More money is being spent to find out why the moose population in Minnesota is on the decline. Better collars will allow researchers to keep constant tabs on the animals and retrieve dead animals sooner so they can perform tests to see why they died. We're lucky to live in an area where there is an abundant moose population and on almost every drive to town lately we've seen one or two. Here's the article from the Duluth News Tribune.
New tools may help solve Minnesota's moose mystery
From Voyageurs National Park on the west to the Grand Portage Reservation on the east, researchers from a half-dozen agencies are trying to discover why the Northland’s moose are in decline. New GPS/satellite phone collars may help them get answers.
GREENWOOD LAKE — Our group’s two-way radio was dead, but we still could tell where the downed moose was by the tight-circling Cessna spotter plane overhead.
We snowmobiled in as far as we could, then waded through waist-deep snow to where the young bull lay in a logged-off patch of Superior National Forest about 40 miles north of Two Harbors.
The Colorado-based Quicksilver Air Inc. helicopter crew used a tranquilizer gun to bring the bull down, and then landed nearby. They had already finished their work when we arrived, placing collar No. 65.110 around the bull’s neck.
Blood samples were taken. Scat, hair and a few winter ticks hitching a ride were collected. Measurements were logged. Then the helicopter and crew were off looking for another moose to dart.
Meanwhile, researchers in our group checked the bull’s hind-end body fat using an ultrasound, gave him a shot of antibiotics and finally, all within about 30 minutes, an antidote to revive the bull from his unscheduled nap.
“This one looks pretty good. He’s still got a little fat remaining on that rump,’’ said Glen DelGiudice, a Minnesota Department of Natural Resources biologist.
It’s that fat that gets moose through Minnesota’s tough winters without starving to death and, for reasons not fully understood, fewer moose are making it.
Four minutes after receiving the antidote the bull was on up on its long legs and trotting off — another of more than 60 of the animals that are being collared this winter in what will become Minnesota’s largest moose study ever.
Bigger picture
From Voyageurs National Park on the west to the Grand Portage Reservation on the east, researchers from a half-dozen agencies are trying to discover why the Northland’s moose are in decline. It’s also the first study to track moose on both sides of the international border, with several in Quetico Provincial Park now collared and monitored.
The work is done in the winter when the black/ brown moose stand out against the snow in the leafless forest, and when marshes and bogs are frozen over.
After Northwestern Minnesota’s moose population crashed from 4,000 to just a few dozen over the past 25 years, Northeastern Minnesota moose now are showing similar warning signs. Fewer calves are surviving their first year, and overall moose numbers are trending down. The phenomenon is creeping north into Ontario as well.
Research papers identify higher summertime temperatures in recent decades as an underlying issue. But that’s not what’s actually killing the animals. Scientists believe it’s a combination of higher temperatures, parasites such as brain worm and ticks, disease, increased deer numbers, predation from wolves, habitat decline, nutrition and a host of other potential factors.
It may be how moose are reacting to higher temperatures that’s adding to the problem, researchers say.
Researchers want to know where moose are going to eat, rest and seek shade and cool water on warm days, and where they go to have their calves and to die. And that’s what this $1.1 million project, funded through federal, state, tribal and provincial sources, is expected to do. Researchers can even overlay what the weather was like, including the temperature, for each position recorded by the GPS.
The GPS unit on the collar will take a reading every 20 minutes for at least the next two years, and every four hours a tiny satellite phone calls a researcher’s computer at the Natural Resources Research Institute in Duluth and sends the coordinates.
Minnesota moose have been studied for years, but mostly with radio-
transmitter collars that require researchers to recapture the moose to recover the data. That requires expensive and time-consuming airplane flights to keep track of the animals. And it may be days or weeks before researchers know the animal is dead.
The new GPS/satellite phone collars ($3,500 each) offer researchers a new world of data. In a pilot project last year, collars on 21 moose in Voyageurs and Grand Portage provided tens of thousands of data-points over just a few months – exactly where each moose was every 20 minutes.
“It’s the first time we’ve been able to real-time track moose wherever they go,’’ said Ron Moen, the coordinating researcher among a half-dozen or more who are working on the project. The goal, he noted “is to see what we can do to keep moose in Minnesota longer.’’
A sense of urgency
So far Northeastern Minnesota’s moose population has not dropped to a crisis level. The DNR broadly estimates there are about 6,000 moose in their core survey area in Cook, Lake and northeastern St. Louis counties. But state, federal and regional researchers want to find out all they can before that number drops more.
Some moose experts have questioned whether Minnesota moose can survive higher temperatures when they are already at the southern edge of their North American range. Others are more hopeful.
“We can’t do anything about warmer temperatures, not fast enough. And we can’t do anything about disease,’’ said Moen. “But maybe there are things about habitat, about what they need to survive the warmer temperatures — things we can do in forest management that will help them hang on.’’
Next winter, if money from the state’s Environment and Natural Resources Trust Fund is approved, DelGiudice and DNR veterinarian Erika Butler hope to put GPS/satellite phone collars another 100 moose to expand the overall study to more than 160.
While Moen’s work focuses on habitat and when and why moose uses certain parts of the forest, DelGiudice and Butler will look at what’s killing the moose.
The GPS/satellite collars will allow researchers to know within about 4 hours if a moose stops moving and is likely dead, and, they hope, to get to the dead animal within 24 hours so it can be retrieved for a necropsy.
Butler said past efforts to use forensic science often have proved fruitless after researchers find radio-transmitter collars on decomposed moose.
“We know it’s not predation that’s killing them in most cases. … But we need to get in that fast or they (the dead moose) can’t tell us anything,’’ Butler said. “If we don’t do this, we’ll never know what’s killing our moose.’’
The relatively small GPS collars for moose also hold a satellite telephone that will transmit data to a computer at the NRRI lab in Duluth every four hours for up to two years before their batteries lose power. The units cost $3,500 each. (John Myers / News Tribune)
GREENWOOD LAKE — Our group’s two-way radio was dead, but we still could tell where the downed moose was by the tight-circling Cessna spotter plane overhead.
We snowmobiled in as far as we could, then waded through waist-deep snow to where the young bull lay in a logged-off patch of Superior National Forest about 40 miles north of Two Harbors.
The Colorado-based Quicksilver Air Inc. helicopter crew used a tranquilizer gun to bring the bull down, and then landed nearby. They had already finished their work when we arrived, placing collar No. 65.110 around the bull’s neck.
Blood samples were taken. Scat, hair and a few winter ticks hitching a ride were collected. Measurements were logged. Then the helicopter and crew were off looking for another moose to dart.
