Outdoors
Duluth Winter Enduro Video
Jeff Wolf’s view of last weekend’s Spirit Mountain Bike Enduro Race. Music by Red Hot Rebellion.
Carved Stone Project Placement Experiment
Stoneworker Sean MacManus and I hatched a plan to use his Celtic stonework pieces to fashion an underwater stone garden, geocache, and/or orienteering course. This video is footage of my experiment to test the feasibility of lashing the stones around the base of a boulder. I had two of the stones, each identical with backing mounts affixed with mortar, and I had two ropes. I found this project much more difficult than I imagined, and it failed as a proof of concept as the mortar weakened and would not hold the ropes. This was in addition to simply being deucedly difficult to accomplish even in just a few feet of water. The shot of the stones towards the end by the green leaf is after the mortar failure when I decided to abandon the attempt. I was beat and so left one the stones overnight. The final shot is me retrieving it. After this, I experimented with trying to wedge the stones in place but that didn’t work either. The entire project (still evolving towards this summer) generated a lot of footage of me swimming around enigmatically with these stones, which has already been released here.
Crazy Pine Siskins
We have a gazillion pine siskins at our bird feeders right now. The feeders have to be filled twice a day to keep up with these ravenous little guys. Does anyone know what the story is? We have had siskins before but never so many at one time. Undoubtedly our seeds are tasty, but …
The Mitten
Another cold day today, more crazy cold coming this weekend. Be careful out there, dress appropriately.
Diving with the Triquetra Stone
Summer 2014 placement experiment with MacManus Stoneworks’ triquetra stone, towards an eventual permanent placement in an underwater orienteering course or geocache concept. More deets in summer 2015.
Underwater Carved Stone Portraits
Collaborating with Sean MacManus of MacManus Stoneworks, our plan was to create an underwater geocache or orienteering course of his carved stones in Lake Superior. The summer of 2014 saw me performing initial placement experiments. This failed to yield any permanent way to affix the stones underwater, but it did generate several video portraits of the stones in situ. A follow-up video will detail the work I did to try and place these stones underwater. Summer of 2015 will see more progress and additional ideas. Meanwhile, enjoy~
Ice Climbing at Casket Quarry in West Duluth
A group from the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse Outdoor Recreation Living and Learning Community take on Casket Quarry on Jan. 31. Video by Grant Sachs.
Video Archive: How to Build an Igloo
Here’s one from the early days of vlogging. Starfire and V-Nick show how to build an igloo in this grainy PDD video from 2005.
Ruffed grouse release 2/5/15
Several days ago, one of our great local conservation officers brought in a ruffed grouse with a head injury to Wildwoods. The grouse has made a full recovery, so today, Sarah and Trudy released her back into the wild. The grouse exploded from the transport kennel and quickly disappeared into the woods.
John Beargrease Sled Dog Marathon 2015 Video
The PDD drone, piloted by Cory Fechner (liftoffaerials.com) was at the start of the 2015 John Beargrease Sled Dog marathon yesterday to shoot aerial footage. There were other drones at the starting line so we ventured out into the woods to capture the mushers a quarter-mile into the race.
Music: “Guit. Ditty” by Hattie Peterson from Twenty3 Years Into 4teen Songs.
Duluth Grants Available
The Duluth Legacy Endowment Fund is issuing more grants this year. The endowment has already donated almost $34,000 over the years. Go to the website for information and application information. Deadline to apply is Feb. 1.
The DLEF supports valued Duluth community programs. Anyone from a group involved in these areas should consider applying:
- Arts and culture
- Beautification
- Education
- Environment
- Human service
- Parks and recreation
Walking to Duluth
We have no idea if Julian Holenstein is really walking from Thunder Bay to Duluth via frozen Lake Superior or if the title of his video is a joke, but either way he’s worth a few awesomeness points.
PDD Video Lab: Cute Snowshoe Hare
Here’s an adorable video of the elusive snowshoe hare by photographer Michael Furtman. With no audio, the silence is a bit deafening, so we’ll encourage you to provide your own soundtrack. Press play on the video above, then press play on one of the selections below.
Found: The Elusive West Duluth Snowy Owl
If you’ve followed Perfect Duluth Day closely for more than a year, you might know that my wife and I are the world’s laziest and lousiest birders. We have cheap binoculars and cameras, and basically just try to keep an eye out while we are engaged in an activity like cross-country skiing. Last year, during an owl irruption in the Duluth area, we saw zero owls. The only snowy owls we had seen in our lives, before today, were in captivity at the Lake Superior Zoo and the World Bird Sanctuary in Missouri.
We had a few failed missions last year, seeking the elusive snowy at Rice’s Point and the Bong Airport. After hearing reports of sightings near Duluth Business University and Wade Stadium this year, we decided to give it another try. We saw a bald eagle at Grassy Point within minutes, and figured that was a good sign. We knew from reading Sparky Stensaas’ blog post about Superior Snowy Owls that it’s generally easier to find them in a stupid place, like on a football scoreboard (in his case) or a piece of industrial equipment (in our case) than in a beautiful wilderness environment, so we were only moderately surprised to find our gal at Erie Pier in West Duluth, perched on a bulldozer.
North Shore Camping Adventure
A late-summer camping adventure — with scenes from Duluth to Grand Portage — shot by Shun Matsuhashi. The song is “Swansea” by Bombay Bicycle Club.
Coach Cork: Lesson #3
The third installment of valuable cross-country skiing tips from Coach Cork, brought to you by Ski Hut.
See also:
Coach Cork: Lesson #2
Coach Cork dispenses more tips and advice for cross-country skiers in lesson #2.
Thanks to Ski Hut for sponsoring Coach Cork. See also, Coach Cork: Lesson #1
Duluth featured in Bicycling magazine
The hyperbolic headline “The Town Cycling Saved,” is a tad unfortunate, but the interview with Duluth Mayor Don Ness in this month’s issue of Bicycling magazine is now online. In the print edition, the headline is “Transformer Man,” which is maybe only a little better. Other than that, however, it’s a fun and quick read. The mayor clarified on his Facebook page today that the recent improvements to bike trails is just one part of Duluth’s turnaround, saying “it’s because of Duluth’s revitalization and the new energy around town that groups like COGGS have taken on ambitious goals and have inspired hundreds of volunteers to take ownership of these trails.”