Lutsen Mountains Gondola: July 13th, 2014

Joe injured his back, so hiking on the weekend of July 12th-13th was out of the question.  We still have a bucket list of things to do before I leave the North Shore...so we headed to Lutsen Mountains Ski Area to check out the gondola.

The gondola (or "Mountain Tram") was constructed to take skiiers from one mountaintop to the other.  It also runs in the summer, so that summer visitors can check out the great views from the tram and from the Chalet on Moose Mountain.  Joe and I are not downhill skiiers, so it's safe to say that this is a summer thing for us.  Of course, the fall color season would also be a great time to take a ride.

I'm excited to go for a ride!

I was all about going for a ride in the gondola.  Joe, however, was not.  He has never flown in an airplane and gondola travel must be in the same category as airplane travel.  But, in the interest of trying new things, he agreed to give it a try.

The Eyes of Fear

The gondolas can hold up to four people and all of their ski gear, so we were able to stretch out a bit.  Making the car sway was NOT a good idea - Joe nearly had a heart attack as we jerked out of the first chalet and onto our journey.  He calmed down quickly and was able to get out his camera and take some good pictures.

People in the oncoming gondola, waving at us

These are the views you were looking for: the Poplar River

Everything was going smoothly until we got to the last part of the ride, right next to Moose Mountain.  The gondola took us right to a sheer cliff face, and then we went almost vertically up to the chalet on top.  Around this time, the wind picked up and it started to rain.  Joe got the Eyes of Fear again and we were happy to get out at the end of the line.

The Cliffs of Insanity

The Summit Chalet at the top of Moose Mountain was quite nice.  There was a ballroom/restaurant space that is supposedly great for weddings.  Joe and I joked around about how our relatives would react if they had to ride the gondola to our wedding (nobody would come).  We drank some VERY overpriced pop and stood out on the deck, gazing out over the North Shore landscape.  There were some other folks enjoying the view, including a border collie.  Apparently he had no problems with the gondola...but I imagine that Thunderdog would lose her doggie mind the second we lifted off.

Another chalet and the mountain meadow

One thing that you can do in the summer is take the gondola up to the top of Moose Mountain and then follow the Superior Hiking Trail 4.2 miles on back down.  Joe's bum back prevented us from doing this, but we did hike about 25 feet to a scenic overlook.  The spur trails that connect the gondola to the main trail have been closed for construction the last few years, so I haven't had a chance to hike them myself.  I guess it will be something I do as a tourist someday.

White blazes: spur trail

 After we'd relaxed for a bit, we got back onto the gondola and headed back to the base resort.  Going back was much more enjoyable for Joe.  "Oh wow!" he said.  "Look at that cliff!"  He pointed at the sheer cliff we passed on the way out.  He must have blocked it out as a traumatic experience.  I'm glad that he was able to enjoy it on the way back!  He also played with his camera a bit, trying to capture our movement over the valley below.

zooooooom

 All in all, a delightful trip.  I would hesitate to recommend it to people who get super motion-sick, but if that's not an issue for you, go for it!  Of course, it would be best in the fall when the leaves are in full color - and it would be 100% perfect if you were able to ride up to the top and hike back down.  One of these days!

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

Superior Hiking Trail: Martin Rd. to W. Tischer Rd, August 3rd, 2013

There have been a series of beautiful days in northern Minnesota.  Joe was up here last weekend - and Saturday was perfect for a walk through the British countryside.  

As of a few months ago, the Superior Hiking Trail now stretches from Jay Cooke State Park all the way through Duluth and up to the Canadian Border.  The last "Duluth Section" trailhead is Martin Road, on the northeastern side of town.  Joe and I drove out to Martin Road and headed northeast towards Two Harbors.  

The first thing we saw was the new style of the Superior Hiking Trail trailhead signs.  I have to say...as much as I joke around about the old signs being crooked, I far prefer the crooked old signs to these new ones.  They look too sterile, like they belong in a museum.  Perhaps they'll look better after they've been exposed to the elements for a decade or so.

New Style of Superior Hiking Trail Sign

The Superior Hiking Trail follows the North Shore State Trail (snowmobiles) for the entirety of the section that we hiked.  It's mowed grass, wide enough for us to walk side by side.  The first part wasn't that exciting: we passed by what looked like a gravel pit and a dirt farm, surrounded by barbed wire.  Things got significantly better once we went over the old bridge and away from the road.

