Hiking to Two Harbors, Leg Four: Prindle Road to Lismore Road

Thank you, trailbuilders!

With the young girl and the old man, I completed the fourth leg of my hike to Two Harbors. It was Daphne the poodle and my father, the two of them nearly inseparable the whole way, hiking yesterday from Prindle Road to Lismore Road on the Superior Hiking Trail.

This is a brand-new section of the Superior Hiking Trail, just opened in June. Building a new hiking trail is a rare and beautiful thing. It's a commitment to the future and a gift to the present. The hard work of tree clearing, bridge construction and tread building yields a whole new experience. Like any new trail, this section brings people places they never would have gone before, along a route no one had followed before but is still...just...perfect.

We picked up this section of trail after our brief tour of the English countryside the day before. Here's where the newly-constructed trail splits off from the North Shore snowmobile trail:

After following snowmobile trail for over three miles, it felt great to get back in the woods again. I realized, for the umpteenth time, how different a real hiking trail is. It winds around trees instead of blasting through them. You have to watch your feet and your toes, so you see more of what's right there.The canopy of trees, especially in this young aspen forest, pulls you in like a funnel or a birth canal in reverse.

This is the first real virtuous long-distance hiking since the Superior Hiking Trail left Jay Cooke State Park. There are no campsites in eastern Duluth, so the assumption any thruhikers might sleep illegally or maybe stay in a hotel. Starting at this section, the SHT has trailside campsites every few miles. The Bald Eagle Campsite was one of the scenic highlights of the day, overlooking a beautiful little beaver pond.

Just when you might get sick of thick aspen forests, the trail opens up into a recently-logged area. For about half a mile, the trail runs through thick regrowth. Hats off to the trail building for going through, rather than avoiding, this cut-over area. The sun is nice, and so is the chance to watch nature reclaim this site over time.

This section of trail is great for locals looking to stretch their legs. It's mostly easy walking, just a little hilly at the Lismore Road end. It would be great birdwatching in the spring, with a wide range of habitats and edges. Good job, trailbuilders!

Hike to Two Harbors, Leg 3: Martin to Prindle

Dick Slade, Daphne and Hammo

I've never walked in the English countryside. Today was darn close, however. We hiked...er, perambulated...2.5 miles from Martin Road to an unofficial trailhead on Prindle Road, and most of it through lovely farm fields. With my 82-year-old father and his faithful yellow retriever. And my own not quite as faithful poodle. 

My inheritance isn't vast tracts of bucolic estate lands or iconic castles. I inherited from my father a passion for hiking and for obscure long-term goals. Dick wants to have hiked the entire Superior Hiking Trail, and he accomplished that 10 years ago. But they keep adding new trail sections, so every few years we head out and explore the new terrain. I want to hike from Duluth to Two Harbors this year. I'm maybe a fifth of the way there. 

Cue the theme song from Downton Abbey.

British indeed:

Our feet were damp from morning dew in the unmowed grass.

We passed farmers working by hand in their fields.

Old barns loomed over the hills.

Even the names of the landmarks we passed were veddy veddy British: Martin, Amity, Riley, Prindle.

Dick and Andrew Slade at Martin Road trailhead

This stretch of the Superior Hiking Trail is located entirely on the North Shore State Trail. The North Shore State Trail was built for snowmobiling, not hiking. And in winter, this landscape would not be nearly as green or luscious as it was today. Lucky us!

But where were the tea and crumpets when we finished the hike?

Old barn beyond the trail bridge.

The hike to Two Harbors continues tomorrow, from Prindle Road to Lismore Road. No more English countryside, I'm afraid. Just lovely woods, a few deerflies, and one foot in front of another.

Love on the Superior Hiking Trail

 

"This is one of my favorite sections." Only for a old hiking couple like us could that have been words of love. 

When Sally said just that to me this week as we hiked from the Caribou Trail to Lutsen on the Superior Hiking Trail, I felt as warm and gooey as if she'd reached across a fancy restaurant's white linen to hold my hand. She likes it. She really really likes it! I'd wrapped up a virtual present for her and she was delighted with it.

