An Underwhelming and Slow Spring

Each Spring in Minnesota is customarily a slow time for outdoor activities - the outdoor winter sports season  is over but it is normally too wet and cold to plan any more summer-like  activities, like backpacking, camping, and paddling.  April 2011 featured the 5th consecutive month of below avergae temperatures and  a wide-spread and signficant snow storm in the middle of the month, and flurries at the end of the month.  Click here for nice climate summaries by the State Climatology Office.

Not surprisingly, my spring activities were muted by the weather.  Here are some highlights.

Eagle Center in Wabasha

In mid-March Cristin and I made a late Saturday afternoon roadtrip to the National Eagle Center in Wabasha.  This is a good time of the year for eagle viewing.  We saw a few eagles on the drive down, only one from the Eagle Center.  Our best raptor sighting occurred  when a red-tailed hawk, in pursuit of its game, swooped right in front of us on the highway, offering my best view ever of the 'red tail' of this hawk.  We stopped for a beer at the Olde Triangle Pub a block from the Eagle Center, where St. Patrick's day was being celebrated. We surprisingly ran into a DNR co-worker of mine and her husbnad who live in Wabasha and they invited us to their home.

Bald Eagles on West River Rd in Mpls

The next weekend we walked the Mississippi River loop between Lake St, and Ford Parkway bridges. Two mature Bald Eagles soared low circles right over us and then perched right next to each other in a nearby tree.

During a hike in mid-April at Tamarack Nature Center, we were surprised to see 2 sandhill cranes feeding in a marsh.  I frequent this park and had never seen cranes here!

I was at the Twins baseball game on April 27th, it snowed!  The vendors were selling hats, gloves, and blankets!  Worse of all, Liriano gave up 4 runs in the top of the 1st before even recording 1 out.  This started a 6 game skid in which the Twins were completely and thoroughly anhilated in each game.  Ironically, that bad streak snapped when Lirano, on the verge of being banished to the bullpen, no-hit the White Sox 1 week after the snowy fiasco I witnessed.

A Wintry Night at Target Field --- on April 27!  Oh my!

100% Irish Icicle for the Day

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Entertainment before the race

Today I ran in Twin Cities In Motion's "100% Irish for a Day 5K"  fun run at Lake Harriet in Minneapolis.   I had registered for it in mid- February when we had a week of three 50 degree days and it looked as if winter was on its way out.  You can blame me for jinxing us all!  I haven't run at all since October and I was looking for a good opportunity to get at it again.  This seemed the perfect event given the short distance, modest fee, and great bling: a long sleeve technical T-shirt, socks, a head band/ear warmer, with snacks and FREE beer at the finish line.  How could I go wrong?

I realized how wrong I could go when I looked outside this morning and saw a couple of inches of snow swirling around in the gusty winds.  A quick check revealed a temperature of 14 degrees F, west winds 18 mph gusting to 35 mpg, making the windchill  a not-so-pleasant 3 degrees F. I considered bagging it, but if I did so I would never be able to wear the bling in good conscience and I didn't have anything else to do, anyway.  I also considered that I am always energized by contagion by the hundreds of people that do participate in these type of events --  everyone is always so happy to be out and excited for the race that one can't help to be in good mood in that positive environment, regardless the weather.

The thought of a post-race beer at 10AM in those conditions did not sound that appealing, but I became determined to drink my FREE beer and to love it!   As you can see, I was 100% Irish for the Day, enjoying a beer while surrounded by so many cheerful souls. Life doesn't get any better than this!  (although if it was 70 degrees, sunny and there were burgers, and ....)

The Beer Garden is a popular place on this frigid Saturday morning!

Voyageurs National Park, March 2011

Cristin and I visited Voyageurs National Park the weekend 3/4 - 3/6.  Cristin had noticed that there was a Rover's winter camping trip to VNP in February and was curious to check out Minnesota's only national park.  In winter the primary popular activities there are snowmobiling and ice fishing.  We aren't setup to do either but we knew we'd have ample opportunities for X/C skiing and snowshoeing, too.   We stayed at a cabin at the Moosehorn Resort on Lake Kabetogema.  Bella got to tag along with us, too!