Meanwhile, researchers in our group checked the bull’s hind-end body fat using an ultrasound, gave him a shot of antibiotics and finally, all within about 30 minutes, an antidote to revive the bull from his unscheduled nap.
“This one looks pretty good. He’s still got a little fat remaining on that rump,’’ said Glen DelGiudice, a Minnesota Department of Natural Resources biologist.
It’s that fat that gets moose through Minnesota’s tough winters without starving to death and, for reasons not fully understood, fewer moose are making it.
Four minutes after receiving the antidote the bull was on up on its long legs and trotting off — another of more than 60 of the animals that are being collared this winter in what will become Minnesota’s largest moose study ever.
Bigger picture
From Voyageurs National Park on the west to the Grand Portage Reservation on the east, researchers from a half-dozen agencies are trying to discover why the Northland’s moose are in decline. It’s also the first study to track moose on both sides of the international border, with several in Quetico Provincial Park now collared and monitored.
The work is done in the winter when the black/ brown moose stand out against the snow in the leafless forest, and when marshes and bogs are frozen over.
After Northwestern Minnesota’s moose population crashed from 4,000 to just a few dozen over the past 25 years, Northeastern Minnesota moose now are showing similar warning signs. Fewer calves are surviving their first year, and overall moose numbers are trending down. The phenomenon is creeping north into Ontario as well.
Research papers identify higher summertime temperatures in recent decades as an underlying issue. But that’s not what’s actually killing the animals. Scientists believe it’s a combination of higher temperatures, parasites such as brain worm and ticks, disease, increased deer numbers, predation from wolves, habitat decline, nutrition and a host of other potential factors.
It may be how moose are reacting to higher temperatures that’s adding to the problem, researchers say.
Researchers want to know where moose are going to eat, rest and seek shade and cool water on warm days, and where they go to have their calves and to die. And that’s what this $1.1 million project, funded through federal, state, tribal and provincial sources, is expected to do. Researchers can even overlay what the weather was like, including the temperature, for each position recorded by the GPS.
The GPS unit on the collar will take a reading every 20 minutes for at least the next two years, and every four hours a tiny satellite phone calls a researcher’s computer at the Natural Resources Research Institute in Duluth and sends the coordinates.
Minnesota moose have been studied for years, but mostly with radio-
transmitter collars that require researchers to recapture the moose to recover the data. That requires expensive and time-consuming airplane flights to keep track of the animals. And it may be days or weeks before researchers know the animal is dead.
The new GPS/satellite phone collars ($3,500 each) offer researchers a new world of data. In a pilot project last year, collars on 21 moose in Voyageurs and Grand Portage provided tens of thousands of data-points over just a few months – exactly where each moose was every 20 minutes.
“It’s the first time we’ve been able to real-time track moose wherever they go,’’ said Ron Moen, the coordinating researcher among a half-dozen or more who are working on the project. The goal, he noted “is to see what we can do to keep moose in Minnesota longer.’’
A sense of urgency
So far Northeastern Minnesota’s moose population has not dropped to a crisis level. The DNR broadly estimates there are about 6,000 moose in their core survey area in Cook, Lake and northeastern St. Louis counties. But state, federal and regional researchers want to find out all they can before that number drops more.
Some moose experts have questioned whether Minnesota moose can survive higher temperatures when they are already at the southern edge of their North American range. Others are more hopeful.
“We can’t do anything about warmer temperatures, not fast enough. And we can’t do anything about disease,’’ said Moen. “But maybe there are things about habitat, about what they need to survive the warmer temperatures — things we can do in forest management that will help them hang on.’’
Next winter, if money from the state’s Environment and Natural Resources Trust Fund is approved, DelGiudice and DNR veterinarian Erika Butler hope to put GPS/satellite phone collars another 100 moose to expand the overall study to more than 160.
While Moen’s work focuses on habitat and when and why moose uses certain parts of the forest, DelGiudice and Butler will look at what’s killing the moose.
The GPS/satellite collars will allow researchers to know within about 4 hours if a moose stops moving and is likely dead, and, they hope, to get to the dead animal within 24 hours so it can be retrieved for a necropsy.
Butler said past efforts to use forensic science often have proved fruitless after researchers find radio-transmitter collars on decomposed moose.
“We know it’s not predation that’s killing them in most cases. … But we need to get in that fast or they (the dead moose) can’t tell us anything,’’ Butler said. “If we don’t do this, we’ll never know what’s killing our moose.’’
The plip plop of water dripping into a bucket from the ceiling is not a welcome sound any time of the year and especially not during the wintertime. Folks who live where lots of snow falls every year spend a large amount of time moving snow. When a person has warm air escaping from their attic onto the roof this can cause ice dams and the plip plop of water into a bucket if the dams are not taken care of. If the snow is removed from the roof then sometimes this problem can be avoided.
It doesn't sound like much fun to me to get up onto the roof to shovel snow onto the deck to then shovel the snow onto the ground off of the deck. It normally doesn't sound like fun to my kids either until they were at their friend's house yesterday. They spent a good part of the afternoon climbing a ladder to get onto the roof to then jump off of the roof into the snow below. Whoever was still on top of the roof would then shovel snow furiously off of the roof onto the person who had just jumped off and was still struggling to get out of the waist deep snow below. What a grand time they all had and the result was a clean roof.
I'm wondering if the kids will go for it again today at our house? My guess is "No" because I probably wouldn't want them climbing the ladder, being up on the roof or jumping off. The pitch of our roof is a bit steeper and our lodge is a bit taller than the one they were jumping off of.
Whether or not the kids decide to join in the fun some shoveling has to be done. There are icicles hanging off of our roof and that's a bad sign. The edge of the roof is coated in a thick sheet of ice and the snow is piling up. If we don't take care of it we'll soon be hearing the plip plop of water into a bucket and that is not music to my ears any day of the year. Dam them ice dams!
Older and wiser is not always the case when it comes to some fishermen and their passion for ice fishing. Some folks learn from past experiences or take fewer risks as they age but not these ice fishing veterans. While they had hoped to be the ones doing the catching they become the catch after a harrowing ice fishing experience on Lake Superior. What's that saying, "Crazy is as Crazy Does?"
In case you missed this in today’s Duluth News Tribune, I’ve pasted a story about a rescue of two ice anglers from the ice of Saxon Harbor on Lake Superior on Saturday. I have fished with one of the men who was rescued, Skip Wick of Hurley. This shows you can never really be sure about ice, especially on Lake Superior.