We'd already enshrined this hike as one of the "50 fabulous day hikes" in our book Hiking the North Shore. But it was Sally's first time on this particular section of the Superior Hiking Trail, and...she likes it! We'd sent our kids off to school in the morning, zipped up the shore, and now we were back in our element.

We weren't the only couple appreciating the trail. It seemed like everyone else on the trail was a couple, mostly a man and a woman, once a woman and her dog. It was like that old tourism ad for the Commonwealth of Virginia, "Virginia is for Lovers." New marketing slogan: "The Superior Hiking Trail is for lovers." Who else would be out on a longer hike during the school week at the peak of fall colors?

Of course this was a work trip as well as a date, so I took careful notes of the book's description and where we could improve it. Sally wasn't the only girl who liked the day's adventure; the poodle Daphne was pretty into it too. Except when the wolf scat on the trail was fresh, and then she'd tuck her tail in and carefully follow right in my footsteps. 

Hike summary

This is a 6.4 mile one-way hike from the Caribou Trail west on the Superior Hiking Trail to Lutsen Mountain. It's Hike 36 in our book. The best way to do this is by arranging a shuttle, so you can hike back to Lutsen for your car or your hotel room. (Or see below for reserving a spot on the Superior Shuttle.)

Finding the trailhead 
From Highway 61 mile marker 92.0, take County Road 4 (the Caribou Trail) 4.1 miles to the Superior Hiking Trail parking lot just off the road on the right, at the Caribou Lake boat launch.

The hike starts with an short optional spur to White Sky Rock, a lovely overlook of Caribou Lake. From there, it's a walk through cedar forest and rock formations to Lake Agnes, Caribou Lake's wild and undeveloped sister.

The whole 6.4 miles is fairly level overall, with stretches on top of maple-rich ridges alternating with  stretches in conifer-dense lowlands. After passing Lake Agnes, the trail reaches a series of three dramatic overlooks of the Poplar River valley, including a lovely view of curves in the river. In this week's fall colors, the entire scene was just breathtaking.

After the three big overlooks, the trail descends to the river valley and a long stretch of thick woods. Soon enough though you're hiking alongside the Poplar River as it turns from a sedate curvy quiet stream into a classic North Shore rushing river. Then it's another climb to Glove Overlook, where you can look back at the land you've crossed, and more beautiful maple woods. Finally it's a rocky descent back to the river and the busy world of Lutsen Mountain ski area. 

As we finished that last downhill, we passed an older couple, even older than us. They asked us to take their pictures. We guessed later that they were newlyweds, exploring the North Shore and getting to know each other in a new and beautiful place. Sort of like us, I guess. Yes, the Superior Hiking Trail is for lovers. 

Use the Superior Shuttle if you're hiking solo

This hike is great for a one-way hike from east to west. You can use the Superior Shuttle service. The shuttle will pick you up at 10:54 AM by the Lutsen gondola and drive you to the Caribou Trail trailhead (weekends only). Reservations are strongly recommended in the busy fall colors season. 

If you're staying at one of the local resorts at Lutsen Mountain, check at the front desk to see if they'll drive you and your partner (human or dog) to the Caribou Trail trailhead.

Hiking Ely's Secret-Blackstone trail

I had four days of just me and the poodle and the wild woods of Ely, Minnesota. I don't think she'd like a solo canoe ride. The steam bath was not going to work. We had to go to the Secret-Blackstone trail.

Daphne is the second standard poodle hiking partner I've had, and at 20 months old she's still learning the joys and triumphs of good trail hiking. Secret-Blackstone is a small trail system east of Ely. Since it's a Superior National Forest trail, dogs can run off leash. Hiking with any dog on a leash is a hassle, but with a strong, agile poodle with psychotic tendencies on the leash, it's nearly impossible.

The Secret-Blackstone trail winds around three lakes strung in the hilly country between Moose Lake and Snowbank Lake, two popular BWCA entry points off the Fernberg Road. The trail is well-maintained and well-marked. If you're out for an easy hike, just stick to the two-mile loop around Blackstone Lake. But the dog had shown she could stick to the trail and not attract bears or wolves. We were ready for more hiking, so we headed past Blackstone Lake to the cliffs of Ennis Lake. 

