Smile! Crazy man on the SHT

Sometime in the next few months, you may be watching TV on a Thursday evening, and as you channel surf from "Survivor" to "Grey's Anatomy" you might catch a shot of me. In the woods. Muttering to myself.

Steve Ash from Duluth's public TV station, WDSE, called me up the other day with a proposition. Go hiking on your favorite local trail. And talk about why you like that trail. On camera. All for a 2-minute segment on Venture North. Being a total sucker for media attention, I immediately said yes.

I picked the "Peace Ridge" section of the Superior Hiking Trail in Duluth. It runs east from Keene Creek up into the dramatic open ridgeline of Brewer Park. It's a favorite of mine because I helped to scout the trail and it's got a great view, not just from one point but all along about 200 yards of trail.



We did the hike yesterday, another of these bizarrely warm and sunny November days. Steve, the camera operator, was joined by Karen Sunderman, the host of Venture North. At first it was "stand-ups," where they'd pick a scenic background and have me stand there and talk about the trail. Not to Karen, really...she was off-camera. Just talk off into the woods. Fine. I do that myself anyway.

Then they filmed me, well, walking through the woods, up stairs, along boardwalks.

I decided to combine the stand-ups and the walking. I was on a wireless mike, so when they filmed me walking, I started talking too, about finding and routing the trail, and about the volunteers that built it.

So they'll have all this footage of me, all alone, walking through the woods and talking to myself. They broadcast Venture North all across Minnesota and the Upper Midwest. And now it's on in Guam.

Hmm. Now there's proof. Crazy man in the woods. Great.