Sunrise over Lake Kabetogema and Voyageurs NP

On Saturday our destination was the Rainy Lake Visitor Center, about a 40 mile drive from our cabin that required us to drive into International Falls.  We left Bella at the cabin for the day due to her chronic knee problem. We had an outstanding brunch at the Coffee Landing Cafe on 3rd St in downtown. The unsightly and foul-smelling emissions from the Boise Cascade smoke stacks across the Rainy River in Fort Frances, Ontario are as a I remembered from my only other visit to I-Falls in the mid-1980's.

After eating we headed to the more pristine environs of Voyageurs! We went to the modern and plush visitor center where Cristin rented skis for $5. We skied 1/2 mile or so across Rainy Lake to the island home of the Black Bay ski trail  system   In many winters an ice road is plowed on the lake, including a spur and parking lot to this trail head.  But the ice conditions never were conducive to heavy vehicle traffic this winter as early snow helped insulated the lake surface and so solid, thick ice sufficient for cars and trucks was not formed.  However, the ice conditions were certainly sufficient for foot and light vehicle traffic like ATVs and snowmobiles. 

We skied the 5 mile "Pine" loop, one of the most interesting and fun trails I have ever skied! The narrow, single track trail is very scenic as it went through a forest of mixed type (aspen, pines, spruce, etc) and age including some nice older growth pines. We skied through a beaver pond, along an inland lake, and through a large wetland complex.  The trail had some level sections for good striding which featured many gentle curves so we never knew what pleasant vista would greet us around the next corner.  At one point we were in a small valley bordered on both sides by rocky ridges. The trail had some up-and-down areas that were very fun. 

View along the trail

The conditions were very good.  The temp was low or mid-20's , little or no wind, and cloudy with the sun trying to peak out, very mild. The trail had not been recently groomed but it was firm and user-groomed tracks helped greatly. In fact, a local couple got to the trail head at the same time as us and skied ahead, eventually even lapping us.  The trail was not icy or soft -- almost perfect.  There was some debris in the track and a few small ice ridges on a couple of the downhills in the pines toward the end of our ski. Cristin's old 3-pin binding rental skis were a little slow but she managed well.  We stopped for a quick trail lunch  at the trail intersection just 1.4 miles from the trail head, clearing a small area of snow from a buried picnic table so we could sit for a moment.

      

Cristin on Rainy Lake

We skied back to the visitor center, stopping to chat momentarily with a couple ice fishing with their dog.  At the visitor center, the NPS Ranger anxiously awaited our arrival as we needed to return the skis.  She had asked us to be back at 4:00, even though the center did not close until 4:30. We arrived at about 4:15 or so, the Ranger waiting for us at the door, looking at her watch as we approached, and glaring at us, and then acting fakey-nice to us as we entered.

  

On our way back thru International Falls we stopped at the Viking Bar on 3rd St in downtown. We spotted it earlier when we stopped for brunch. Cristin enjoyed the novelty of having a drink at the 'Viking' bar in the farthest reaches of northern Minnesota, just a stones throw from Canada.          

The previous day, Jerry -- the owner of the Moosehorn Resort - told us that there was no rush for us to check out early Sunday and so we could take our time.  So we did!  Cristin, Bella, and I all hiked on the lake around Echo Island, which is located right out in front of  the resort.  Cristin used her snowshoes; I didn't but should have as the snow closer to the island was very deep, which forced us to walk further out on the lake where the wind prevents the snow from accumulating too much. Again the temps were mild, realizing when I was unzipping my jacket that I had overdressed out of habit as it has been a cold winter.  There was very light snow falling all morning and early afternoon, even as a hazy sun was visible along with some occasional  blue sky.  The hike was a great way to end our time at VNP and the Big K and Bella got some much appreciated exercise.

The snow continued to fall our entire drive back to the Twin Cities. Although it wasn't heavy, we couldn't drive faster than about 45-60 mph and we saw several cars in the ditch. We devoured an excellent pizza at Sammy's in Cloquet so that good dining experience helped us better tolerate the poor road conditions.