For an hour and a half, Skip Wick had been trying to stay upright on a chunk of ice in Lake Superior’s 8-foot swells.
The 80-year-old ice angler, stranded on the lake Saturday after big waves undermined the ice in Saxon Harbor east of Ashland, knew his options were limited.
“As I was standing there, the ice kept breaking up,” said Wick, a retired shop teacher from Hurley, Wis. “There was a big roar, like a jet going over, and here would come a wave.”
The roar was the sound of the waves, later estimated by Ashland firefighters at 8 to 12 feet, lifting and grinding chunks of ice as far as Wick could see. The chunk he was on was about as long and wide as a car, he said.
As it turned out, Wick and fishing partner Mike Popko of Saxon, Wis., were plucked off their respective ice pans after a harrowing two hours by the Ashland Fire Department using an air boat, or wind sled, called an Ice Angel.
“Those were the worst conditions I have ever been in for an ice rescue,” said Lt. Tom Walters of the Ashland Fire Department.
Popko, riding a chunk of ice 30 yards away from Wick during the ordeal, feared the worst.
“It was awful,” said Popko, 61. “It was like a bowl of Jell-O with all this busted-up ice. He (Wick) and I would be in troughs between the waves, and we couldn’t see each other. … I really didn’t think I was going to make it.”
Walters said it was surprising Wick and Popko could remain on their ice chunks.
“How they were able to maintain their balance going that high up in the air and back down is beyond me,” Walters said.
AN ICE PUZZLE
The day had begun like many for the 50 to 75 ice anglers fishing on 12-inch-thick ice out of Saxon Harbor near the Michigan state line. Then, without warning or big wind, the ice began to fracture, Wick said. He was about 500 yards from shore, he said.
“The first crack was to the north,” he said. “The second one went through my tent.”
These were fine cracks, Wick said, giving the ice the appearance of a puzzle.
The wind was not blowing hard at that time, Wick said. But a front was moving into the area and the waves may have been pushed by winds farther down the lake.
When he saw the cracks form, Wick yelled to his son, Richard Wick, also of Hurley, and grandson Cal Wick, 8, fishing nearby. They threw all of their fishing gear into a 12-foot boat they had towed onto the ice on a trailer behind a snowmobile. But as they and other anglers headed for shore, the swells began to further fracture the ice.
The trailer’s wheels became lodged in a crack between ice chunks, so Richard and Cal continued to shore on the snowmobile. Skip Wick and Popko kept moving toward shore, jumping from one ice chunk to another.
“We got to the point we couldn’t go from cake to cake,” Popko said.
The ice ahead of them had broken into pieces too small to support them. Other anglers, who hadn’t been fishing as far out as Wick and his companions, were able to reach shore safely.
LONG WAIT
From that point, and for almost two more hours, Wick and Popko were alone on their respective floes. They couldn’t communicate over the gnashing and grinding of the ice. They both managed to stay dry and warm, but the ride was terrifying.
“I looked at the situation and thought, ‘Am I going to drown or get crushed to death?’ ” Popko said. “When a wave would crest, the chunks would separate. Then, in the troughs, one big chunk would crash into another one. It would about knock you on your rear end.”
Wick had been on ice floes four or five times previously in his life.
“This isn’t my first rodeo,” he said.
But all of those had been clean breakaways. He would just get in his boat or canoe, which he’d brought along for just that purpose, and row or paddle back to landfast ice.
On one occasion, he had to paddle a floe back to solid ice using only his ice chisel, he said.
But this was different, because waves were pushing all of the broken ice toward shore.
Reflecting on the incident, Popko thinks the men made a mistake.
“We should never have left the boat,” he said.
A LONELY FEELING
Wick recalls feeling “isolated” on his ice chunk and realizing he was on his own. He knew nobody on shore could get a boat or snowmobile out to them on that heaving ice.
“I had no control over my survival,” he said. “(But) I was never fearful. I was hoping I would be rescued by something. A chopper (helicopter) was my number-one thought.”
Firefighters from Ashland, the only fire department in the area with a wind sled, received the rescue call at 12:50 p.m. and then had to drive about half an hour to Saxon Harbor, Walters said.
“It was nearly a white-out,” Walters said. “You could hardly see the piers out there.”
He and his crew of three launched their 20-plus-foot airboat, powered by a single large fan, and began venturing out to Popko and Wick, whom they could see from shore.
“I gotta be honest with you,” Walters said. “My whole crew, we were pretty worried. We didn’t know that the craft could handle that situation. We had never had it in water like that.”
Bouncing across the ice chunks, the firefighters reached the men in about 10 minutes, Walters estimated. They threw a weighted rope to the men, first Popko and then Wick. In each case, the watercraft was then able to get close enough that the men could clamber aboard. They reached shore about 2:30 p.m.
Both Wick and Popko expressed their gratitude for the firefighters’ efforts.
Now Wick just wants to get his boat, and his fishing gear, back. He has been to the lake nearly every day since the incident and has seen the boat bobbing on the ice at least once, he said. He planned to contact a pilot to see if the boat could be located from the air.
The Iron County Sheriff’s Department has not received charges yet for the rescue from the Ashland Fire Department. If charges are received, they will be forwarded to the Iron County Board to see if Wick and Popko will be charged for the rescue, according to a Sheriff’s Department spokesman.
Wick said Saturday’s incident will not change his practice of ice-fishing on Lake Superior, which he’s been doing for almost 60 years. Popko was less sure about that.
“My wife said, ‘You gotta promise never to go out there again,’ ” he said. “But fishing is one of my favorite pastimes.”
Like a big wildfire the Beargrease Sled Dog Marathon creates it's own weather. Each year the weather seems to follow a similar pattern where a little bit of snow falls before the race and blustery wind and cold temperatures occur during the race. It's never a warm and pleasant day for the dog teams to start the race and this year will be no exception.
The mushers are a tough group and know how to dress properly. It's the spectators I worry about as I remember all too clearly the whining and complaining I heard come out of my children's mouths and mine at last year's start. Maybe they should rename the Beargrease the Brrrrgrease?
Good Luck to all of the mushers and dogs participating in this year's Beargrease. We wish you a safe race, especially my Mush for a Cure partner Mary and her apprenticeTara from Black Magic Kennels.
Friday...Snow likely in the morning...then snow in the afternoon. Snow accumulation of 2 to 5 inches. Highs 15 to 20. East wind 10 to 15 mph. Lowest wind chill readings 10 below to 20 below zero in the morning.
