Belated Picture Post #1: The Wilderness.
Ok, for anyone who might not know or guess this about me already: I HATE pep rallies. Detested them in high school, ridiculed them when I had to be there, skipped them to hang out in the orchestra room in my later high school years. (The only high school "class" I ever skipped, incidentally.) So the fact that the school district for which I work insists on starting workshop week every new school year with a big 2-hour long "kick off"--which is, really, just a euphemism for a pep rally--has always brought me some degree of chagrine.
But the real problem, I have to say, is that the stupid thing works.
I was NOT ready to start workshops this week--my one week of summer vacation was not sufficient, in my opinion, and the fact that I was extremely lazy (except in social capacities) the whole week, plus my extremely bizarre Olympics-centered schedule, only added to the feeling that I needed more time off. (Could I interject, please, that the Olympics ended just in the nick of time?) So after the rah-rah thing this morning, and then a big ice-breaker session this afternoon with staff from all the programs that are combining in our brand new building, I was feeling like one big eye-roll. Except...now I'm also really energized for the school year to start. Dammit, they got to me. Hmmph.
Anyway, this is not the real point of this post. I promised pictures weeks ago, many many pictures, and in spite of all my lazy time off (not just last week, but for many weeks of afternoons during summer school hours) I never managed to get them posted. So I figure that time has finally come.
So first up:
Superior Hiking Trail! From way back in the middle of July. Sad.
We hiked this time from Lake County Rd 301 (the southernmost point of the SHT if you don't count the Duluth portion, which I won't until they're joined up someday) up to Gooseberry Falls State Park.
We got up north in the late afternoon, so we hiked the 1.2 mile spur trail off the trailhead to stay in the campsite there for the night. Shortly after we arrived, we were joined by a very interesting character. Sometimes (when he was most likeable) he reminded me of my uncle Darry; but the rest of the time he reminded me fairly strongly of Creed, from The Office. (If you haven't seen it, just trust me--it means that at his least likeable, he was odd and occasionally a little creepy, with many improbable and slightly disturbing stories from his past life.) To get a little break from him, Allen and I walked down to and across the nearby creek to bask on the flat rocks there in the afternoon sun with dragonflies zipping by overhead; it was one of the nicest times of the trip, but unfortunately, I didn't get a picture of the spot.
Late, late that night, after Allen and I had already gone to our tent (with the full moon shining so bright through the trees it seemed like a soccer field light) our strange campfellow's entire extended family arrived, drank a lot of alcohol and passed out around the still-burning campfire. So when we got up the next morning there were tents everywhere, plus haphazardly placed, and even unzipped, bivy sacks (for the uninitiated, those are bivouac sacks, tent-crossed-with-sleeping-bag sort of things, like this: http://www.rei.com/product/747832) with sleeping bodies in them. We beat kind of a hasty retreat--besides, it looked a little like rain and we wanted to get out on the trail.
Here's Allen, once we got back up the spur trail to the real trailhead, in one of our ubiquitous trail sign pictures.
The first portion of that day's hike was largely uneventful, but nonetheless it was some of the most enjoyable hiking we've had on any of our SHT trips. Lots of different terrains, some steep climbs but nothing too taxing, some scrambles up little rocky outcrops (I love that), and gorgeous easy hikes along ridgelines with nice views. Our trailbook calls that portion of the trail "reminiscent of a hike at timberline in the Rockies"; we're thinking maybe we'll have to plan a trip out west sometime soon.
From what we understand, that's Two Harbors down there in the valley.
I skipped one point of interest, though--during that section we crossed the Encampment River, and there things got a little, well, interesting:
Yeah. We came down that crazy thing and crossed it. Here's a better shot of the piling, which I'm glad I didn't see until AFTER we'd crossed:
The river was a little low, too, in case you couldn't tell. While we were on the bank (what should have been the middle of the river) I took some wildflower pictures--here's my favorite, just cuz:
So then came the aforementioned ridgeline--and then a section we'd been greatly anticipating, thanks to our trusty trail guidebook:
The sign isn't too readable, even when the picture is enlarged, so I'll translate: it says, "POISON IVY AREA." And yep, all that stuff to the right there on the hillside is, in fact, poison ivy (apparently the only place it can be found directly adjacent to the SHT). Stay on trail...
And there's some more quality construction, too, if you didn't notice.
After the poison ivy came a nice descent to a parking lot, and the end of the first section of the hike. We took a breather there to prepare ourselves, because we knew the strenuous climb to Wolf Rock was coming next. While gearing up in the parking lot, we met a girl about my age who had just parked there and was getting ready to do the next section of the trail, with her dog. We didn't see her again till the next morning, which was a little disappointing, as we got the idea from our brief conversation with her that she would have been a very pleasant camp mate, unlike ours from the previous night...
Anyway, onward we went, and though the hike up Wolf Rock was a bit steep, it never was too terrible. And it was worth it at the top:
That is, of course, Lake Superior in the distance.
So basically, our day's hike to this point had been to go up, across and down that far ridge in the above photo, traverse the valley, and come up the ridge to the spot from where we took the picture. Not too shabby...