Here I am at a highpoint over a pond near Ennis Lake. Longtime Superior Hiking Trail supporters might just notice that my t-shirt reads, "I'd rather be hiking the Superior Hiking Trail." But on this day, that would be a lie. This is a great little set of loop trails and I was delighted to be there. 

After sniffing up a LOT of bushes and waiting patiently behind me on the narrow trail, Daphne was pretty happy to be on this trail, too. 

If you go
Download the map and driving directions from the Superior National Forest. There really isn't a better map out there. The trailhead is very near the canoe launch for Moose Lake, and you'll find restrooms at the canoe launch. 

The hike just around Blackstone Lake is very scenic and is pretty easy going, through some lovely red pines and past two backcountry campsites where you can sit by the lake. It's just under two miles and most hikers can complete it in about an hour. 

Past Blackstone Lake, the trail gets much rougher and narrower. It's just over a three mile hike on the long loop to Ennis Lake and back, but it will take at least two hours to complete the hike, plus you'll want to hang out on top of the Ennis Lake cliffs.

Why I live in Minnesota, not in Germany

 

Seventeen long years ago, Sally and I lived in Heidelberg, Germany for about seven months.  Germans love to hike, and we had a network trails heading up into the hills above the town. One weekend, we sought a little more adventure, so we headed out of town for the Wolfsschlucht. 

Germany has so many people and a culture passed down for centuries. Part of that culture includes naming nearly every natural feature that can be distinguished from the surroundings. For example, most hiking trail maps will mark where you can find important trees, and nearly every cliff has a name passed down through the generations.

Wolfsschlucht translates as "wolf's gorge." No doubt a few centuries ago some villager encountered a wolf here, and the legend lives down to today. It sounded like a wild place, maybe steep enough and remote enough that it still could feel wild, wild enough to have been the last refuge of a besieged European wolf.

To reach the Wolfsschlucht, we took the train about ten miles up the Neckar River, then got off at Zwingenberg. We followed a stone path that traversed up through old walls and then cut away from the Neckar into a steep side valley...the gorge.

I couldn't find any photos from that hike in our scrap book, but here's one I found online that captures the spirit of the hike...in more ways than one:

Note the sturdy stone bridge...and the large crowd of people. The only thing better than hiking for a German is to hike with a large group of people.

A sign at the trailhead (also found this one online) warned just how dangerous the Wolffschlucht was, only for practiced hikers, with danger of sliding and being hit by rocks on the unsecured path. No danger, however, of being eaten by wolves.

It was a great day and an adventure that combined culture and nature in a way that almost never happens in the US. 

So this weekend, Sally and I headed out for a hike here in Duluth. No streetcars here, so we drove, with the poodle along for the ride. We went to the Willard Munger Trail, since we guessed it would be dry and sunny. One of the scenic highlights was passing through a steep railroad cut, a gorge if you will. And wouldn't you know it, on the far side of the gorge, we found wolf scat, four or five piles along the edge of the paved trail.

 

It was a real wolf's gorge, our own actual Wolfsschlucht

In Germany, you find little pockets of wildness surrounded by fields and cities and highways. In northern Minnesota, you find pockets of settlement and trails surrounded by wildness. In Germany, wolves are only found in the most remote and broad forests along the eastern border. Here, wolves are almost everywhere.

I like it this way better.

What to do with the poo?

On the regular morning tromp with the poodle to Duluth's Aerial Lift Bridge and back, I couldn't help but notice this little crop circle laid down on the sandy Park Point beach. Some dog walker had VERY CAREFULLY bagged up their dog's do, set it down on the beach, and drawn a two-foot circle around it. They must have kept on walking...and forgotten the poop bag.

Hats off to the artistic walker for at least bagging the stuff. 

Park Point is a popular dog-walking area, so we get a lot of poochies, many of them off-leash. Some dog owners seem to think that if their dog is off-leash, they don't have to worry about picking up poop. With what could be called an "extended January thaw," we are already seeing piles of abandoned excrement emerging from the thin-if-any snowpack. 

 

What a person does about their dog's poop says a lot about them, and how they feel about nature and society. Are public parks simply wilderness areas where your dog's excrement belongs just as much as wolf scat? Are you concerned about the impact of your actions on strangers who will follow? Would you drop a beer can on the beach as quickly as you'd leave your dog's poop? Simply, are you responsible for the actions of your dog?