Friday Night...Cloudy. Snow in the evening...then a chance of light snow after midnight. Moderate snow accumulations. Lows 3 to 8. Northeast wind 5 to 10 mph.
Saturday...Mostly cloudy with a 30 percent chance of snow showers. Highs 11 to 16. North wind 5 to 10 mph.
Saturday Night And Sunday...Mostly cloudy. Lows 6 below to 11 below zero. Highs 1 to 6.
Sunday Night...Partly cloudy. Lows 10 below to 15 below zero.
Monday And Monday Night...Mostly cloudy. Highs 2 to 7. Lows 10 below to 15 below zero.
Tuesday And Tuesday Night...Partly cloudy. Highs 2 to 7. Lows 12 below to 17 below zero.
Wednesday...Partly sunny with a 20 percent chance of snow showers. Highs 7 to 12.
It's funny I should come across an article about wild rice when we just enjoyed some for dinner last night. We were lucky to receive gifts of wild rice from two of our Voyageur Crew family who harvested their own this past fall. Knowing how rare wild rice is up here and the amount of work that went into the harvesting makes it a very special gift.
Wild rice isn't found naturally in many places and it doesn't grow easily. Conditions need to be just right in order for there to be a successful and bountiful harvest. Most people don't realize how important wild rice is especially to some special people. An article by Michelle Meyer does a great job explaining the history of wild ricing and about the historical importance of wild rice to the Ojibwa.
"Wild rice or wild oats were the non-Native names given to a food stuff the Native Ojibwa population called manomin. Manomin derives from Manitou, the name of the Great Spirit, and Meenum which means delicacy. Ojibwa elders refer to it as *Manitou gi ti gahn* or food from God's garden... Ojibwa life elevates manomin above being simply food. It is a sacred food which is harvested, processed and eaten with a deep respect and reverence. Wild rice is deeply imbedded in the mythology and ceremony of the Ojibwa."
Proposed mining in Minnesota may sever the relationship between wild rice and the native people of Minnesota. In an article called, "Who Owns Wild Rice," on the website Flesh and Stone, author Jeff Nygaard questions ownership of the land and it's resources. He quotes Minnesota Public Radio as having said, "High levels of sulfates released from Minnesota's mining industry are suspected of diminishing Minnesota's native wild rice beds."
I'm sure the wild rice beds wouldn't be the only thing damaged by the proposed mining in Minnesota. But even if it was the only thing I feel it is more valuable than all of the nickel in Minnesota. That's just coming from me, a person whose ties to wild rice are only as deep as the roots of wild rice itself. Even though I don't own wild rice I do consider it a special gift and one that I would like to continue to receive in the years to come.
Sometimes there are just too many things on my mind to even type correctly. Since that seems to be the case today I'll keep this short and sweet.
Thanks for all of the kind words of support for our Mush for a Cure Event. We really appreciate it. In order to help the Komen Foundation keep their promise to non-profits it would be nice if you could continue to help spread the story to your friends and family.
We are not the only non-profit dealing with the Komen Foundation. Since the story ran I have been inundated with similar stories of others in the same situation with not only the Komen Foundation but also other non-profits for other good causes. It's a big problem for small organizations that are ran by volunteers with other responsibilities.
There are many good fundraising organizations. We appreciate the efforts of all.
I'm pretty sure my sigh of relief could be heard and felt across the tundra town of Grand Marais, Minnesota last night after the Mush for a Cure segment aired on NBC Nightly News. It was a big relief to finally have the story about our struggle heard.
I want to say a heartfelt THANK YOU to all of you who have supported Mush for a Cure over the years. An event as successful as Mush for a Cure can only be that way because of all of the wonderful people involved. Mary and I truly appreciate all of the mushers, donors, supporters and volunteers we've had over the years. We hope you will all continue to support this FUNdraising Event during this year's 5th Annual Mush for a Cure, March 11th and 12th.
It may not always be called, "Mush for a Cure," but we'll all know that it once was and will always be, A great event for an even better cause, the fight against breast cancer.
A whirlwind of a week turned into a tornado of a weekend and what's sure to become another week of windstorms. Swept from one activity to the next I often wonder what keeps me somewhat grounded from day to day. My best guess is gravity but I'm not sure.
Monday of last week was the only somewhat normal day where I was able to work at my day job, Voyageur Canoe Outfitters. That day wasn't completely normal because it ended up being a Snow Day for the children but at least I was at home.
Tuesday found me in Grand Marais for a Community Center Board meeting and a few hours of training so I can move up from being a First Responder to an EMT. Meanwhile Mike and Josh drove to Silver Bay for hockey practice before Mike was able to get to training.
Wednesday was an all day meeting of minds of the Cook County Community Center Steering Committee. This is an exciting board to be on because we get to help decide what the new community center will be like. That was from 8-4:30pm and then at 6 I made my way over to a friends to talk about the Ham Run Half Marathon and PTA for a bit.
Thursday involved a little bit of this and that. I took some photos for the kid's yearbook I'm working on and gathered some information for the Scholastic Book Fair the PTA is putting on in February. Then we drove down to Silver Bay for another hockey practice and to watch a high school game before driving to Duluth.
The majority of Friday was spent at the Arrowhead EMS Conference in Duluth. More classes about medical emergencies but before that I had an interview with NBC. Before that my beautiful friend Melissa Jasper came to the hotel to offer me moral support as well as her arsenal of beauty supplies and expertise. She's a hair stylist at Younkers in Duluth that I've been seeing for 17 years, the best in Minnesota if I do say so myself.
The interview was scary and I reminded myself of the people on all of those television shows where someone has stage fright and stares like a zombie into the camera unable to speak. Hopefully I got the point across that dealing with the Komen Foundation has been less than a good experience for me and for Mush for a Cure.
Saturday we drove back up to Silver Bay for a hockey game before turning around and heading south to St. Cloud to celebrate my dad's birthday and Christmas with my family, better late than never.
Sunday was church with Mike's parents and then a dance competition where I watched my niece's team take 1st Place. A meal and then the vehicle pointed North once again with hopes of being in Grand Marais by 9pm.
Unfortunately a propane truck had tipped over and we spent about 90 minutes on Highway 61 sitting in our Suburban. This is where the waste of time came into play. I fidgeted knowing I couldn't use my computer anymore because the battery was dead. I stressed because I had emails to send from my computer that I didn't want to try to type into my phone. I whined and complained when the ambulance was allowed to return to Grand Marais when the GTVFD Fire Chief and wife(me) had to wait to pass. Then I realized a very important task could be completed while sitting in the Suburban.
