not far away.

Gooseberry Falls

Every year I go through a bout with Seasonal Affective Disorder (the cheesily acronymed SAD).  The cold and dark sinks in, and I get moody, tired, and depressed.  I don't feel like going outside.  All I want to do is sit in my big comfy chair and watch Star Trek TNG episodes on my computer.  My October 8th post was a pretty clear indicator that it was about time for me to get out my light box for the winter.

Ice starting to form in puddles and shallow kettles on the river

Getting back out into the woods on November 1st helped me to remember that there ARE reasons to go outside in this strange see-through season, between Fall Color and Snowshoe Season.  First: now that all of the deciduous leaves are on the ground, the wind only blows through the pines.  There's something about the sound of wind in the pines.  It's lower and quieter than wind through leaves.  It's hard to explain, but it's one of my favorite sounds.

Thunderdog on the Superior Hiking Trail.
She doesn't care what the weather is like, so long as there's no thunder (ironically enough).

We took an easy path: we hiked across the bridge from the Visitor Center and then went along the river to the Fifth Falls, across that bridge, and back along the river on the other side.  It was about two miles.  It was a cool day - maybe around 40 degrees - but there was a nice sun.  I got warm and put my hat in my backpack.  I'm glad that we got out on Thursday...because it looks like we're going to have to stay away from Gooseberry Falls for a few weeks.

Deer beware!!

This is my least favorite time of year to be in the woods, but there is a particular subset of the population that LIVES for November: deer hunters.  Deer opener was yesterday (November 3rd).  I went to Subway to get lunch for me and Joe - there were six men in Hunter Orange in line in front of me.  Joe said that traffic on the way up here was unusually heavy.  Probably all of the hunters from the Cities heading up north to kill Bambi in my backyard.

As a kid growing up in the Twin Cities, I was obsessed with deer.  They were exotic, graceful creatures with large soulful eyes and the babies were impossibly cute.  I continued to love deer until a few years ago when I hit a buck with my Ford Escort going about 70 mph.  I survived, the deer and my car did not.

Moving up to the North Shore also helped to end my Bambi Worship.  There are deer everywhere.  Thunderdog has been driven nearly to the point of insanity by them - she wants to be friends, they want to kick her in the head.  As I kid I thought that hunters were evil (they killed Bambi's mother!!!).  Nowadays I am cool with it.  More than cool with it.  I still don't like to walk by a house that has two dead deer hanging from a tree branch, but I'm not going to knock people who help control the deer population.  In addition, hunters value our outdoor spaces.  We're on the same side: woods and wilderness = valuable and important.

It WAS a surprise to me that they allow hunting in the State Parks.  I'm going to have to ask my ranger friends about that one. Until the hunt is over, though, Thunderdog and I will just go for walks within city limits.


Total miles hiked today: 2.0
Total miles hiked (in 2012): 147.8

Total ticks today: Joe - n/a; Thunderdog - 0; Elly - 0
Total ticks (in 2012): 49

Gooseberry Falls State Park: October 8, 2012

It happened more quickly than I thought it would.  Two beautiful weekends on the North Shore, one week gone to a conference, one week of busy work...and here we are.  Summer is over and gone.  The glory of autumn has ended and we're onto what locals are hyping as the "see-through season" - when all the leaves have fallen and you can see long distances through the forest.  Someone's trying to sell that idea, but I am not buying it.  It's not magical.  It's the doldrums between full color and the first real snow.  It's the seasonal equivalent of static on the dial.

Thunderdog and I were feeling restless so we headed out to Gooseberry Falls State Park.  We weren't all that inspired, so we just did the Hiking Club trail.  We walked like zombies through a post-apocalyptic landscape.

Thunderdog in the thicket

In addition to being able to see long distances through the forest, sound carries remarkably well.  At no point in the hike did we get away from the sound of the highway.  It's amazing how the leaves muffle sound when they're on the trees.

The Visitor's Center in the distance

We discovered that, from the benches at the farthest point on the loop, you can see right down to the Visitor's Center.  I could have lived a long and happy life without ever realizing how close the Visitor's Center is to the trail.  The illusion of wilderness: vanished.