Yeah, it's awkward dangling that bag o'poop as you finish your walk down the public beach. But it's way better than stepping in it, even if it's a total stranger doing the stepping.

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.

Same point, different poodle

I've been trying out the new dog. 

Longtime readers of this blog will remember a certain canine star, the late great Chloe. Chloe left us way too soon last winter. She was a GREAT hiker, bringing the need for speed and a craving for the chase to our woodland excursions. Check out a long, long list of "Poodle Posts" here.

They say every boy needs a dog. Well, just about every hiker does too. Especially when, like me, the hiker has to hike alone. So I've been trying out the new dog. 

Daphne is a "parti" poodle, part black and part white...and all poodle. She was born just two days after Chloe met her fate last February, and she joined our family last spring. She's lovely.

The other day, I took Daphne out to the end of Duluth's Park Point, where Minnesota Avenue meets a gate and a dirt road continues past the Sky Harbor airport and into the pines.

Chloe was a sprinter, running out far ahead to stake her place. Daphne is a laggard, staying back to sample the smells and tastes. 

Chloe would bark out into the world, longing for a response from another barking dog. Daphne is all about the smells, sniffing every conspicuous log for her news of the world. 

On this walk, she stays close by, not quite as sure of her place in the world. This dog is domestic, a lap dog, out for a stroll with her people, not a high-octane wilderness adventure.

 

Then it's a return walk along the beach back to the parking lot. This dog stays close behind me...nice! Chloe's joy and downfall was her desire to explore and chase. Much to my relief, Daphne shows no inclination to run up the dunes out of sight.

I walked here with Chloe many times, in winter and in summer.

Now it's the new dog. Daphne Delilah Slade, you're testing out okay. 

 

Erkki Harju says "Ski" in Two Harbors

 

In twenty years of skiing on the North Shore's groomed trails, I've seen a lot of signs with basically the same message: Please don't walk on the groomed ski trail. I even remember the Nordic ski coach back in high school pleading with students in a school assembly to stay off the ski tracks around the athletic fields. But this sign, which I found yesterday at the Erkki Harju ski trail in Two Harbors, is by far the goofiest and maybe the most effective I've seen. 

No, that is not Erkki Harju himself with the shovels and the drawl. According to my son, that's Groundskeeper Willie from The Simpsons, a vaguely Scottish lip-reader. 


Of course, as a former poodle-walker myself, I found the message a little personal. 


Here's the whole sign: 

I really hope that last apostrophe is a typo and that they have more than one volunteer. These are lovely trails and there has to be a good group in town taking care of them. Although they wind through and around a golf course, the trails are mostly in the woods, so it was more like skiing through a forested glade than along a fairway.

To check it out for yourself, turn off Highway 61 onto County Road 2 at the eastern edge of Two Harbors, and drive just 0.7 miles north to the parking lot on the right. Just be sure ya ski and not walk on the trails. Especially if ya got a poodle.

The easiest ski trail in Duluth

The good folks at Boulder Lake have done it again. They've added a new trail and a new parking lot to that wonderful network of trails just north of Duluth. And this time, they've created the Easiest Trail in Duluth.

Duluth doesn't have truly easy ski trails. The city is built on a steep rocky hillside that is riddled with creeks. What isn't steep here is deep. To build a soccer field, both dynamite and landfill are required. So a flat and easy ski trail is as rare as a palm tree here. 

Boulder Lake is far enough away from Lake Superior that it's all on relatively flat terrain. And the new trails off the new East Parking Lot take full advantage of that flatness.

The new parking area is right off of County Road 4 (Rice Lake Road). Take Highway 4 18 miles north of Duluth and cross Island Lake on the causeway. Just past the Island Lake Inn, turn left on Boulder Dam Road. Then, after just a few hundred yards, turn right on Boulder Lake Road. The new parking area is ahead on the left. 

The area's WIDEST ski trail runs from the parking lot to the north and west to connect with the existing trail system, right at the intersection of the Nine Pine loop and the Lonesome Grouse loop. They call it the Superhighway, and it's built wide enough for skate-skiers to go in both directions and pass without so much as touching a ski tip. There are even two classic ski tracks going in both directions.