The glove box and the middle compartment between the two front seats. The scary black holes that hide who knows what that's been there for who knows how long and are used for who the heck knows? Those two compartments are now clean and organized because I had time to waste.
No more time to waste today because I want to meet about the Ham Run and get some Voyageur work done before going to the school to take more pictures for the yearbook. Then it's get Josh ready for hockey practice and head to a Mush for a Cure meeting before watching the NBC Nightly News at 5:30pm at a friend's house.
After that I hope I will be able to release the tension in my stomach that has been in knots since the taping of the interview questions on Friday morning. I hope I sound ok and the point about the Susan G. Komen Foundation wasting my time and their money will come out the way I want it to.
Tune into the NBC Nightly news at 5:30pm on Monday, January 24th and you might just catch a glimpse of me. Yes, the Boundary Waters Blog Lady may be spotted during a quick interview about Mush for a Cure and the Susan G. Komen Foundation. Just don't blink because if they do show me then I'm sure it will be quick.
If you're looking to make some tracks in the snow this winter then head north. The Gunflint Trail and all of Cook County will be celebrating winter during Winter Tracks this February 4-12th. You can go on a dogsled ride, go snowmobiling, snowshoeing, ice fishing or cross-country skiing.
You can be a part of the winter fun all winter long by participating in the Volkski. See how many of the 430 kilometers of ski trails in Cook County you can ski this year. Log your kilometers and see where you compare with other skiers in the area and people who vacation up here.
I'm ranked #3 in the area with 58.62 kilometers of unique trails skied this winter. That's pretty good considering I haven't been able to ski for two weeks because of the massive blisters I received while skiing the 20 miles of Banadad Trail two weeks ago. I've been wearing open backed shoes and my Mukluks since then but my heels are finally recovered so I hope to get out cross-country skiing this coming week.
I'll need to do a quite a bit of skiing to catch up with the #1 ranked skier who has logged 118 unique trail kilometers this winter. Being #1 isn't my goal, I just want to ski 200 kilometers of different trails this winter. The goal on February 12th is to have someone ski all of the 430 kilometers of trails in Cook County. If you're in the area then sign up to ski a one of the many trails in Cook County.
And if you want to head even farther north how about going up to the Quetico Park? Here's what they have planned for Febrary 19-20th.
Quetico Provincial Park west of Thunder Bay, has Frosty February running February 19-20. Igloo building, snow sculptures, cross-country skiing, snowshoeing and Snow Snake, a traditional Iroquois game, are some of the activities planned. Two yurts are available for rent. The Log Cabin Nature Centre will be open from 11 am to 5 pm. For further information, contact susan.bourne@ontario.ca
I never knew dock spiders were fishing spiders. I've seen them hanging around on the dock in the summer but it never dawned on me they used the water like a web to catch insects. I also didn't know they would eat fish. You learn something new every day.
Dock Spiders
TreeHugger Lloyd Alter grabbed this image of a massive dock spider that appears to be chowing down on a dead fish near his home in Canada. Though dock spiders -- also known as fishing spiders -- are part of the same genus as fen raft spiders, they're much more common.
And despite the nerve-racking idea that one could take down a fish this size, they mostly survive on a diet of small insects; they're also shy enough to run from people, but in the worst case, their bites are about as harmful as a bee sting.
Fishing spiders are similar to the larger wolf spiders in size, shape, and coloration. Species in the genus Dolomedes are called fishing spiders because most live near water and have been reported to catch small fishes and aquatic insects from the water as they walk on the surface. The species Dolomedes tenebrosus is more frequently associated with wooded areas (it would be more accurately classified as a tree-dwelling spider) and is a common household invader in these locations. It occurs from New England and Can ada south to Florida and Texas.
Description
D. tenebrosus is a fairly large spider. The females are 15 to 26 millimeters in length; males are 7 to 13 millimeters. Both sexes are brownish-gray in color with black and lighter brown markings. The legs of both male and female are banded with alternating brown/black, scalloped annulations on the femora and reddish-brown/black annulations on the tibia. A closely related species, D. scriptus , is similar but has white “W” markings on the posterior portion of the abdomen.
Life History
Dolomedes tenebrosus are frequently found far away from water, usually in wooded settings. They hibernate as immature adults (penultimate instar) under stones or loose bark, in tree cavities, and in human-made structures. D. tenebrosus matures in the spring and will subsequently mate. Mature individuals may be found from early May through September. The egg cases are deposited in June and are carried around by the females until the spiderlings are ready to hatch. Young spiderlings may be found from July through September. The young are guarded by the female in a nursery web and may number 1,000 or more.
Medical Importance
Although a large spider such as D. tenebrosus is able to bite humans, it is a shy spider that will run from people. Bites are typically no more severe than a bee or wasp sting. Exceptions do occur for individuals who are sensitive to spider venoms.
Authored by: Steve Jacobs, Sr. Extension Associate
I don't think you'll see this happen very many places but especially not in the Boundary Waters.
Woman from Fruitport allegedly used a fish to attack two men ice fishing in Norton Shores
Published: Monday, January 17, 2011, 7:27 PM Updated: Tuesday, January 18, 2011, 1:40 AM
NORTON SHORES — Police say two Egelston Township men ice fishing in Norton Shores Saturday were accosted by an angry fish-flinging woman from Fruitport.
The incident happened around 1 p.m. Saturday on Black Lake, which is located near Wood Street and Judson Road in Norton Shores, when a 29-year-old woman allegedly struck both men with a fish, said Norton Shores Police Lt. Jon Gale.
Gale said officers were called to the lake by one of the men who claimed they were assaulted by “a female wielding a fish.”
The men, both in their early 20s, said they were ice fishing in a shanty when they were approached by a woman who “wanted to urinate on the ice,” Gale said.
“The woman said to turn their heads while she urinated. While their backs were turned the woman struck the first complainant in the head with a fish,” Gale said. “The female then approached them and struck the other man across the face with a fish.”
Gale said “some words were then exchanged” and the woman then “returned to her shanty.”
When officers interviewed the woman, she claimed that she was upset “because the other men put their shanty too close to her shanty,” Gale said.
“She said she threw the fish at the men, but missed. She denied hitting them,” Gale said.
Gale declined to give the names of those involved because the men do not wish to press criminal charges against the woman.
Friday...Partly cloudy. Highs 3 below to 8 below zero. North winds around 5 mph becoming south in the afternoon. Wind chill values 40 below to 50 below zero.
Even a winter lover like me doesn't like temperatures this cold. But it's January in Minnesota, what do I expect?
