Black Friday, Grand Marais-style

Grand Marais Christmas Parade. Photo Stephen Hoglund, Cook County Visitor Bureau

Thanks to the blogger Mikel from Caribou Highlands known online as "Voice of the Mountains" for the top five list of reasons to "Shore it up" for Thanksgiving. My favorite is reason #3, "No Black Friday". As the writer puts it, "There’s plenty of other chances to get trampled at a shopping mall."

I covered last year's Grand Marais Black Friday in a post here. Basically, it's another busy day in Grand Marais. No doorbusters. No five a.m. openings. The narrow aisles in Joynes are as crowded as ever, with stacks of Carhart pants threatening to fall on the stacks of Woolrich shirts as they compete for your holiday dollars. Yes there are sales, 10% off here, 20% off there. But no one will get trampled looking for a deal on Ragg wool socks.

The real fun of Black Friday kicks in at dark, with the Grand Marais Christmas Parade. Where else would you find a Christmas event themed "O Ole Night"? In what Twin Cities mall would you be encouraged to wear your best goofy Christmas sweater and join in the Uff Da parade? Only on the North Shore.

North Shore Fourth of July

It's hard to believe that it's already the Fourth of July. Since Independence Day falls on a Wednesday this year, the North Shore won't be quite as frantic with travelers making a long weekend out of the holiday. That means a great opportunity for North Shore fans to enjoy some great Fourth of July traditions.

It's going to be a lovely day, with breezes off Lake Superior keeping temps in the 70s despite the statewide heat advisory. 

Tofte Wilderness Trek 

Start your day off right with a 10 kilometer run (or walk) through the woods and ridges near Tofte. Just show up in Tofte at 7:45 AM for same-day registration. Here's more info.


Parades
Too hot to run along the North Shore? Sit and watch a parade instead. Festival at the Tofte Town Hall from 11-5, and parade at 2:00. Watch to make sure no float goes by twice.


Band Concerts
Come to Two Harbors and the bandshell in Thomas Owens park at 7:30 PM for a patriotic concert of American favorites. 

Fireworks
What's a Fourth of July without the pyrotechnics? Here's a quick run-down of where to catch a small-town show on the Shore. All shows start at dusk, about 10:00 PM in these northern latitudes.

Grand Portage on the lakeshore by the Lodge and Casino, at dusk 

Grand Marais, in the harbor from Recreational Park to Artist Point

Tofte, in the Town Park

Two Harbors, by the Depot


See you on the shore tomorrow!

A North Shore Black Friday

Canadians rushing down Highway 61 to Duluth on our Thanksgiving because their Thanksgiving was last month.

Lines snaking past the kitschy keychains and into the Rubbermaid aisle at Joynes' Ben Franklin. 


And a black-and-white poodle getting all the love on a day known just for the black.


Today was Black Friday, and the North Shore nearly missed it. No doorbusters at the Lake Superior Trading Post in Grand Marais. No controversial midnight openings at Waters Edge in Tofte. Just 20% off all clothing and footwear at Grand Marais' landmark five and dime, Joynes.


All the super good deals must have been in Duluth and places south. Literally two of every three cars driving south on Highway 61 on Thursday had Ontario plates. Their drivers had an obvious sense of purpose, driving straight and fast. Their only stop might be at a gas station for remarkably cheap-sounding $3.29/gallon gas.


Grand Marais' two big retail shops, Joynes and the Trading Post, were both shoulder-to-shoulder busy. The cashier at one said it was just like Fishermens Picnic, the busiest day of the summer. 


In the middle of all this, I picked up some extra-large wool socks and a colorful new leash for Daphne, the parti poodle. On this Black day, the black-and-white poodle pulled in the fans who had exhausted the two superstores:


"What did you mix for THAT dog?"
"Is that a Holstein dog?"
"What's his name?" (everyone assumes she's a he, especially when her pink collar is hidden in unbrushed curls.


A great day for Grand Marais.