Shortly after this photo was taken, it began to rain--not exactly a downpour, but definitely a steady, soaking rain. We were smart this time (we learned our lesson last fall!) and put our ponchos on right away. We very briskly finished the remaining mile or two before our campsite for the night, and got the tent set up in record time. There were some helpfully placed trees under which we huddled to cook our dinner, which we retired to the tent to eat. We pretty much stayed in the tent for the rest of the evening, even after the rain stopped, just listening to the Twins game on our radio and dozing. Nice evening, actually.
The next morning dawned bright and sunny, so we walked down to the Gooseberry River to filter some water while our tent dried off a bit.
Allen always looks completely exhausted in at least one hiking photo--either that or the orange moisture-wicking shirt that he wears to hike makes him look peaky. Even so, I really like this picture of him. :)
We broke camp and started off again--but quickly realized that just because the weather was dry didn't mean that the vegetation would be. The underbrush was already overgrown enough that it was starting to impinge on the trail. and the moisture from the previous evening's rain just made them bow down more. At some points it got a little ridiculous.
I think Allen was really wishing he had a secret machete inside his walking stick at this point. We were both completely, entirely soaked from the waist down by this point--squelchy shoes and all. (Allen's checkbook, which was in the cargo pocket of his shorts, is still all warped and wavy from this hike.) With the knowledge that we would be at the car within a couple miles, I found the whole experience more funny than frustrating. Plus there were some cool things to see along the way (we hiked right along the Gooseberry River pretty much until we reached the state park).
(The flowers are cow parsnips--they can grow to be 9 feet tall, and I'm pretty sure these were close to that height.)
That there's the work of beavers, of course--pretty fresh, too. I'm guessing they were at it just moments before, but slipped off into the underbrush or the river when they heard us coming.
Then we made it to the state park, with significantly wider (and therefore drier) grassy trails, where we could even walk side by side. A little excitement along there: we saw a skunk on the trail up ahead, who seemed either completely unaware of our presence, or else just indifferent. It just came snuffling along (I'm sorry, but skunks are CUTE), and if Allen hadn't shouted and whacked his walking stick against a tree (thereby breaking it--bummer) I really think it would have just kept coming right for us until it was practically sitting on our feet. As it was, it finally (and a little reluctantly) trundled off into the woods.
We're pretty familiar with Gooseberry State Park--and we were so wet that we just wanted to get to the car--so we whipped through it pretty quickly, but I did get a few good pictures, with the (by that time) overcast sky to help:
And back to the car--for towels, dry shoes and warmer clothes! It was only in the 50's, and once we stopped moving (and sweating) and put our packs down, things were pretty chilly. A beautiful hike overall, though. Not sure if we'll get up there again this fall, but I hope so...
Whew--I still need to post Vegas pictures, now?! Ok. They're coming up.
But the real problem, I have to say, is that the stupid thing works.
I was NOT ready to start workshops this week--my one week of summer vacation was not sufficient, in my opinion, and the fact that I was extremely lazy (except in social capacities) the whole week, plus my extremely bizarre Olympics-centered schedule, only added to the feeling that I needed more time off. (Could I interject, please, that the Olympics ended just in the nick of time?) So after the rah-rah thing this morning, and then a big ice-breaker session this afternoon with staff from all the programs that are combining in our brand new building, I was feeling like one big eye-roll. Except...now I'm also really energized for the school year to start. Dammit, they got to me. Hmmph.
Anyway, this is not the real point of this post. I promised pictures weeks ago, many many pictures, and in spite of all my lazy time off (not just last week, but for many weeks of afternoons during summer school hours) I never managed to get them posted. So I figure that time has finally come.
So first up:
Superior Hiking Trail! From way back in the middle of July. Sad.
We hiked this time from Lake County Rd 301 (the southernmost point of the SHT if you don't count the Duluth portion, which I won't until they're joined up someday) up to Gooseberry Falls State Park.
We got up north in the late afternoon, so we hiked the 1.2 mile spur trail off the trailhead to stay in the campsite there for the night. Shortly after we arrived, we were joined by a very interesting character. Sometimes (when he was most likeable) he reminded me of my uncle Darry; but the rest of the time he reminded me fairly strongly of Creed, from The Office. (If you haven't seen it, just trust me--it means that at his least likeable, he was odd and occasionally a little creepy, with many improbable and slightly disturbing stories from his past life.) To get a little break from him, Allen and I walked down to and across the nearby creek to bask on the flat rocks there in the afternoon sun with dragonflies zipping by overhead; it was one of the nicest times of the trip, but unfortunately, I didn't get a picture of the spot.
Late, late that night, after Allen and I had already gone to our tent (with the full moon shining so bright through the trees it seemed like a soccer field light) our strange campfellow's entire extended family arrived, drank a lot of alcohol and passed out around the still-burning campfire. So when we got up the next morning there were tents everywhere, plus haphazardly placed, and even unzipped, bivy sacks (for the uninitiated, those are bivouac sacks, tent-crossed-with-sleeping-bag sort of things, like this: http://www.rei.com/product/747832) with sleeping bodies in them. We beat kind of a hasty retreat--besides, it looked a little like rain and we wanted to get out on the trail.