Rest Of Today...Mostly cloudy this morning...then partly sunny this afternoon. Highs 1 below to 4 above zero. North winds 5 to 10 mph. Wind chill values 15 below to 25 below zero.
Tonight...Increasing clouds. Lows 16 below to 21 below zero. North winds 5 to 10 mph. Wind chill values 20 below to 30 below zero.
Wednesday...Partly sunny. Highs 5 to 10. Northwest winds around 5 mph becoming southwest in the afternoon. Lowest wind chill readings 20 below to 30 below zero in the morning.
Wednesday Night...Partly cloudy. Lows 9 below to 14 below zero. West winds 10 to 15 mph. Wind chill values 20 below to 30 below zero.
Thursday...Partly sunny. Highs 1 below to 6 below zero. Northwest winds 10 to 20 mph. Wind chill values 25 below to 35 below zero.
Thursday Night...Mostly clear. Lows 28 below to 33 below zero.
Friday...Mostly cloudy with a 20 percent chance of light snow. Highs 3 below to 8 below zero.
Friday Night...Mostly cloudy with a 30 percent chance of light snow. Lows 19 below to 24 below zero.
Saturday...Partly sunny with a 20 percent chance of snow showers. Highs 1 to 6.
Saturday Night...Mostly cloudy. Lows 9 below to 14 below zero.
Sunday...Partly cloudy. Highs 1 to 6.
Sunday Night...Mostly cloudy with a 20 percent chance of snow showers. Lows 5 below to 10 below zero.
I wonder why I didn't just follow my gut instinct and keep hitting the snooze button? Instead, I woke up, rolled out of bed, got both children up and into the shower only to answer the phone at 5:49am to an automated phone call from the school. "Due to the winter storm warning there will be no school for ISD 166 today."
While I was disappointed both of my children gladly hopped out of the shower and back into bed. Oh, to be a kid again. I'm tired, it's still dark outside and I suppose I could go back to bed. But the washing machine just beeped to tell me my first load of laundry is washed and needs to be put into the dryer. And there's also the fact I will need to get work in sometime today and with the kids at home it isn't going to be when they are awake. So, I may as well just stay up and take advantage of the short amount of time I have before Josh is up out of bed again.
Work can always wait another day. Snow days with kids at home? Soon they will become a distant memory so I may as well make it a good one!
If you were brave enough to go out winter camping this weekend for the lake trout opener then you woke up to a cold morning. Negative 28 degrees this morning on the Gunflint Trail and windchills of negative 25-35 below predicted. That's freeze your nose hair cold and I would have had a very difficult time getting out of my sleeping bag to face that.
There will be relief from the cold for a day and then it's back to temperatures below freezing for the high during the day through the week.
Martin Luther King Day our kids have school scheduled but it looks like it could be a snow day with the forecast we have.
Issued: Sunday, Jan 16 at 03:44 am Expires: Tuesday, Jan 18 at 12:00 am
...SIGNIFICANT ACCUMULATING SNOW THROUGH THE ARROWHEAD SUNDAY
NIGHT INTO MONDAY NIGHT...
.THE NEXT WINTER SYSTEM WILL IMPACT THE NORTHLAND BEGINNING SUNDAY
NIGHT AND LAST INTO MONDAY EVENING. THIS STORM SYSTEM WILL PRODUCE
THE HEAVIEST SNOW ACROSS THE ARROWHEAD REGION...WITH UP TO 4 TO 6
INCHES LIKELY. LOCALLY HEAVIER AMOUNTS ARE POSSIBLE IN HIGHER
ELEVATIONS ALONG THE NORTHSHORE. SNOWFALL IS EXPECTED TO SUBSIDE
BY MONDAY NIGHT.
This morning Mike and I met with some real Voyageurs in Two Harbors, Minnesota. We're down here for a hockey tournament so we planned a meeting with some Voyageur Crew members. These guys are going on a real Voyage this summer that will take them from Lake Superior all of the way to the Hudson Bay.
Andy Spaeth, Adam Maxwell and Mike Swenson met with us today to discuss their plans of re-tracing the route of the Voyageurs. They along with Leif (Quetico Park Ranger Janice's Matichuk's son) will begin their trip sometime in May and end in August.
We can't wait for this Voyage and will be keeping you up to date along the way!
That's from a song the kids learned in their music class a few years ago. Since it's snowing outside it only seems appropriate to be thinking of that song. The flakes that are falling are huge and so light you can blow them off of where they land. They are the kind that are worth catching on your tongue when you have nothing better to do.
Most folks will be able to try catching them on their tongue as they shovel the snow that arrived during the night and is still coming down. We got a couple of inches of new snow on the Gunflint Trail while Grand Marais probably got about 8 inches of the white stuff. Lucky them.
The Sawtooth Mountains are getting their fair share and no doubt skiing conditions will be wonderful for the weekend. Both Lutsen Ski Hill and the cross-country ski trails along the North Shore were already in good shape so this fresh snow will make it even better.
Get outside and enjoy winter and don't forget to catch a snowflake on your tongue while you're at it.
That saying about a picture is worth a 1000 words, well, if it's close to true then stored digitally on external hard drives, Snapfish, and Picasa I must have billions or zillions of words. I don't think I've had photos printed since 2005 so that means I have over 5 years of photos stored electronically.
I take hundreds of pictures each month and am not very good and naming them or keeping them grouped. I pretty much keep them by date which is just a little helpful. At least I know if there will be snow in the picture or not, no, I guess I don't even know that much since some are from vacations when there would otherwise be snow on the ground here.
I am working on the Elementary Yearbook project for school and Abby is part of this year's graduating class. As a 5th grade student she and her friends will get a special spread in the yearbook. I have taken hundreds of pictures of her and her classmates so I've been trying to go through my photos and find all of them.
It's a slow process since I have to look at all of the pictures and copy and paste them to a different folder. You would think I would name them now since I'm going through them all anyway, but I'm not. How not smart is that?
I think I'm going to do a picture a day program on our website or our blog. I could probably do it for the next 10 years and never have to take another photo. Heck, if a picture is worth a thousand words then I wouldn't even need to write anything in my blog!
While it isn't the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness it is a scenic and wild trip J.J. and Josh completed during their Paddle to Seattle. They traveled together for 97 days and 1300 miles as they made their way through the Inside Passage filming their movie "Paddle to Seattle."
I usually don't find paddling films to be all that interesting, especially ones that involve kayaking. The ones I have seen tend to show crazy people careening down waterfalls I wouldn't even think about standing near let alone paddling over into oblivion. The only reason I ended up watching this kayak dvd was because my kids wouldn't stop talking about it.
