Outdoors
Video: Ice-fishing gear floating away on Lake Superior ice sheets
Marius Anderson of London Road Films shot this aerial footage in Duluth on Tuesday after an ice sheet broke from the shore and took a group of nearly 30 ice anglers out into Lake Superior. The Duluth Fire Department rescued all of the anglers; most of the equipment was lost. (more…)
Winter Sports in Duluth, 1929
This brochure from 1929 highlights “Winter Sports in Duluth,” including the old toboggan chute at Chester Park, as seen on the cover. (more…)
Ice Angler Rescue
Ice anglers rescued after ice sheet breaks away from shore.
KBJR. WCCO-TV. Star Trib. Duluth News-Tribune.
I was skating that ice 48 hours ago, so I’m going to crawl under my bed now.
Skated the big lake today
Skated the big lake today in -30 windchill or so. Had it all to myself because I’m a baller, shot caller, 20-inch blades on the Impala
Two new movie packages join Banff Mountain Film Festival
Two new Banff Mountain Film Festival movie packages hit the internet on Feb. 4 as part of the virtual world tour. Ruby and Sapphire movie bundles are joining the Amber and Onyx movie packages that are already online. The Duluth Cross-country Ski Club receives part of the proceeds when viewers use the link on duluthxc.com to get to the BMFF content. (more…)
More Wild Ice
Skating Duluth’s inner harbor at “the slip.” Photo gallery below. (more…)
Into the Dad Zone: An Epic Skate in the BWCA
Like a lot of folks who love the outdoors I try as hard as possible to get my kid to love being outside as well. To create that connection is like walking the razor’s edge. You push too much and they hate it. You push too little and they get consumed by electronics, friends and all the other noise going on in their young lives.
I would say my actions fall on pushing the outdoors too much. I personally have come to the conclusion that I have one life to live and I am sure as hell going to live it as much as I can.
There is no question, I am happiest outside having an adventure. That has been one consistent theme in my life since I was a kid. That theme is a core part of my being and one aspect of my life I want to give to my child, it’s my legacy … and well, it’s all the legacy I have to give!
So when free time presents itself, outside is where I will be. If my wife is working and I have the kid for that time period, then we are going outside. It’s just a matter of how and where. Usually those two answers are dictated by weather, season and what the conditions will allow us to do. There is always something special to any time and season, if we are aware enough to recognize it. (more…)
Makwa Ziibiins Miikana: Bear Creek Trail to Wisconsin Point
Last week Bear Creek Trail in Superior opened to hikers, bikers and snowshoers. It’s a 2.25-mile crushed-concrete pathway connecting the Osaugie Trail at Bear Creek Park to Wisconsin Point Road. An extension is in the planning stages that will create an additional trail on the other side of Wisconsin Point Road to parking lot #1. But what is already built is excellent. (more…)
Duluthians consulted as national resources for bicyclists
Avesa Rockwell and Jeremy Kershaw have been consulted as experts on bicycling in Shape Magazine. Kershaw and Rockwell lead Heck of the North, a company that plans events for adventuresome bicyclists, such as Le Grand du Nord, Heck Bikepacking Race and Heck of the North. (more…)
Twenty Years on the Superior Hiking Trail: Ely’s Peak Loop
The laziest and slowest record in endurance-sports history has been broken. Again. By me. Again.
As documented in numerous essays, I started hiking the Superior Hiking Trail on Sept. 23, 2000 and finished the 310-mile trek from the Canadian border to Jay Cooke State Park on Nov. 5, 2015. Obviously I took a lot of breaks along the way. Then, in 2016, I hiked new parts of the trail that hadn’t been built when I first went through, thus breaking the record I already held for the slowest unsustained complete traverse of the Superior Hiking Trail.
Was that an official record? Well, no organizational body really keeps track of such things. But I stand firmly in my declaration that no one who has hiked the entire Superior Hiking Trail has taken longer to do it than me.
And now I’ve taken even longer.
In the summer of 2018 a new loop trail was built at Ely’s Peak in Duluth. It was kind of late in the hiking season when I heard about it, so I planned to do it in 2019. Then I kind of forgot about it and got distracted with other things. I had also started a new quest to hike the North Country Trail through Wisconsin. I’m still barely started on that.
Anyway, this past July I drove out to the Ely’s Peak area with the intention of knocking out the new last bit of trail, but as I started walking it occurred to me that if I waited until Sept. 23 to do this loop my Superior Hiking Trail story would span a perfect 20 years. So I hiked other trials that day and saved the loop for the perfect day. (more…)
Volunteer outdoors with Northwoods Volunteer Connection
Northwoods Volunteer Connection, a nonprofit based in Tofte, is recruiting volunteers for environmental stewardship projects clearing trails in the Tofte and Gunflint Ranger Districts of the Superior National Forest through October. Volunteers wishing to volunteer in other parts of the SNF can be accommodated. (more…)
Selective Focus: Fall Colors 2020
Instagram
102 likes, 5 comments - schmiescary on September 23, 2020: "Oberg Mountain Scenic Overlook
#fallcolors #captivatemn #cschmies #obergmountain #northshoremn #exploremn #capture_minnesota #destinationduluth #lakesuperiorcircletour #lakesuperiormagazine".
instagram.com
The Arrowhead region is awash with color once again. Track the progression of fall and peak color with the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources’ Fall Color Finder.
Featured here are select images from Instagram showcasing this year’s fall color display. (more…)
Selective Focus: Superior Hiking Trail
The fall tradition of folks of hitting the 310+ mile Superior Hiking Trail continues. Featured here are select photos from Instagram.
https://www.instagram.com/p/CE3EKvtlQMh/
(more…)
North Country Trail in Wisconsin: Town of Summit
One nice thing about hiking on county roads is that if a deer fly is pestering you and you happen to walk by a freshly killed skunk, the fly will transfer to the skunk and leave you to hike in peace.
There are also fewer ticks on roads than on trails, and you are less likely to get lost. But the benefits of a trail instead of a highway are obvious and substantial. In particular: the natural beauty of the land is a bit less interfered with on a trail, there are no motorized vehicles to watch out for, and on hot days there is usually some protection from the blistering sun.
Those are the basic pros and cons as I hike through the town of Summit in my quest to follow the North Country Trail through Wisconsin. As I’ve explained in previous essays, the trail isn’t built yet in the area near the Minnesota border, with the exception of the Nemadji River Valley, so there is a road route connecting sections of the trail.
Last summer I hiked county roads W and B to Pattison State Park. So far in 2020 I’ve hiked from Pattison to the border between the towns of Summit and Gordon. All of this has happened without any overnight camping or serious day of dedicated hiking. It’s just casual car trips to walk the road in there-and-back stretches. (more…)
Lake Superior Aquaman: Trench Lyfe
Things the camera saw looking out of a Lake Superior trench.
Selective Focus: #perfectduluthday
The weather has been spectacular, we just had a long weekend, it’s time to check in on what people considered a #perfectduluthday
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Phallus Impudicus
The “impudent phallus.” Like many mushrooms, they have both uh masculine and feminine qualities; in their egg stage they are called “witch eggs.” They also have qualities of both life and death: although uh generative in appearance, they have the strong stench of carrion — which attracts the flies which spread their spores. Wikipedia entry.