Cool old bridge over the Amity Creek

The morning was cool to start - probably in the mid-50's - but it warmed up significantly as we walked.  The trail was mostly flat, but we were in the sun and soon it was downright hot.  The rare patches of trees were a respite.

Look at how beautiful it was out there.  I've never been to the Cotswolds, but this is what I imagine the English Countryside looks like.  There were hedgerows and fields with horses prancing around, haystacks, and picturesque barns and tidy farmhouses.

And so life in the Shire goes on, very much as it has this past age.

We followed the trail 1.8 miles north to West Tischer Road.  We then turned left onto West Tischer, and followed it until we got back to Eagle Lake Road, which we followed south back to the trailhead.  Altogether it was a pleasant 3.5 mile loop through the countryside.  Not a bad way to spend an early August morning!

The road goes ever on and on, down from the door where it began

Total miles hiked today: 3.5
Total miles hiked in 2013: 71.8
Total Superior Hiking Trail miles hiked in 2013: 19.7
Total ticks today: 0
Total ticks in 2013: 54

Split Rock Loop, July 21st 2013

Our friends Mandy and Mark (previously highlighted on the Dogsled Trip posts) were up on the North Shore for a mini-holiday last weekend, so we decided to go for a hike!   They suggested Split Rock Loop, and I thought that was a great idea.  We each packed part of a picnic lunch and set out around 11am on Sunday morning.

Mark scrubs off his boots at the boot scrubbing station.  Gotta get those tansy seeds off!

After much thought, we decided to leave Thunderdog home for this hike.  She was practically eaten alive by blackflies during the week, and I worried that it would be a buggy hike again on Sunday.  I shouldn't have worried.  None of us even had to bother with bug spray due to the cool breeze blowing off the lake.  I felt kinda bad about leaving her behind.  I will have to make it up to her.

We passed the same little waterfall that we saw on May 15th: no fish jumping this time, though.

We stopped at the trail register right after the pretty waterfall, and signed it.

Mandy, Mark, Michele and Joe

a hiking, a hiking, a hiking we go

Amazing (but a bit blown out) picture of Split Rock River

Mandy and Mark at the Split Rocks - hence, Split Rock River

We arrived at the halfway point and were ready for lunch.  Before we sat down on the rocks and got out the picnic, we risked our lives by several of us walking onto the bridge at once.  Seriously though - this bridge has a heckuva lean.  There are a couple of cables holding onto it, but that is not a trick of the camera: it really is bowing very noticeably to the left.  It's only six years old...we wondered why it was in such rough shape.  I thought that perhaps it was damaged in the flood last year, but it is bowing upriver.  Do as the sign says, not as we do, kids!!

Noooooooo we are going to die!!

We sat down to enjoy our picnic: peanut butter sandwiches, homemade cookies, apples, cheese sticks, and I brought a can of Pringles.  I am not a huge Pringles eater, but they seemed like a good salty snack in a semi-sturdy container.  It was a great lunch.

Welcome to Idyllic Picnic Town, MN.  Population: us.

Until...disaster.  For no good reason, the Pringles can popped out of my hands and tumbled down the rocks.  Past my outstretched fingers, just out of Joe's reach...and into the river.  Noooooo!!!!  I didn't want to litter, so I immediately leapt up and ran downriver in the hopes of stepping out on some rocks and catching it with a large stick.

This didn't work.  I fell flat on my ass, right in the river.

Dramatic reenactment with minor photoshopping for effect

Obviously, I missed the Pringles can.  While I was standing up to deal with the fact that I was now soaking wet from both feet all the way up my left side to my head, the Pringles can bobbed merrily downstream.  I was a litterbug.  A sopping wet litterbug.

They should revoke my Hiking Club patches and my Superior Hiking Trail Association membership.

It didn't ruin our day, though.  The second half of the Split Rock Loop is easier than the first half (if you start from the roadside trailhead, not in the State Park proper), and it really was one of those amazing North Shore afternoons that makes the long winters worth it.  We laughed and chatted and at one point I found a piece of bark that looked exactly like the state of Minnesota.

On par with the Jesus Toast or the Elvis Potato Chip!

It was great to see Mandy and Mark again.  Good hike, beautiful day, good friends.  We're going to see them again in about three weeks for a Hiking Club Trail hike and then some board games.  They're the ones that actually got me interested in Hiking Club Trails - I think they're still ahead of Joe and I, but we're catching up!