A super solstice weekend in Grand Marais

Grand Marais is the place to be this weekend. Northern evenings are long and the nights are short. Duluth and Two Harbors will be packed with marathon runners, so head farther up the shore for a classic North Shore experience with elbow room 

This weekend is the 14th Annual Wooden Boat Show at North House Folk School. The show celebrates the romance and history of wooden boats. From noon on Friday to 3:00 pm on Sunday, a fleet of wooden kayaks, canoes, scows, and more will be on display at the Folk School campus. There's a Community of Crafters, a contra dance, and a Lake Superior Chowder Experience. Some of the coolest courses have already started, like "Handcrafting a Northwoods Paddle," but you can still learn the games of kubb, lacrosse, and deadfish polo. For more information, visit the North House website.

Fire Dragon, from http://www.oldwadenasociety.blogspot.com/

Also at North House this weekend is the Summer Solstice Pageant, with the Good Harbor Hill Players. Every solstice, both summer and winter, creative Grand Marais folks put on a great show mixing North Shore culture with current events and local inside jokes.

For the full weekend experience, grab a campsite at the Grand Marais municipal campground right next door to the North House campus. This campground is featured in my book Camping the North Shore as one of the area's best. As of this morning, they still have tent and RV sites open for the weekend. Call them at (800) 998-0959 or (218) 387-1712 to reserve your spot.

Winter is still here, with more on the way

There is plenty of snow up in the North Shore ridges. With a blizzard watch for tomorrow and a stretch of cold days coming after that, it looks like we've got a bonus week of real winter still ahead.

I love these snowdepth maps from the climatologists at the Minnesota DNR. Check out that raindrop-shaped smear of mauve along the North Shore. That's snow over two feet deep.  

Even if the forecasts for a big snow don't pan out, here are some great ski trails right in that mauve smear:

Flathorn-Gegoka, Isabella
Northwoods Ski Touring Trail, Silver Bay 
Sugarbush Trail, Tofte-Lutsen
Bally Creek Trails, Grand Marais

I've posted these with links to SkinnySki.com...you can watch for current trail conditions there.

Holiday shopping, North Shore style

If you're up the North Shore this weekend, take some time for unique holiday shopping. Craft fairs will tempt you with local artists and local art this Saturday. In the Grand Marais area, you could spend the whole day visiting artists in their homes and studios. 

In Duluth, check out the Get it Local gift fair at the Peace Church in the East Hillside neighborhood, at 1111 N. 11th Ave. E. There will be over 25 local artists.  The fair will be open from 10am-3pm The organizer says, “From wreaths to jewelry to home decor to dog treats you will find plenty of great things to pick up — all in one setting in one day.” Find Peace Church by looking for their distinctive bell tower.

A group of Grand Marais crafters, calling themselves Artisans of the Tombolo, are having a show Saturday, from 8am-4pm in the Lohn’s home at 221 W. First St. in Grand Marais. A tombolo is a geological formation where a rocky island is connected to the mainland by beaches of gravel, like the Grand Marais harbor.

Shop for hand-woven scarves, wooden puzzles and toys, fused glass jewelry, and stained glass, all handcrafted on the North Shore.

Joan Farnham describes this and a bizillion other holiday art happenings in Grand Marais in Northern Wilds. Head to Cook County for a great holiday shopping expedition this Saturday!

Best North Shore holiday gift guide

How can you share your love of the North Shore with the friends and family on your gift list? Here are ideas for gifts that will make your loved ones' Christmas morning feel like finding the perfect agate or the biggest blueberry patch. This year, buy local...buy on the North Shore.

1. Wood engravings, lino cuts, and giclee prints, oh my!
One-of-a-kind notecards, groovy t-shirts, whimsical prints, and northwoods novelties come from our friends at Kenspeckle Letterpress. Rick and Marian produce their magical art in Duluth's Canal Park.

2. The sweet stuff
Who doesn't love real maple syrup on their pancakes? The North Shore forests that come ablaze with colors in the fall produce award-winning syrup in the spring. Find all things maple at Wild Country Maple of Lutsen.

3. Fill your senses
Take your sweetie up the North Shore for a day filled with outdoor adventures and culinary delights. My personal favorite, post-adventure, is the New Scenic Cafe, between Duluth and Two Harbors.

4. Savor a state park
Buy a friend the Minnesota State Parks Gift Card and they can camp under the stars at Crosby Manitou, hike the remote trails at Tettegouche, and shop the great bookstore at Gooseberry Falls.

5. Get crafty
Make a balsam bough wreath or weave a birchbark holiday ornament at the North House Folk School in Grand Marais, and give it away to someone special. If making handmade gifts isn't your cup of tea, gift certificates are available for dozens of workshops available year-round at this nifty northern crafts school.