The new campground loop runs through the Island Lake Campground, which was built by the folks who own the Island Lake Inn. The ski trail runs 1.5 completely flat kilometers through the campground. If you're looking for a ski adventure, this is not the place. But if you're looking to take a skittish adult on their first ski outing or a toddler for their second outing, this is the place. It's amazing how steep even the slightest downhill can look to a beginning skier; there is no such hill on this loop.

There is only one problem with this new campground loop. There is a short but steep climb up from the Superhighway to the loop. I imagine all the real beginners flailing on the hill, spread out on the snow like tacklers who missed their tackles on a kickoff return. With your beginner, just take off your skis and walk up this short challenge.

The one true easy ski trail in the Duluth area is the Red Trail in the Superior Municipal Forest. But that's in Wisconsin, and you'd have to wear your Green Bay Packers Lycra to ski there.

North Shore dog ski...the Ultimate Outdoor Experience?

So you love the North Shore. And you love to ski. To top it all off, you love your dog. What if you could combine all of those into ...The...Ultimate...Outdoor...Experience?

Don't try strapping four tiny little skis onto your dog's paws, try skijoring instead. Or at least try taking the hound out with you when you ski.The dog will love it. You might like it too.

Suffice to say that with our psychotic, self-centered poodle, it's not about pulling forward to go fast. It's not a mini-version of a Beargrease sled dog team all focused and working together. With Chloe, it's all about her and whatever whim strikes her.

In the Duluth area, there are four ski trails that allow dogs on the groomed ski trails:

Lester Park golf course  
Separate from the well-known Lester Park ski trails, this is a 3 kilometer loop along the fairways of the golf course. Chloe is in her glory in the picture above. 


Boulder Lake
Sundays and Thursdays are dog days at Boulder. Chloe, floppy ears and all, actually looks pretty focused in the picture at top.

Snowflake Nordic
Most used by local ski teams and Olympians, this private trail system allows members to bring their dogs anytime. 


Biskey Ponds
A new ski trail system at Fish Lake north of Duluth, they allow dogs on Sunday afternoons and Mondays...on the trail called "Wolf Run Loop."


The options dwindle a bit as you head up the North Shore. But the scenery and wildness improve.


Summit View Trail, Sugarbush
Head up toward the summit of Carlton Peak on this designated dog trail. It starts from the Britton Peak trailhead off the Sawbill Trail.


George Washington Pines

Just north of Grand Marais on the Gunflint Trail, you and your dog will enjoy this 3.5 K loop through the woods, just like Bryan Hansel and friends did. Check out the video!

Warmer by the lake, snowier away

It's warmer by the lake. And it has been for a while. 

 

Most of the snowy storms that have rolled through this fall and winter ended up as rain down by Lake Superior and snow up in the "higher elevations." The beach on Minnesota Point has a thin blanket of snow and a wide band of ice and sand at the water's edge. This morning, Chloe had to do an awkward dance to get off the slick shoreline.

In the hills, there is fair amount of snow. We've been skiing at Duluth's Piedmont and Hartley trails about every other day. It's the same pattern all the way up the shore.

Yesterday I had a meeting at Lutsen Mountain. I drove up Highway 61 from Duluth in the morning. Right by Lake Superior, there is maybe one inch of snow, no more than three inches. There's a bit more snow around Silver Bay and Little Marais. 

I was indoors all day  at Caribou Highlands in a room with no windows. I didn't even bring any skis. That was really hard, to drive all that way and get into all that gorgeous terrain and not even hear the crunch of snow under foot. 

If you are headed up the shore this weekend, take one of those great left turns into the snowy winter country above. Drive the big loop up County Road 2 to Isabella and back down Highway 1 to Finland. Take the Onion River Road up to where the plows have stopped and the skiing begins. Head up the Gunflint Trail into deep real winter.

Fog dog: Before the storm

The biggest storm of the fall (so far) is rolling through Minnesota today. Before the big blow, I took Chloe out for a spin on the Superior Hiking Trail. Duluth has been decked in in fog since Sunday; as I drove up 40th Avenue West we entered the cloud bank and stayed there for the whole hike.