And, of course, there's the Superior Hiking Trail.  I had a wonderful time, despite fall on my butt in the river and having to walk with squishy shoes for the rest of the hike.

Total miles hiked today: 5.0
Total miles hiked in 2013: 68.3
Total Superior Hiking Trail miles hiked in 2013: 17.9
Total ticks today: 0
Total ticks in 2013: 54

Superior Hiking Trail: Fox Farm Road westward: July 1st, 2013

While Joe and I were in Colorado, the Superior Hiking Trail celebrated a huge milestone: the closing of the final 20-mile gap between the Duluth section and the main part of the trail.  I helped to build a bit of the trail last year, and kind of wish I'd been there to celebrate the Grand Connection on June 1st - National Trails Day.  The Superior Hiking Trail is now 296 miles long from Jay Cooke State Park to just a few miles south of the Canadian border.  

The reason I'm writing about this now is because today we went out for a hike on one of the new sections of the trail.  Up until this summer, the Superior Hiking Trail "started" at Fox Farm Road, and headed northeast towards Canada.  Thunderdog and I went to the Fox Farm Road trailhead with the intent to go northeast...but decided to see what the new, southwest trail was like.  

Nice new sign, no leaning (yet)

This part of the trail is not in my handy Guide to the Superior Hiking Trail, Sixth Edition,  (I need to upgrade to the Seventh Edition - now available!) but it IS on the little map that I received with my membership renewal this year.  I could see that the trail crossed the North Shore State Trail twice: the first time was about 100 feet from the Fox Farm Road trailhead, the next about two miles down.  So, if I followed the trail towards the Sucker River trailhead, I could then hop onto the snowmobile trail and loop around back to the car.

Trail through the woods, and a happy pup

I didn't mind the prospect of looping around on a non-SHT trail.  The North Shore State Trail is an alternative hiking trail that I've never really taken advantage of: in the winter it's buzzing with snowmobiles, but in the summer it's just a really wide trail.  Someday it might be fun to snowmobile up here, but for now I'll just use my legs.  :-)

The new SHT wove through the deciduous forest.  Everything was so green!  The air was so fragrant!  The breeze was so cool...and the woods were so full of bugs.  Oh my lord.  It is now full-on mosquito season, Thunderdog and I were constantly pestered by these horrid little creatures.  We passed a few mosquito breeding grounds on the trail, and I quietly cursed their existence.

Mosquito Nursery, where baby mosquitoes are taught to torture

At about the one-mile-in mark, we came across something that I did not expect to see: an interpretive sign.  Huh.  I looked around.  No other signs of humanity in the forest, except for the narrow winding path and a few blue blazes on the some trees.  And a big sign.  I'm not sure how I felt about it.  I LIKE being in the wilderness - even if, intellectually, I know that I'm just a few miles from my car and civilization.  I also like education, of course, but it was kind of jarring to see this just hanging out in the woods.

Let's take a break from all this wilderness and learn something!  At least it's relevant and interesting.

A week or so ago, a SHT hiker reported both a moose and bear sighting on this part of the trail.  Although I would love to see a moose - I still haven't seen one up here - I knew that it was much more likely to see a bear.  Not gonna lie, the thought of it both excites and frightens me.  But I'm leaning more towards excited.  I don't lead a terribly daredevilish life, but I do enjoy the excitement and adventure that comes with striking out into the woods a few times a week.  Just me and Thunderdog, and whatever may come.  Usually we just do battle against ticks.  Someday we may see something larger.  Like, uh, this thing???

Mystery pelt

Yeah, I have no idea what that thing is.  It's about a foot long and it was fresh.  I could smell it from the ground.  I thought about investigating but didn't want to knock it down (obviously, some other hiker put it up there for some reason) and I didn't want Thunderdog to get ahold of it.  I looked closely but I honestly couldn't tell what it was.  Was it some small animal's body?  Some big animal's foot?  The smell convinced me that it was not just the fur collar off of somebody's trendy jean jacket.  Anyway, in that moment, I stood small and wimpy under the dismembered foot of some large creature who could probably eat me (because he was angry about losing a foot?...) and felt that feeling of excitement and fear.  I felt absolutely tiny in the woods.
   
It was great.

This is why I come out here.  To feel put in my place as just a tiny, delicate little thing in the big, amazing woods.