6. Beautiful baubles
These lovely earrings and necklaces come courtesy of my wife's recommendation, who loves the handcrafted silver jewelry of Sally Cavallaro designs, made right here in Duluth. Hmm...a hint?

7. Cool tote bags
Like their name implies, Granite Gear of Two Harbors specializes in outdoors gear of all sorts. I really dig their ultralight and eco-friendly Air Grocery Bag. In fact, I'd buy two: one for myself, one for a gift.

8. Hit the slopes!
Gotta a skier or snowboarder in your life? Lutsen Mountains offers online gift certificates for use toward daily passes, rentals, lessons, or lodging packages.

9. Feed the dog in style
Duluth's Loll Designs offers more than fabulous furniture made from 100% recycled HDPE -- check out their colorful and hygienic dog bowls. Plus, they'll donate $5 of each dog bowl sale to Animal Allies.

10. Have a Low Christmas
Good holiday music is ageless. Released ten years ago by Duluth's indie band, this hip Christmas CD (their version of "Little Drummer Boy" was the soundtrack for a Gap holiday commercial) is the aural equivalent of coming in from the snow and sitting in front of a warm, intimate fire.

"I think they're having more fun here."

Beth Gauper, in the most recent of her always-informative Midwest Weekends e-mail newsletter, wrote that "Grand Marais is our No. 1 place to take children in Minnesota." She cites the rock-skipping and the donut shops, to start with.

I really love the quote from some teachers visiting from Australia: “We’ve been to the Mall of America and Disney World, places where (the kids are) excited to be, of course, but realistically, I think they’re having more fun here.’’

Crime wave crashes over Artists Point

Summer in Grand Marais, and the hooligans have descended on Artists Point. Here are a few items from the Cook County law enforcement briefs, as published in the News-Herald of July 31, 2010:

Wednesday, July 21, 4:49 PM
A suspicious package found at the point was determined to contain marine batteries and rocks.

Thursday, July 22, 11:46 AM
Caller said a man was sitting in a vehicle parked at Point, watching people with binoculars and making notes in a little book. He was gone when a deputy arrived.

Saturday, July 24, 12:09 PM
Caller made a parking complaint at Point. She said she was blocked in when someone parked behind her, and there was already a car in front of her.

The juicy stuff continued: three drive-offs from gas stations, lost wallets, and a mysterious whistler on the Onion River (hiker "said she heard whistling on the other side of the hill, and said 'whistle if you need help,' and head whistling again.)

Just wait until Fishermen's Picnic this weekend...things will get even crazier!

Come chat with me!

Party time, Ski People!

That's a rough translation of "Volks Ski Fest," the name of the annual event celebrating Cook County's great North Shore ski trails.

At last year's Volks Ski Fest, I had one learning experience after another after another. I learned about discretion, valor, family dynamics, and a certain surly stretch of ski trail.

Volks Ski Fest got underway again last weekend, in the middle of the rain and snow. Fortunately, the storm left Cook County with more snow than rain and the trails have been groomed into great shape.

I'm doing two programs this Saturday, January 30th.

From 1:00-3:00, I'll be at the Lake Superior Trading Post in Grand Marais, signing copies of Skiing the North Shore and Camping the North Shore and swapping tales of great cross country ski adventures. I've met some great folks at the Trading Post, and owner Eric Humphreys is a tireless advocate for North Shore adventures.


From 6:00 to 7:00, I'll be at Lutsen Resort doing a Fireside Chat about...you guessed it...Skiing the North Shore. This is an informal gathering in Lutsen's great homey lobby, where we'll sink into big chairs near the fireplace and share tales about nearby ski trails.

Please PLEASE come to one...or both!...of these events. As much as I enjoy researching and writing these guidebooks, I enjoy even more talking with other skiers and hikers and campers and North Shore aficionados.

After all, it's party time, ski people!

MPR noticed us!

We've known about this pattern for years here on the North Shore...had a great 95-degree day here in mid-June, if you recall. Be sure to read all the way to the bottom, where they also describe the wind shift that dropped the temp in Grand Marais 24 degrees in one hour.