So concluded the weekend and yet another new adventure experienced! 

The Luminary Loppet (Mpls) and Book Across The Bay (Ashland, Wi)

This February I participated in 2 classic winter X/C-ski events: the Luminary Loppet on Lake of the Isles in Minneapolis on Feb 5 and the Book Across the Bay on Lake Superior's Chequamegon Bay between Ashland and Washburn, WI on Feb 19. I decided to report on these events together for several reasons.  The events are both on Saturday evenings in February, they have been getting more and more popular the past 5 years, registration is required (this means $), the routes are  lit with hundreds of luminaries, several thousand people participate, including many families, and there is a tent party after each event.  This was the first time I participated in either and I have pictures of neither, but the respective websites have many good pictures.

When you register for the Loppet, you are required to pick a start time on the 1/2 hour between 6PM and 8:30PM.  The intent is to spread people out over the course. The color of your bib indicates your selected start time. I observed, however, that there was no one 'starting' people for the respective heats and that people just filtered onto the course whenever they were ready. I started about 30-45 minutes before my proper start time.

The conditions for the Loppet were ideal - mild temperatures and great snow conditions -- a very pleasant evening that was a nice respite from a long winter. The course distance was about 3 miles. In addition to the several thousand registered, it seemed as if all residents from the surrounding neighborhoods were converging onto Lake of the Isles.  I estimate that 30% of those I saw were not registered as they wore no bib.  There were many people walking and snowshoeing over the groomed classic tracks. People would consistently stand and loiter on the track. Some people were skiing against the grain  -- imagine a car going the wrong way on the interstate in rush hour and you get the idea. 

The Book Across the Bay was very similar except that the skiing conditions were very icy.  Some warm weather earlier in the week had melted off most of the snow from Chequamegon Bay, leaving  hard ice. The race organizers did a heroic job of trying to preparing a skiable track across the lake. Like the Loppet, the hundreds of walkers and snowshoers managed to often block the ski course the entire 10K.  There was a huge bonfire every K where water and snacks were served and fire works were being launched from Washburn much the way, a unique experience, what a great idea!  However, Cristin and I both fell at least once and we struggled with the icy surface the entire course. Upon completing the one-way course  at Washburn, the surging and clueless crowd made even taking our skis off a challenge. The streets of this small town were seriously gridlocked with traffic, and Cristin slipped and fell hard while walking back to the car,   both the gridlock and her fall a fittingly frustrating conclusion to the event.  

In summary, both of these events are very unique and have all the elements that have made them noteworthy and memorable winter classics. However, they both were SO terribly over crowded with several thousands of people that I will not participate in them again.  I am sure 5 years ago I would really enjoyed these events - all else was equal except the crowds. I now know that I much prefer mellower organized events or even just a quiet ski on one of the many excellent trails we have available to us.

Bayfield Ice Caves - February 2011

We were in the Bayfield area President's Day weekend to participate in the Book Across the Bay X/C ski event that Saturday evening, as I describe in a related blog. Earlier that day Cristin and I had the opportunity to hike the Lakeside Trail that offers views of the mainland sea caves near Cornucopia, Wi. They are part of the Apostle Islands National Lakeshore.  The Park Service describes this trail "as a rugged path for use by experienced hikers, with stream crossings and steep slopes along the way". Alright!   

North Shore Skiing, February 2011

On the weekend of February 11-13, six Rovers spent the weekend on the North Shore. We stayed at a super deluxe townhouse in Beaver Bay just off the shore of Lake Superior. I found this rental via Vacation Rentals By Owner.  In addition to myself, those participating were John F., Luke B., Paul S., Mary Ann P., and Carmen L.  John noted that he had lived in some apartments that were smaller than the master bedroom he stayed in this weekend.

On the drive up Friday, Paul and I stopped and skied at the Two Harbors Ski trail, a townie trail about 1 mile from MN Hwy 61.  Nice system! 