Big woods, winding trail

Total miles hiked today: Not exact, but I am going to guess 4 miles.
Total miles hiked in 2013: 55.1
Total Superior Hiking Trail miles hiked in 2013: 12.9
Total ticks today: 3 so far...we just got back a few hours ago.
Total ticks in 2013: 52

Superior Hiking Trail: Reeves Road to the Waterfall...again! June 29th, 2013

Joe was jealous of my waterfall-viewing without him.  That, plus the need for me to do a little maintenance at the trailhead, meant that Thunderdog and I would be retracing the steps of our hike two weeks ago.  No big deal!  There's always something new to see!  Plus, I needed his help.

tap tap tap

Remember me mentioning that the Superior Hiking Trail sign was broken; and that I, as the Trailhead Maintainer, needed to fix it?  Like, six months ago?  Well, I finally got my butt in gear and picked up a new sign.  Joe helped me to pry off the remnants of the old sign (he did that part) and hammer in the new sign.  I was encouraged to put a couple of nails through the middle of the sign in order to discourage people from stealing it as a memento.

Into the woods

I've hiked back and forth on this section of the Superior Hiking Trail many times, but Joe's never been on it.  I guess it's kind of my "mid-week hike" since it's nearby and not terribly exciting.  I'm so spoiled though...how many people get to just pop on over to the Superior Hiking Trail after work on a Monday?

Joe looks at Reeves Falls

We found the waterfall, and once again I struggled to take a good picture of it.  It's kind of around a corner, and the big frothy pool at the bottom isn't that picturesque.  So just trust me when I say that there IS a waterfall, we saw it, and it was very nice.

Tiger Swallowtail Butterfly

I got a picture of one nice butterfly, the Tiger Swallowtail.  We saw plenty of other flying things though...mosquitoes.  Oh, man, were there a lot of mosquitoes.  Joe and I bathed in bug spray before heading out, but we were still pestered.  I guess it just comes with the territory.  Because of the bugs, we opted to take Reeves Road itself back to the car instead of backtracking through the woods.  I was fine with this detour: there's nothing wrong with taking a different way back.  Actually, it's nice to see something new - even if it is along the side of a road.

Reeves Road

Not far from the very end of the road we came upon a dead deer being tended to by a half dozen vultures.  I didn't get any pictures (ew, gross) but it was kind of cool to see so many vultures up close.  I think that vultures are pretty cool birds and, dead things notwithstanding, wouldn't mind learning more about them someday.

Total miles hiked today: 3.2
Total miles hiked in 2013: 51.1
Total Superior Hiking Trail miles hiked in 2013: 10.9
Total ticks today: 5
Total ticks in 2013: 49

Superior Hiking Trail: Reeves Road to the Waterfall; June 10th, 2013

Good grief, it's been two weeks since I took this hike.  I keep forgetting to write about it!  Better get words down on "paper" before the whole experience is lost to the dusty closet of my memory.

If I remember correctly, June 10th was a gloriously beautiful Monday up here on the North Shore.  Thunderdog and I have hiked southwest from Reeves Road many times before, but have never gone far enough to see the waterfall.  It seems kind of silly that we haven't gone that far (it's only 1.6 miles!), but most of our recent hikes out that way have been short due to poor trail conditions.

Still haven't reported the sign broken, I am terrible

The trail, which was a muddy mess the last time we were out there, was in pretty good shape this time around.  There were a few muddy patches and the trail was a bit overgrown, but we had no problem following it.  There were several large trees down - some of which had the blue blaze on them - but nothing that would cause a rookie hiker to lose their way on this section of the trail.  The first section of the trail off of Reeves Road was still dark and gloomy.  Perhaps this part of the forest NEVER lightens up?  Mosses covered the ground, lichen covered the trees.  It felt swampy, damp and cool.  This was the only section that felt this way.

Thunderdog in the spooky forest, again

We hiked along to the waterfall.  Now, I TRIED to get a good picture of it.  That's what I do in this blog, right?  Perhaps it didn't work because Joe wasn't around to pose in front of it.  It was not a waterfall of the Gooseberry variety, it was ten-or-so feet of tumbling cascading water into a root beer-colored pool.  The best place to view it was the campsite, not off the trail.  Head towards the campsite and then follow the small trail that veers to the right just as you get to the bottom of the rocky uphill towards the site.  Pretty little falls!