The naked trees waved in the breeze.

The shoreline cut like a stone knife into a steely gray lake.

You must be wondering if this post was written by Murky Dismal.  It kind of feels like he has invaded my psyche over the last few weeks.  The sudden cold, the dark, and the mass exodus of summer and autumn visitors to my town...everything is bundling up for winter.  I have no doubt that winter will be fun.  I've got my skis and my snowshoes ready to go, Thunderdog loves snow, and I am looking forward to the holiday season.  I just need to get through the doldrums.

Every few weeks I have to get to drive from the North Shore to the Iron Range.  It's a sublimely beautiful drive through the Superior National Forest.  Last week it snowed an inch or two inland.  I got a picture before the snow melted.

It's just a matter of time.

The summer's frenzy of hiking has come to an end.  It was an amazing summer, no doubt.  I logged almost 150 miles on the trail, did some biking, went on several awesome vacations, and got my 25 and 50 mile park patches.  Stay tuned for less frequent posts about snowshoeing and other winter adventures - as well as indoor stuff.  I promise to be more cheerful!


Total miles hiked today: 2.2
Total miles hiked (in 2012): 145.8

Total ticks today: Joe - 0; Thunderdog - 0; Elly - 0
Total ticks (in 2012): 49

Gooseberry Falls State Park: September 24, 2012

Life has been busy!  So busy that I went for a great hike on Monday, and am only getting around to writing about it on Friday.  Busy busy busy!

It was astoundingly beautiful out, so Thunderdog and I jumped into the car after work and headed  up to Gooseberry to find some nice fall hiking.  The place was PACKED, of course - but we were determined to find some solitude.  Luckily, most visitors to Gooseberry seem to stay within a quarter-mile radius of the falls, so we just picked the farthest out trail and headed towards it.

We DID go take a look at the waterfall.  Not a lot of water going over it...

When I looked at the park map, I decided we'd take the Superior Hiking Trail straight north and then the park's trails until we reached the northernmost point of the park.  Then we'd head west to a shelter that we saw on the map, and then head back.  All in all, it would be about 3.8 miles of hiking.

A pretty path

A lovely view to the lake below

ORANGE!! and  BLUE!!

It was a beautiful, exhilarating, and fun hike for a Monday afternoon in September.  The colors were dramatic in a few places, but for the most part it was still quite green.  Lots of coniferous trees, though.  We picked the right trail: we didn't run into a single other person once we left the crowds at the falls.

CCC camp ruins

We've passed the Civilivan Conservation Corps camp ruins a few times before, but I kept forgetting to get a picture.  They're not that far from the current visitor center - a few toppled chimneys and some foundations.  Thunderdog nosed about in them for a bit before deciding that they were not filled with squirrels and other critters.

That's about it!  More excitement coming up this weekend - Joe is returning to the North Shore for a second weekend in a row so that we can check out even MORE amazing fall color.  Stay tuned!




Total miles hiked today: (this park) 3.8
Total miles hiked (in 2012): 136.3

Total ticks today: Joe - n/a; Thunderdog - 0; Elly - 0
Total ticks (in 2012): 49

Gooseberry Falls AND Superior Hiking Trail: July 17, 2012

On the afternoon of Tuesday, July 17th, Thunderdog and I hopped in the car with the intent of knocking out another section of the Superior Hiking Trail.  We had our eye on the Cove Point Loop...but we were stymied.  Road construction on Highway 61 turned what would have been a 30-minute drive into a 45-minute drive...and we didn't even get to Split Rock.  Luckily, we pulled up to Gooseberry Falls just as I started feeling really frustrated.  Excelsior!

Gooseberry Falls is extremely popular with the North Shore Tourist Crowd.  I should know, I used to be one of them.  But now I'm a local and have been spoiled by the sweet, sweet solitude in the parks during the off-season.  Thunderdog and I entered the park to find people everywhere.  Don't get me wrong, it's awesome that people come to visit.  Outdoors = yay!  Stimulating local economy = yay!  I just wanted a bit of solitude, and wasn't sure if I'd find it at Gooseberry.  Thunderdog and I consulted a park map, and found what we hoped was a solution.