Here's Allen, once we got back up the spur trail to the real trailhead, in one of our ubiquitous trail sign pictures.
The first portion of that day's hike was largely uneventful, but nonetheless it was some of the most enjoyable hiking we've had on any of our SHT trips. Lots of different terrains, some steep climbs but nothing too taxing, some scrambles up little rocky outcrops (I love that), and gorgeous easy hikes along ridgelines with nice views. Our trailbook calls that portion of the trail "reminiscent of a hike at timberline in the Rockies"; we're thinking maybe we'll have to plan a trip out west sometime soon.
From what we understand, that's Two Harbors down there in the valley.
I skipped one point of interest, though--during that section we crossed the Encampment River, and there things got a little, well, interesting:
Yeah. We came down that crazy thing and crossed it. Here's a better shot of the piling, which I'm glad I didn't see until AFTER we'd crossed:
The river was a little low, too, in case you couldn't tell. While we were on the bank (what should have been the middle of the river) I took some wildflower pictures--here's my favorite, just cuz:
So then came the aforementioned ridgeline--and then a section we'd been greatly anticipating, thanks to our trusty trail guidebook:
The sign isn't too readable, even when the picture is enlarged, so I'll translate: it says, "POISON IVY AREA." And yep, all that stuff to the right there on the hillside is, in fact, poison ivy (apparently the only place it can be found directly adjacent to the SHT). Stay on trail...
And there's some more quality construction, too, if you didn't notice.
After the poison ivy came a nice descent to a parking lot, and the end of the first section of the hike. We took a breather there to prepare ourselves, because we knew the strenuous climb to Wolf Rock was coming next. While gearing up in the parking lot, we met a girl about my age who had just parked there and was getting ready to do the next section of the trail, with her dog. We didn't see her again till the next morning, which was a little disappointing, as we got the idea from our brief conversation with her that she would have been a very pleasant camp mate, unlike ours from the previous night...
Anyway, onward we went, and though the hike up Wolf Rock was a bit steep, it never was too terrible. And it was worth it at the top:
That is, of course, Lake Superior in the distance.
So basically, our day's hike to this point had been to go up, across and down that far ridge in the above photo, traverse the valley, and come up the ridge to the spot from where we took the picture. Not too shabby...
Shortly after this photo was taken, it began to rain--not exactly a downpour, but definitely a steady, soaking rain. We were smart this time (we learned our lesson last fall!) and put our ponchos on right away. We very briskly finished the remaining mile or two before our campsite for the night, and got the tent set up in record time. There were some helpfully placed trees under which we huddled to cook our dinner, which we retired to the tent to eat. We pretty much stayed in the tent for the rest of the evening, even after the rain stopped, just listening to the Twins game on our radio and dozing. Nice evening, actually.
The next morning dawned bright and sunny, so we walked down to the Gooseberry River to filter some water while our tent dried off a bit.
Allen always looks completely exhausted in at least one hiking photo--either that or the orange moisture-wicking shirt that he wears to hike makes him look peaky. Even so, I really like this picture of him. :)
We broke camp and started off again--but quickly realized that just because the weather was dry didn't mean that the vegetation would be. The underbrush was already overgrown enough that it was starting to impinge on the trail. and the moisture from the previous evening's rain just made them bow down more. At some points it got a little ridiculous.
I think Allen was really wishing he had a secret machete inside his walking stick at this point. We were both completely, entirely soaked from the waist down by this point--squelchy shoes and all. (Allen's checkbook, which was in the cargo pocket of his shorts, is still all warped and wavy from this hike.) With the knowledge that we would be at the car within a couple miles, I found the whole experience more funny than frustrating. Plus there were some cool things to see along the way (we hiked right along the Gooseberry River pretty much until we reached the state park).
(The flowers are cow parsnips--they can grow to be 9 feet tall, and I'm pretty sure these were close to that height.)
That there's the work of beavers, of course--pretty fresh, too. I'm guessing they were at it just moments before, but slipped off into the underbrush or the river when they heard us coming.
Then we made it to the state park, with significantly wider (and therefore drier) grassy trails, where we could even walk side by side. A little excitement along there: we saw a skunk on the trail up ahead, who seemed either completely unaware of our presence, or else just indifferent. It just came snuffling along (I'm sorry, but skunks are CUTE), and if Allen hadn't shouted and whacked his walking stick against a tree (thereby breaking it--bummer) I really think it would have just kept coming right for us until it was practically sitting on our feet. As it was, it finally (and a little reluctantly) trundled off into the woods.
We're pretty familiar with Gooseberry State Park--and we were so wet that we just wanted to get to the car--so we whipped through it pretty quickly, but I did get a few good pictures, with the (by that time) overcast sky to help:
And back to the car--for towels, dry shoes and warmer clothes! It was only in the 50's, and once we stopped moving (and sweating) and put our packs down, things were pretty chilly. A beautiful hike overall, though. Not sure if we'll get up there again this fall, but I hope so...
Whew--I still need to post Vegas pictures, now?! Ok. They're coming up.