We hiked west from 40th Avenue West along the SHT toward Peace Ridge. The SHT in Duluth runs through four or five long stretches of what I call "dwarf forest." Aspen, oak and maple are growing there, but the soil is so thin and the climate so exposed (really? In Duluth?) that the trees only grow about 20 feet tall.

The combination of the fog and the dwarf forest made the short hike kinda spooky. The views are spectacular from Peace Ridge, taking in all of western Duluth and the St. Louis River. All I could see yesterday was fog. The sounds of the city, however, were everywhere, dispersed and resonating in the fog.

My destination was this rock looking southwest over Peace Ridge. I remember this as "the last happy place." On September 11, 2001, I sat here with Gayle Coyer of the Superior Hiking Trail Association, geologist John Green, and outdoor writer Sam Cook. We knew that the planes had hit the World Trade Center and that one of the towers had collapsed, but we didn't know about all the wars and pain to come.

In a sense, we were in a fog that day too. The world was noisy and changing around us, but we only saw what was in front of us. A storm was on the way.

But today's storm will pass and we'll all survive just fine.

Best fall colors? Duluth has them now

The best North Shore fall colors are now in Duluth. Hit the Superior Hiking Trail west of Spirit Mountain and find lovely maple and white pine woods. The SHT runs through old-growth maple forest for over a mile. About half the leaves have fallen from the trees, carpeting the forest floor.

In The Guide to the Superior Hiking Trail, this section is called "Munger Trail at 123rd Ave. W. to Magney Snively Trailhead." It's also on the SHT website.

From the Boundary Ave. exit of I-35, head south on Skyline Drive through the Spirit Mountain area, a total of 2.5 miles from the freeway. There's a SHT parking lot on the left that's also used for the Magney ski trails. Hike west (or south, really) from the parking lot right into a lovely forest of tall old white pine interspersed with flaming yellow maples.



The pines are as dark as the maples are bright. You can hike about two miles west on the trail to Bardon Peak, where views open up of Duluth and the St. Lous River valley below.



Today, even the poodle had a great time:

The man who knew too much

A little knowledge is a dangerous thing. On Sunday, I knew just enough about the North Shore that I made all the wrong moves.

This weekend was probably one of the busiest weekends on the North Shore of the entire year. Tourists flock to the shore for the fall colors and for events like the Crossing Borders studio tour. Crowds of hikers head for the fall color favorites like Oberg Mountain or the Lutsen gondola.

What about the Slade-Rauschenfels family? Could we join the crowd and enjoy those greatest hits? Naw, I'm the expert. Couldn't I find the best fall color destination EVER?

I steered us to remote George H. Crosby Manitou State Park. Heck, the DNR said the colors were near peak there. And I knew of a trail that was off the beaten path, where the poodle could run wild.



The Humpback Trail makes up the first part of the park's Hiking Club Trail. I knew it had some nice inland valley views, but I couldn't recall if it had any sugar maples along the way. It did. A few. With most of their leaves washed off in this week's heavy rains.



I had also conveniently forgotten how difficult the trail was. The last time I hiked it was Election Day 2008. It was the same trail, although it looked like no one had brushed the trail since that election. So much for campaign promises.

Plus, it was a lot rougher experienced through the eyes and ankles of my family. The rocks were bigger and the path was steeper. One son did his very best to not swear at me.

We made it back to the parking lot in one piece and refilled our water bottles at the park's hand pump.

The day was still young. After the first disaster, I tried to deliver a pleasant walk through a maple forest. Without the crowds, right? On the busiest day of the year. Hey, I know this area.



We headed for the Superior Hiking Trail as it leads east from the Cramer Road outside Schroeder. The Guide to the Superior Hiking Trail (which I helped write and edit) said it was some of the best sugar maple forest in the area. It's the section known in the Guide as "Cook County Road 1 to Temperance River State Park." I was hoping we could walk in to Tower Overlook to enjoy the "beautiful view of Lake Superior."

Flatter trail? Yup.

Pretty maples? Sure thing. The forest was on fire with maple trees in their full fall glory.

Totally mucky underfoot? You bet ya. Who woulda thunk it?