Sheri Prom, Mike's cousin(who must of you know from her working at Voyageur or appearing in other blogs) went to school with JJ from the movie "Paddle to Seattle." While hanging out with our kids one time she and the kids watched the DVD and the kids really enjoyed it. So much in fact they wanted to watch it again during break so we all sat down to view it.
Josh and JJ are refreshingly hilarious as they kayak through amazing scenery during their journey. It's a highly entertaining film I recommend you take the time to watch. You can watch it for free on PBS right now or purchase the DVD on their website.
Most people who visit the Boundary Waters have heard of the Rootbeer Lady of Knife Lake. She was quite popular because of her rootbeer sales as well as her open and welcoming personality. Her close proximity to Ely and the most populated entry points no doubt also helped her well-known status.
Not too far from Dorothy, just one lake away, lived Benny Ambrose. His place was closer to the Eastern edge of the BWCA and he got to it by way of the Gunflint Trail and Saganaga Lake. Benny was less of a social person and didn't sell rootbeer so not as many people have heard of him.
Quetico Park Ranger, Janice, emailed me the link to this YouTube video about Benny Ambrose. It's a great historical account of the life of Benny Ambrose.
For everything there is a time and today it's time to snowshoe with Josh's class at school. Around 11 today I'll start my journey down the Gunflint Trail to Grand Marais so I can go snowshoeing around 12:30. I drive the trail very slowly in the winter especially when it's snow covered which it happens to be currently. There are too many obstacles to avoid like birds, squirrels and moose down on their haunches licking the salt off of the road.
There's a nice patch of woods behind Cook County school and it's a perfect learning environment. The kids have gone back there to look for tracks, leaves, scat and all sorts of other things. Today the 4th Grade class will be snowshoeing for physical education and tomorrow Abby's class goes so I'll probably accompany them as well. It's always fun to watch kids learn how to snowshoe and see them enjoying the life long winter activity.
Hopefully after two days of snowshoeing my blisters will be healed enough so it will be a time to cross-country ski again. This goal I set of skiing 200 kilometers of different trails for the Volkski has motivated me to get it done. Funny how that works, kind of like setting New Year's Resolutions.
How about those New Year's Resolutions I set for you awhile back? Is it a time to follow through on them yet? I know you're not supposed to set goals for others, but just in case you forgot what they were...
The first resolution I want you to make is to comment positively on Voyageur Canoe Outfitters Trip Advisor page in January. This is a concrete, realistic resolution that everyone can hold you accountable for because if you don't do it then we'll all know. Maybe you've only used one of our canoes for a day. If it was in good shape then let others know.
Why should you make this resolution? Because it is doing something nice for someone else and it will result in you feeling good. Believe me, I've written reviews and it always makes me feel better knowing I might be helping a small business make it in these tough economic times. Competition is stiff and Trip Advisor is a popular place for people planning vacations to look for suggestions.
The second resolution I want you to make is to visit Voyageur Canoe Outfitters in 2011. As a loyal blog reader you are important to me and I'd love for you to visit us this year. Maybe it's just a drive up from Grand Marais to pop in and say, "Hello." It could be for a winter vacation, a summer canoe trip or a fall cabin stay it really doesn't matter to me what you do once you get here it's just making the committment and following through with it that matters.
I hope you'll make time to snowshoe, cross-country ski and follow through on the resolutions I made for you!
Without even knowing January 8th was National Winter Trail's Day I celebrated it by spending time on the trail. I didn't spend quite as much time on the trail on Saturday as I did on Friday but I'd say two and a half hours was enough especially with the below zero temperature.
We had an amazing time skiing theBanadad Trail off of the Gunflint Trail. This trail connects the Upper Gunflint Trail Ski Area to the Central Gunflint Trail Ski Area and is 20 miles in length. It travels along old logging roads through massive stands of pine, across swamps, over hills and next to beaver dams. The word Banadad means "lost" in Ojbwe but luckily it is quite easy to follow and we didn't have any trouble finding our way to the yurt on the first day.
TheCroft Yurt is about 12 miles from the Eastern Trail Head near Poplar Creek's Guesthouse. It took us about four hours to get there with plenty of photo stops, snack breaks and time to just stand in awe and take in the scenery of the surrounding Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness.
There is no electricity at the yurt and the only bathroom is an outhouse but it's a perfect place to spend the night. There's a wood stove to keep you toasty and an outhouse nearby so you can get a good glimpse of the stars periodically throughout the night.
Mike snowmobiled in with the kids and our gear for the evening. There are sleeping bags provided and you can have Boundary Country Trekking prepare a meal for you, but Mike acted as our chef for the evening. He made some delicious beef stroganhoff and we enjoyed some gourmet s'mores for dessert.
In the morning we all left about the same time. Mike and the kids by snowmobile and Sheri and I by skis. About an 8 mile ski to the Western Trailhead took us about two and a half hours. This portion of the trail we skied pretty early in the morning so we were a bit cold by the time we got back to where the vehicle was parked.
The Banadad is such a wonderful place to experience the winter wonderland of the BWCAW. We saw grouse, tracks of snowshoe hare and moose but no other people either day while we skied. The scenery is fantastic and there are just enough hills to keep it interesting.
I did end up with blisters on my feet but I like to think of them as souvenirs from a great trip on National Winter Trails Day.
We survived the Banadad Ski Trail. No major injuries, no mishaps and no frostbite that we know of. Sheri and I started our trek around noon yesterday afternoon at the Boundary Country Trekkng on the South end of the Trail and got out before noon today.
It didn't take us 24 hours to ski the 20 miles, we spent the night at the Yurt last night. More details to follow tomorrow!
Owning a BWCA canoe outfitting business makes us quite a popular place during the summer months. But it seems we have just as many visitors come to visit us in the winter. Feathered friends frequent our feeder at Voyageur Canoe Outfitters. Here's a picture of a couple of them who stopped by yesterday for a visit.
I went cross-country skiing on the Upper Gunflint Trail sky system for a second time yesterday. Mike had a meeting at Gunflint Trail Fire Hall II so I decided I would spend his meeting time skiing. He thought I had about an hour and a half before he would be done.
I couldn't have timed my ski any better. He was just finishing up with the meeting when I was walking back to the fire hall about an hour and forty five minutes after I had left. It was another beautiful day for a ski through the woods. The temperature was 11 degrees and the sun kept peeking about between snow showers.