Unusual weather pattern: North Shore warmth | Updraft | Minnesota Public Radio

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Life in the cracks at Artists Point

Artists Point in Grand Marais is a wonderful North Shore destination. If you're in Grand Marais and you've had your fill of t-shirt shops or microbrews, head out along the east, or left, side of the bay, through the big parking lot to the big old white house. Artists Point awaits.

Last year, our family was hanging in Grand Marais on the Fourth of July, escaping the bugs of the Sawbill Trail. We had a great visit to Artists Point. We went to the right, toward the lighthouse along cement retaining walls. A week or two ago, I went back to Artists Point, going left into the woods instead of right to the lighthouse.

At first glance, it's a smooth surface of bedrock. The glaciers did a great job smoothing down billion-year-old basalt. Waves wash off Lake Superior and flood away most soil development. Gale-force winds of November storms strip off any tree or shrub that is not fully surrounded bu other trees.

But look in the cracks and you'll find all sorts of life. In those cracks, there's just enough shelter for a bit of lichen to form, a bit of soil to gather.

Lots of three-toothed cinquefoil was popping up in the cracks:



In an old crack in the narrow strip of woods, where deep soil had collected moisture and created a little micro-bog, I found this Labrador tea, in bloom:



In the picture on top, did you see the kids popping out of the cracks?



Artists Point. Life in the cracks.

It's tough up on the North Shore

This is part of the sign that marks the start of a new Pincushion mountain bike trail above Grand Marais.



It got me thinking about two things.

First, isn't it cool that the North Shore of Lake Superior rates its own difficulty scale? This isn't Apostle Islands Intermediate or Bloomington Intermediate. This is friggin' North Shore Intermediate, and you'd better be careful. We live in an awesome place.

Second, I love how they use the trail itself to screen its riders. "If you cannot comfortably ride the first two trail features do not ride this trail!" If only we could have that for other life experiences.

New parent? "If you cannot comfortably sleep the first two nights do not keep this baby!"

Driving a manual transmission? "If you cannot comfortably get past the first two stop signs do not drive this car!"

Running for office? "If you cannot comfortably knock on the first two doors, do not file for this office!"

This is North Shore intermediate, bud. If you can't stand the fog, get out of the cooler.

Chicago loves us

This is a really good article about Duluth and the North Shore, full of journalist poetry. The Shore as seen through the bottom of Bob Dylan's whiskey glass, or in his chapbooks. Great line, for example: "The highway narrows to two lanes at Two Harbors, just past the taconite port, and then slices through shoreline cliffs that crumble into pebbly beach."

There is also a HILARIOUS typo. Read down to the end of the seventh paragraph about the 13,000 "footers" that ply our waters.

Great North Shore book stores

I believe in books. For exploring new country, there's nothing better than a good guidebook. Let someone else experience the unmaintained trails. Let someone else find the remote trailheads for you. Let someone else put all that discovery into print.

The price I pay for a good guidebook is just a tiny fraction of the value of the experience it facilitates. Talk about payback time! I pay $12.95 for a guidebook and I get a $100 experience.

That's our slogan: "Read. Go. Discover."

Want to hike North Shore streams? There's a book for that.
Want to identify North Shore wildflowers? There's a book for that, too.

But where do you find these books? The publishers can be tiny or even out of business. They print like 500 of these and then disappear. You need a motivated local book seller.

There are a few stores in the area that do a particularly good job finding and stocking a wide range of North Shore guidebooks.

Lake Superior Trading Post, Grand Marais. Eric Humphreys goes out of his way to keep a full stock of interesting North Shore titles. He works closely with authors and publishers to keep books in stock.

Northern Lights Books and Gifts, Duluth. Anita Zager and her crew have a real passion for the North Shore and Lake Superior. While they specialize in shipping titles, they also have a great selection of natural history and trail guidebooks. They support local authors with events and product placement.

I enjoy working with all stores in the area. Our books are carried by retailers from the Twin Cities to Grand Portage. If you're a book seller and you're looking to improve your North Shore book stock (not just There and Back Books), let me know and I'll give you some ideas of things to stock. The more the merrier!

First oil tanker arrives in Grand Marais

Thanks to the folks at Northern Wilds for capturing this image of the first oil tanker to arrive in the Grand Marais harbor. According to the normally straight-shooting Amber Pratt, the massive ship is owned by Norway Energy Resource Operations, whose only presence up to this was a flannel-wearing Erik Rashim. Erik was known only as a big tipper at the South of the Border Cafe. In this photo, the tanker just dwarfs the lighthouse.