We made it about a quarter mile before the muck turned us around. Sally and I had our hiking boots on and could plow through. Our growing boys, however, didn't want to ruin their new school sneakers. We turned around and drove straight to Culvers in Two Harbors.

At least I knew where to find Cheddar Burgers and Concrete Mix-ins.

Girl power on the SHT

Leave the techie man-gear and the "I'm ridin' solo" attitude at home. Yesterday it was all about the girls.

It was lovely. The valleys inland from Lake Superior are ablaze with autumn color. The sky was crystal blue. Best of all both of my girls were along for the day. Sally had the camera and was in her glory, composing pictures from the trees and leaves and rocks. Chloe was in her glory too, running on the trail, off the trail.



We drove the back roads from Beaver Bay to Finland and found glorious flaming maple trees along the way. Then we hiked up to Sawmill Dome along the Superior Hiking Trail, headed west from County Road 6.

It is SO NICE to have some female energy on a hike. To enjoy the journey as much as the destination. To be sure to hike slowly enough and close enough so we can actually talk with each other, about dreams and ideas. And, in Chloe's case, to run all through the woods with enough passion for all of us...and to pee anywhere she wanted.

I took Sally down the spur to Picnic Rock. Last time I was there, I thought it was a super cool destination, well-worth the rough but short spur trail to get there. Sally was not at all impressed by the jumble of mossy boulders. "Shouldn't call it 'Picnic' Rock," she said."I thought there'd be some sort of sunny view, not this dark and depressing place." Damn, she's right. Again. Gotta re-write that one trail description. Now that's girl power.

The biggest plus of all this girl power, however, was the kissing:

Skijor for psychos

In honor of the triumphant Norwegian Olympic nordic skiers, this afternoon I donned my best red ski clothes and went out skiing. With the poodle. But it was not skijoring.

Now skijor is a Norwegian word, meaning "ski-drive." Basically, some animal pulls you around the ski trail. In Montana, people skijor with horses. In Minnesota and in Norway, people skijor with real dogs. Dog and people are smiling as the husky or malamute or Marmaduke strains ahead and runs like the wind.



I am stuck with the poodle. The willful, paranoid, psycho poodle. Who does not skijor. At least not for long.

This is the same dog who, when out for a walk on the city sidewalk, strains at the leash to the point of suffocating herself just to get out in front. Do not dare to walk in front of her, you will kill her.

Out on regular ski trails that wind through the forest, she's okay. But on the open fields of Lester Park golf course today, there was, in the words of Bob Dylan, "No direction home." What fun to run circles around your owner...and tie him up in the stretchie leash! What fun to stop for a massive dump right in the middle of a downhill run!

Finally we figured out that someone had to ski ahead and challenge her to catch up.



At the top of the Ninth Hole, with a big view down to Lake Superior, we paused to soak in the sun and the scenery. The older son skied away and ahead, almost out of sight but not quite. Chloe watched him go. Then, with the target of a beloved boy in sight, it was time to run. I had the best 20 seconds of my whole winter as dog and I careened down the fairway toward the clubhouse and the lake.

Then she got all crazy again as all four of us people regathered at the clubhouse. Go to Mom? Dad? The baby in the sled? Poop again? Lasso the big guy?

Too much fun. I loved it all.

It's FREEZING here!

It's February on the North Shore. While all the other lakes in Minnesota froze over in December, big deep Lake Superior had stayed open. For one below-zero morning after another, sea smoke rose from the open water.



In the last few days, winter cold finally has the lake in its grasp. What was open water two days ago off Duluth is now a vast field of ice. The satellite maps are showing a ring of ice 20 miles wide around the entire coast.

The good news is, the ice is beautiful. A few more cold days, and ice anglers will take the first tentative steps out, followed by skiers and skaters.

The bad news is, this will cut off lake-effect snow on both the south and north shores. No open water means no evaporation, and no evaporation means no piles of yummy snow.

This morning, the vast ice sheet was not quite frozen in place. Waves from somewhere far away were still moving the ice and grinding it quite slowly against the shore.

But it was freezing.

Even the poodle, normally frenetic when she's offleash on the beach, froze for a moment:



It gives me a kick to see how big deep Lake Superior fights off the freeze for all those months. But nature eventually wins, and the lake begins to freeze.