Spur trail to the campsite, and hunting stand

On the way back to the trailhead we saw a cool flower: a little Pitcher Plant!  Pitcher Plants are carnivorous: the ones that grown in Minnesota have a big long leaf hanging over the "pitcher" part.  Curious bugs will crawl under the long leaf and whoops!  Into the pitcher they go, to be poisoned by the liquid inside and then ingested.  Nature is so awesome.

Pitcher plants: Nature's Flypaper

We came across the most magnificently wicked tree that I have EVER seen in Minnesota.  I almost hate to write about it: what happens if other people flock to see the Wicked Tree, ruining the surroundings with its newfound popularity?  It is only my confidence in the low readership of this blog that makes me feel safe in sharing it here.

Long ago, a huge tree grew in the boggy northern forest of Minnesota.  HUGE tree.  Mammoth tree.  It died, and the trunk became a hollowed out hole for animals.  Over time, the top of the trunk fell over, crashing to the forest floor.  It disintegrated slowly back into the soil.  The remaining part of the trunk still stood, creating a shelter for a young birch tree that grew within.  The last remains of the mammoth tree trunk spirals around, creating a vision of fire leaping and curling round and round the new young birch.

base of the Wicked Tree

Ah!!

When spring unfolds the beechen-leaf and sap is in the bough,

When light is on the wild-wood stream, and wind is on the brow,

When stride is long, and breath is deep, and keen the mountain air,

Come back to me! Come back to me, and say my land is fair!

Total miles hiked today: 3.2
Total miles hiked in 2013: 42.6
Total Superior Hiking Trail miles hiked in 2013: 10.9
Total ticks today: 3
Total ticks in 2013: 12

Crosby-Manitou State Park: June 8th, 2013

Jumping right back into things after our Big Trip, we set out to conquer the final North Shore Hiking Club trail on Saturday, June 8th.  We've been putting off George H. Crosby-Manitou State Park because of what we'd read: "100% backcountry park, no facilities", "Trails are steep and challenging for hikers...", "Due to the strenuous nature of the hiking, an alternate easier hiking club trail provided", etc.  We envisioned having to bushwhack our way through dense forest, all while dealing with black flies and the fear of winding up being trailside markers, like those who died on Everest and still remain there as a warning to others.  But Hell if we were going to take the easy alternative, though.  We'd just hiked through the mountains of Colorado.  We had hiked 1/3 of the State Parks Hiking Club trails.  I believe I said that "I would see it as a personal failing if I took the easier route."  How naive I was.

Showing off the SHT signpost lean, couldn't get Thunderdog to join in

The trail was similar to that of a Superior Hiking Trail section (in fact, we followed the SHT for about a mile on the Hiking Club trail) and we saw no reason to fear death.  The issue wasn't with the trail itself.  It was just, for some reason, a really exhausting hike for us.

Into the woods we go

It is a bit of a stretch to call Crosby-Manitou a North Shore State Park.  There is just a tiny bit of the park that actually touches Lake Superior.  The vast majority of it is inland and up over the ridge that separates the North Shore from the Northwoods.  The Hiking Club Trail weaves up and down over the hills, giving us some good views of inland lakes and rivers...but mostly, it gave us heart palpitations, shortness of breath, and a wish for the end to come.

Manitou River: raging through the land of death

Okay, it wasn't that bad.  It was just a lot of up-and-down and it was the first really warm day that we had experienced this year.  The sun beat down, our legs weakened at the sight of yet another hill, and we were never really sure of how far we had gone or if we were even on the right trail.  Even Thunderdog was tired and frustrated.  She actually laid down in the middle of the trail when we stopped to have some water - only once have I ever seen her lay down on the trail: at St. Croix, she rolled around on the grass trying to get the flies off of her.  There were no flies here...simply the specter of exhaustion.

Looking over an overlook: probably quite impressive in the fall

I'm happy to report that we did survive, and we added a hard-fought 4.2 miles to the tally.  Now that we've finished off the North Shore we're going to have to check out some other areas of the state: the Northwoods Parks (Bear Head Lake, Savanna Portage), the Central Lakes parks that we haven't yet visited (Lake Carlos, Glacial Lakes) and perhaps some Southeast MN parks as we drive to Iowa to check out the Twins' Low A Affiliate ballclub, the Cedar Rapids Kernels.  Stay tuned!


Total miles hiked today: 4.2, .9 on the SHT
Total miles hiked in 2013: 39.4
Total Superior Hiking Trail miles hiked in 2013: 7.7
Total ticks today: 3
Total ticks in 2013: 9