Here's the harbor entry without the supertanker.



Personally, I think it's all a big April Fool's scam, made possible by judicious use of Photoshop. Everyone knows that Norwegians on the shore use little wooden rowboats for all of their transportation, not supertankers. Hard to rosemal a boat that big.

Finns swear higher

I skied at Pincushion Mountain up above Grand Marais yesterday. It was spring melt conditions, and half of the trail was rotting out or ice-covered. But about half of the trail was pretty good. On a particularly steep downhill, I learned that Finns swear way up high in their throats.

I've been down a few "screamers" this XC ski season, at Cascade, in Ely and at Korkki Nordic. At Pincushion, to top off the ski season, I had to ski the "Ole Hyvä" loop.

Supposedly, "Ole Hyvä" is Finnish for "Oh my God." The trail was laid out to maximize the hills, climbing up ridgelines only to plummet off its edge straight down to the valley below. When I crested one of those ridgetops and headed for the big screamer downhill, I was ready to shout out "OLE HYVÄ!!" But all I got out of my normally taciturn mouth was a high-pitched "EE," from way up high in the thorax. "EE" as in "Ole H-EEEEE-ve" On a trail built by Finns and named with a Finnish cuss, I guess I swore like a Finn. As my old Finnish friends would say, "Yup yup."

My next trail was the Hilfiker Hill Loop. Now there's a righteous Anglo-Saxon name, supposedly that of a doctor who once lived near these trails. When I reached one of those screamers, while I didn't try "Holy Hilfiker!!," I gave a righteously deep gurgle.

If a Finn built the trail, do we still feel its Finnish-ness today?

Lake Superior ice: It's out there

It's a howling lake wind here in Duluth today. What little ice we had out on the lake has been crushed onto the beach, which is a dark mass of compacted snow, sand and ice. Looking out into the teeth of the wind, I see no more ice. If you're on the Minnesota North Shore today, you might not see any ice either. The Grand Marais webcam is checking in ice-free.

The satellites see another picture:



All that red, with the strange letter combinations, is thick-ish ice in the middle of the lake. Lake Superior tried valiantly to freeze over this year and never quite made it. But big remnants of the ice pack are still out there.

I predict that if this northeast wind keeps up today we'll see the pack moving in. Then the real fun begins here on Park Point, with massive ice pile-ups out our back door.

One year, visitors to Park Point found ice for their Fourth of July lemonade down on the beach. It won't be that bad this year, but when it piles up, it tends to stay a while.

I don't really want this prediction to come true. I'd rather not have the backyard ice cooler going. But that is life on the shores of Lake Superior.

A Screamer, literally

What sane person sees a sign that reads, in essence, "Go This Way to Die," and chooses then to follow it? Well, besides fans of Russian roulette, cross country skiers follow some dangerous indicators of doom. In Ely, MN, you can follow just such a sign, except it is labeled "Screamer."

Ely is the Grand Marais of the Iron Range. Instead of Norwegian fishermen, Ely has equally charismatic Finnish miners. There's a Sven and Ole's, "Sir G's," only without those cheesy bumperstickers or TV ads. And just as Grand Marais has Pincushion Mountain, Ely has a mighty fine nordic ski system just on the edge of town.

The Hidden Valley trails are a terrific outpost of well-maintained ski trails in a lovely near-wilderness setting. Hans and I took off on some of the challenging inner loops this week.

At first the endorphins kicked in and he was pretty happy:


Then we began the climb to the top of the Screamer. Though I kept saying, "What goes down must go up," Hans' attitude worsened faster than a typical teenager. Here he is at the top:



Note the yellow and black caution sign. That is the top of the Screamer itself, a drop straight across the contour lines, all set for maximum acceleration.

I skied first, I yelled a bit, especially at this point where the steep downhill turns steeper and my stomach rose to my throat with a gurgly "a-HMP."

You'll have to ask Hans how he made it down. How he lived to tell the tale. Unfortunately, he erased the images from the camera.

"Screamer" is an apt name for this trail. Which got me thinking about other trails and their bodily results. How about a trail that's named "Bruiser"? Or "Broken Collarbone"? Hey, I'm a skier, sign me up!