Map o' the park

If you look closely at the map, you'll see that there is a long loop on the left-hand side - leading away from the waterfalls and the cluster of trails on the right.  Now THAT looks like a nice, secluded trail.  4 miles long if you count the "stem" to and from the visitor center, .3 miles of the Superior Hiking Trail.  And then there's the mystery aspect: part of the trail is hidden behind the inset map.  What's back there?  A mountain?  A pit of vipers?  What is the inset map hiding???  Well, we were going to find out!

Thunderdog surveys the path

In general, it was a wide, grassy path with lots of deciduous trees on either side.  It was mainly flat, but had some impressive hills.  When we reached the top of the largest hill, I discovered that my "steep paths lead to good lookouts" adage is not always right.  We merely found ourselves amongst a cluster of trees, at the top of the hill.  We covered a mere .3 miles of the Superior Hiking Trail by the Fifth Falls Bridge (we saw the other side of the bridge back on June 5th), but hey!  It counts.

Thunderdog found time to enjoy chewing on a stick.

Once down off of the view-less hill, the trail took us along the Gooseberry river.  It was interesting to see evidence of the flood, which occurred about a month ago.  If you look at the picture below, you'll see weeds and other debris curled around the trunk and branches of the trees.  The tree in the center of the picture has weeds wrapped around it about six feet off of the ground.  The river, safely back in its banks, is now about 20 feet away.

Debris in the Trees

We were hiking down the path, minding our own business, when we discovered what was hidden behind the inset map: a giant woodchuck!!  I didn't even see it on the path until it came flying at Thunderdog, a blur of fur and gnashing teeth and claws.  It got right up in Thunderdog's face - I'm not sure if it actually touched her, but to Thunderdog's credit she backed up and just barked at it.  Do not engage the crazy woodland creature!

GET OFF MY TRAIL

Every time we tried to move forward on the trail, the woodchuck would run onto it and resume its Tasmanian Devil routine.  I shouted at it and threw a stick at it, hoping that it would go back into the forest so that we could pass. Thunderdog was beginning to work herself into a tizzy, barking and lunging.  Finally, we just had to turn around and walk to the last fork in the trail.  I felt kind of stupid.  Waylaid by a rodent!

Anyway, we had a fine walk in the woods.  Woodchuck aside, we found the solitude we were looking for.  I'm glad there are still places in the North Shore parks that one can retreat to on a warm summer's day.

Total miles hiked today: 4 (.3 of the SHT)
Total miles hiked (in 2012): 83.9

Total ticks today: Joe - 0; Thunderdog - 0; Elly - 1
Total ticks (in 2012): 47

Gooseberry State Park: June 30, 2012

Return to Gooseberry!  Thunderdog and I had conquered the Hiking Club Trail at Gooseberry earlier in the month, but Joe had not.  We're getting pretty close to our first milestone on the Hiking Club (the 25-mile patch).  In order to get him caught up, we headed to Gooseberry for a little walk in the woods.

Joe and Thunderdog at Gooseberry Falls.
Perhaps I should rename this blog "Joe Looking at Things"?

It was a warm day - for the North Shore.  I think that the temperature was close to EIGHTY DEGREES!!  Compared to most of Minnesota, that's downright chilly...but apparently I have acclimated to the cooler temps up here.  I was boiling hot!

Looking out over the lake

What else can I say?  We completed the Hiking Club Trail (Joe missed the password sign, but not to worry - I had it already) and, being boiling hot, we got in the car and went back home.  We listened to both games of a Twins/Royals doubleheader (Twins won both - yay!) and played Ticket to Ride.  Perfect hot summer day.


Total miles hiked today: 2.2
Total miles hiked (in 2012): 63.9
Total ticks today: Joe - 0; Thunderdog - 0; Elly - 0
Total ticks (in 2012): 45