(l to r) Luke, Mary Ann, Carmen, John, Paul

On Saturday AM, we all headed to the Northwoods Trail system that is just outside of Silver Bay.  It links up with Tettegouche State Park trail system.  Both systems feature single track classic trails in a classic north woods setting. The conditions were nearly perfect, temps in the mid-20s, calm winds, great snow coverage.  The only minor complaints were that the pole planting was very soft and in the pines on the Northwoods trail there was lots of litter of needles, bark, and pine cones, which gummed up Mary Ann's wax skis.

Jack on the Palisade Valley Trail

We skied 10K from the Northwoods trail head to Tettegouche Camp via Palisade Valley.  I had never skied this trail; it was outstanding. I did not feel like I was in Minnesota as there were steep ridges on either side of the trail. Spectacular.  We generally climbed, as several short but steep uphills were encountered but the majority of the mileage was more level.

We took a lunch break at Tettegouche Camp, which has a large enclosed log cabin style shelter with a wood burning Franklin Stove.     Luke and Carmen fetched some wood and started a fire. We then headed back to Northwoods, backtracking thru the Palisade Valley.  Now we were hitting the downhills, which provided several fun and exciting moments.

When we hooked back up with the Northwoods system, five of us decided to take Herringbone Hill, which is very steep up and a fast,long ride down.  One of our party decided to take the longer but more gentle bypass trail.  We then headed back to the parking lot, completing a 20K+ day of skiing.

When we got back to the townhouse, most took advantage of the sauna located in a nearby building.  We then had a nice dinner and later relaxed with one of Carmen's scrabble-like board games and a wood fire.

We departed the townhouse by 10AM Sunday, after enjoying Carmen's egg bake and fresh hot bread, and we all headed to Gooseberry Falls State Park for some skiing. We started at the Visitor Center and skied a short loop down to Lake Superior. We took off our skis and walked around the lake shore near the Lady Slipper pinnic shelter and Picnic Point.

Paul on the shoreline of Lake Superior at Gooseberry Falls SP

It was very mild, temperature in the low 30's, no wind, low clouds, and gray as can be everywhere one looked.  The sky, lake, and snow all appeared the same dismal gray color. None of us had much energy and we soon departed for home.

We all had a great time and lived the life of luxury for 2 days for a cost of about only $110 for 2 nights lodging, 2 breakfast, 2 bag lunches, and dinner Saturday.  It was so much fun we talked about a reunion trip in 2012!

The images from Palisade Valley are etched into my memory -- that is one cool place and I can't believe I hadn't been there before now!

Bear Head Lake State Park, January 2011

On the weekend of January 14-16, Cristin and I stayed at a camper cabin at Bear Head Lake State Park, about 20 miles west and south of Ely, MN.  For a description of our epic snowshoe hike that Saturday, please see the related blog "Hegman Lake Pictographs in BWCA, January 2011". 

We arrived very late that Friday as the drive took 7 hours as a snow storm began just as we left the Twin Cities and continued for most of the 225 miles.  The cabins are very nice!  Click here for a virtual tour.    The cabins are new and have electricity, electric heat, lights, 2 bunks where the bottom bunk is a full size bed, a porch, and a very private yard complete with a fire ring and picnic table.  Because we were there in January and there was much snow and it was frigid, we did not use the outdoor amenities.  An outhouse is located a short walk from the camper cabins and cold water is available nearby.

Upon returning to Bear Head on Saturday from the snowshoe hike to the pictographs and dinner in Ely, we were treated with a stunning moon halo and stars like crazy.  We later learned that the temperature that evening quickly dropped below zero and plummeted to -27 degrees F.  We went for about 1/2 hour walk in the campground area, appreciating the beauty and noting that the the cold air was taking our breath away, literally.  We retreated to the cabin, which with the help of a space heater stayed plenty warm all night  - too warm for Jack, actually :) 

Because of the frigid conditions, we did not depart the cabin until after noon on Sunday. We packed up and checked out but then skied right at the park. By then it had warmed up to about 5 degrees.  It was a wonderful experience, the trail a single track classic and freshly groomed.  The trail goes through stands of large pines and snow was clinging to all the branches, a beautiful winter wonderland.