Some of the trails in our neck of the woods look more like a downhill ski area than a cross-country ski trail. I skied the Overlook Trail to Highlands that leads to Ham Lake that connects to the North Star Trail. The North Star is gorgeous and the trees were still coated with a thick blanket of snow. From the North Star I got onto the West End Trail and then back on a portion of Overlook to Big Pine.
I'm glad I got another ski in before skiing to the yurt on the Banadad Trail on Friday. I have the start of a small blister but luckily Sheri picked up some moleskin today in town so we should be good to go.
I decided to try to videotape one of the hills on my ski yesterday. I have a friend who came up to ski not too long ago and she ended up spending alot of time on the ground. I thought I would show her what some of the other trails are like just so she knows it could have been worse!
I knew the deadline for pulling our Trademark application for the name "Mush for a Cure" was fast approaching. What I didn't know until I finally dug through my records was the deadline was the 3rd of January. Oops. Now I think I need a lawyer and one who works for free would be preferred.
Funny thing is I emailed the attorney of the Susan G. Komen Foundation and Nancy G. Brinker(Susan Komen's Sister) on the 3rd and neither of them got back to me. How aggravating. What's worse is another story I heard about the Komen Foundation.
A woman from California called me to tell me about her experience with the Komen Foundation after she read an article about our trouble. Her trademark application for "Home Sales for a Cure" was 7 months pending when the Komen Foundation submitted "Home for a Cure" and got it approved in less than a month. That quick of an approval for a trademark is unheard of and since the Komen Foundation has been using the name and business plan of Jane Kalinowsky(the woman from California) they have made over 3 million dollars for the Komen Foundation.
This is crazy stuff folks. It just doesn't make any sense to me and it apparently doesn't make sense to the Colbert Nation either. So, if you know a good lawyer or have any advice, please share, I'm desperate.
As long as it's above zero I'll venture outside to go cross-country skiing. Yesterday it was a few degrees above zero so I got my first ski of the season in. In spite of the fact I love winter and cross-country skiing I can't push myself to go out when it's below zero. I just can't seem to dress right when it's that cold and my body gets too hot while my eyelashes turn into clumps of ice.
I usually ski thetrails near Gunflint Lake because they are the ones closest to Voyageur Canoe Outfitters. I also usually write down how long it takes me to ski a particular portion of the trail system but I never remember where I put the list from year to year. Since I didn't know how long it would take for me to complete a longer loop I just skiied the Highlands to Rabbit Run to Aspen Alley and back out to my vehicle. I needed to be done in time to pick the kids up from the school bus.
On my hour long journey I stopped several times to gaze at the beautiful surroundings. The afternoon sunlight was filtering through the trees making sparkles dance on the surface of the snow. The snow clinging to the trees created a very serene and sheltered setting. I had brought my camera along to take pictures but before long my fingers were frozen and my battery dead from the cold.
The trails are in awesome shape right now and there's nothing like being the first one to ski a freshly groomed trail. There's plenty of snow and the tracks have been set perfectly. I'm hoping I'll get one more ski in this week before we venture onto the Banadad this weekend. I've checked the forecast and it calls for above zero temperatures so we should be good to go.
I knew what I wanted to write about today but I didn't know how to make it all come together. I was just going to call it a potpourri but then I came up with the "Falling Down" theme. It seems there's a Falling Down epidemic at Voyageur lately.
I'm not sure of the exact order of the incidents but I'm pretty sure my fall down our spiral stairs was first. I rarely walk around the house in socks but I was going to go put my snow boots on and they were in the lodge. I thought I could make it once down the stairs in stocking feet, I thought wrong. My feet slipped out from underneath me and lucky for my butt and not so lucky for my arm and side I was able to slow the fall down by getting my right arm around the railing. It left a nice bruise that has almost faded away completely.
The next thing to fall down was our bird feeder. This wasn't a suprise because a huge hunk of ice was attached to it and weighing it down. Finally it fell to the deck but the birds didn't mind going down there to get their food. Unfortunately it snowed and buried the feeder and now at -20 degrees they don't have their food. I feel terrible leaving them without food yesterday and this morning. I did put out a tray of seed with suet cakes to try to get them to trust me again so I hope that works.
Last night there was yet another fall. Me again! Not sure what's up with that but I was coming down the stairs from our exercise loft barefoot after doing Yoga. Something new had been placed on the stairs and that's all it took for my heels to slip out from under me and for me to come crashing down on my elbows and back. Blood on my elbow and a huge bruise on my elbow and back were the latest results of falling down.
I'm hoping the falling down epidemic doesn't last much longer. Abby fell down quite a bit when we were snowshoeing the other day and when she got out of the car at a friend's house. Just as I was telling her to be careful because the last person out of that car door had slipped and there she was already on the ground.
The temperature was also falling down this morning. I thought I would go cross country skiing today after dropping the kids off at the bus stop but at -19 degrees I decided to wait until it warmed up a little.
So there you have it, the Falling Down issue of my blog.
Five-thirty is going to come too early tomorrow morning after having been able to sleep in over the kid's Christmas break. Somehow I imagine we will adjust and I'm hopeful Josh will make it through the day without a game of Wii. I'm not so sure I will be able to make it but luckily the Wii stays home and that's where I'll be.
I have to admit I wasn't excited about getting a Wii last year but it's been a fun toy to have. Santa brought Dance, Dance Revolution to our house this year and I'm not sure who likes it more, me, Abby or Josh? It's even more fun than Just Dance which we really enjoy. It's fun to be able to get a workout while playing with the kids.
Tomorrow I hope to take the workout outside and go for a cross-country ski. The groomer is back and the trails look absolutely fabulous. I better get some skiing in this week before I make the 8 mile journey into the Yurt and 12 mile journey out of it this coming weekend.
I need to start checking some ski trails off of my Volks Ski list. There are over 400 kilometers of cross-country ski trails in Cook County and theVolks Ski challenges folks to try and see how many of the kilometers they can complete in a season. While I'm not going to attempt to ski all 400 I might try to complete 200 kilometers of the different trails.
On February 12th we'll try to cover every inch of the 430 kilometers of trails in the County. People will sign up for different portions of different trails in the hopes to complete all in the same day. If you like to ski then come on up and be a part of it.
Hope all of you have a wonderful first week of the New Year!
I'm not sure if you exchange presents on New Year's Day but this year Mother Nature gave the Gunflint Trail one or two or three more inches of fresh snow! Even with the wind howling the snow is remaining caked to the swaying pine trees and it is very picturesque.
Wishing you all a very healthy and happy 2011 and hope to see you all at Voyageur this year!
06:31:00 - 
